note: good news is that I've begun to stock up on chapters. All thanks to nano. Are any of you doing nano this July? Drop your stories in the comments and I'll be sure to check them out.
If you enjoy scenes centred on Andrew and his daughter, you're going to love this chapter. Happy reading!
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Aurora was the most beautiful, most perfect thing in this world and though Andrew's opinion was obviously biased, in this moment, in this picture-perfect memory, that was what she truly was. Beautiful, perfect. His little girl.
"How are you so old and still the messiest ice-cream eater," laughed Aurora, taking a nip at her strawberry flavoured ice-cream.
Andrew had butterscotch and half of his was not even on his cone. It was on his face. He smiled as Aurora giggled, taking a tissue from the table and attempted to wipe it from her father's face. She only made it worse. Andrew took the tissue from her and wiped his mouth, and his nose — how ice-cream got there, he had no clue, but he suspected it had more to do with him giving his undivided attention to his daughter.
"Right, forget about your father's handsome face—"
"Ba!"
"I have a handsome face, do I not?"
She stuck out her tongue before taking a lick of her ice-cream. "You're ugly."
"If I'm ugly, and I'm your father, and you're beautiful, you have some of my genes so..."
"Yes, some," Aurora nodded seriously, "I got my good looks from Mummy."
Andrew gasped. "You're a mean little girl."
She laughed. There was nothing better than making his little girl happy. Her laugh was not soft and quiet. It was loud and big, a laugh that made you feel included even if you were not. It was a warm laugh, the ones that made you laugh along even if it wasn't funny — the ones that made you feel fuzzy inside. Her laugh brought him so much joy that there were not enough words in the dictionary to encompass the description of it.
"Speaking of Mummy," Andrew said, getting back down to business, "Let's go back to what we were talking about before my handsome face interrupted the conversation."
His daughter rolled her eyes at the mention of his handsome face. The sass of this kid, Andrew thought amusedly.
"You heard her and Simon talking?" Andrew prodded, eating his ice-cream.
"They talk in hushed whispers all the time and Mum said something about him including me in the picture if he was serious about her. I don't know what that means but that's the only thing I've heard in all their secret conversations."
"Huh," he breathed, puzzled by this new information. "And then?"
"And then, yesterday night, when we were having some of the pie that Simon made after dinner, he got down on one knee. You know like how they do in all those movies. It was nice, really. He said a lot of nice things and it made Mummy happy. She couldn't stop smiling. And then he said, marry me, Tallie. Tallie is a weird nickname Simon gave Mum but she likes it so whatever." Aurora was smiling as she recounted the previous night to her father, licking away at the remains of her ice-cream gleefully.
"That sounds wonderful," Andrew lied. How long had Simon and Talia been going out for? How long had they been sneaking around behind his back?
"It really was," she sighed dreamily. "I hope one day that a man proposes to me like that with sweet words."
Andrew froze. "Excuse me." He stared wild-eyed at his daughter. "Aren't you only seven? Shouldn't you think that boys have some weird disease or something?"
"I'm almost eight, Ba," she pointed out like that made any difference. She was eight! What the hell difference did that make?
"You're only allowed to think of boys when you're about sixteen or something. Or girls. You know, whatever you're into when you're ready," he said in awkward sternness, though he knew it was unrealistic to expect that much of her, or of anybody.
She shook her head. "You told me you had your first girlfriend when you were eleven."
"She wasn't my girlfriend!"
"Then why did she kiss your cheek? Why did you hold hands? I thought that's what couples do," Aurora said, eyebrows drawing in with confusion.
Andrew groaned. "I regret sharing so much with you, kid."
"You don't. You're just embarrassed," she giggled.
He drew his eyes to her. She was observant. "You're smart," he smiled, letting his pride show.
"Thanks," she grinned at him.
"Oh god," Andrew sighed as a hint of a smile played on his lips. "I think I have a romantic on my hands."
"I think I got that from you. You're the romantic between you and Mum."
He looked at her, stunned by what she was saying. This type of talk was not unusual to them. They could talk about everything — well, not everything but there was always transparency between father and daughter.
"How do you know I'm the romantic?"
She smiled sadly. "Because you've been patient all these years."
It took a while for her words to register. Sometimes Andrew wondered if Aurora had a past life and in her past life she was a wise monk. It would make a lot of sense. Half the time she was spitting out words way beyond her years.
"I guess that patience has run out," he resigned.
"A good thing," she said, smiling. "You seem happy."
"I am," he said, and in that moment, he felt extremely so. Nothing made him happier than spending him with his daughter. London made him happy but without Aurora, Andrew suspected his life would end up falling at the seams. "My friend, London, I'm seeing her."
His daughter squealed. "Is she your girlfriend?"
He nodded, nervous. "How do you feel about that?"
Aurora pretended to be in deep thought and Andrew almost laughed at how terrible of an actor she was. "Does she make you happy?"
"She makes me feel better. She makes me happy. She is... pretty exceptional, I say."
"I want to meet her again," she demanded.
"Yes, boss," Andrew saluted. "Come on, eat up. I need to drop you home. Simon must be waiting."
They finished their ice-creams and headed back to Andrew's old house. On the way back, he asked, "What did Mummy say when Simon asked her to marry her?"
"She looked happy and then she looked sad. I don't know what's going on with her. She said she needed to think but I think she said that because I was there. She wanted to have another quiet conversation with Simon."
Andrew could hear the resentment in Aurora's voice. "She's figuring things out too, Princess," he advised softly, "She's thinking what's best for you as well."
The rest of the car ride was silent.
Aurora rushed into the house to use the bathroom and Andrew locked his car before entering the house and getting to the kitchen. He'd bought a tub of Talia's favourite ice-cream in case she needed it. He may not be in love with her anymore but there would always be a piece of him that loved her.
Simon was in the kitchen, cooking dinner.
"Smells delicious," Andrew complimented, trying to act civil as he went to the refrigerator and placed the ice-cream tub in the freezer.
"You're welcome to stay for dinner," Simon offered.
"Thanks, mate, but I've got a lot of work to catch up on today," Andrew said, only half lying. He didn't have work to catch up on but he did plan on staying at the office until late so he could get ahead of work and free up his weekends for his daughter, as well as London.
"No problem. The offer's open anytime."
He nodded. He was about to take his leave but the nagging at the back of his mind would not stop. "Allerton," he called out.
Simon raised his head and turned his attention away from stirring the contents of the pot.
"Don't fuck it up with Talia."
"I won't," Simon said easily, like he'd been preparing to have this conversation. He removed the pot from the stove. "Do you still love her?"
"I do. How does one stop loving someone who had their heart?"
Simon nodded, and Andrew could tell that his words were not what Simon wanted to hear.
"I love her, Simon. I care for her. But I'm not in love with her. You are."
He nodded, this time with more enthusiasm. "I am," he effused.
"Take care of her. I couldn't do it. Maybe you could," Andrew said, the words tumbling out with sincerity.
"You sure you can't stay for dinner?"
He grinned. "If I do I can't guarantee that I can refrain myself from punching you."
Simon smiled, but it vanished as fast as it came. Their friendship, whatever brotherhood they had, it was gone. Or perhaps it was still there, kindling a fire, ready for them when they were ready to make peace, but for now Andrew could not be a part of it, not when he still felt so betrayed by Talia's actions and by Simon's.
"Ba, you going?" came Aurora's voice.
Her little figure entered the kitchen. "Ba's got a ton of work to do," he said as she approached him. He placed his hands on her head and removed the two ponytails, letting her hair down and releasing the tension of two high pigtails. He knew how annoying and painful they got after a while.
"Can't you stay for dinner?" she pouted.
"I would but I really can't," he said. "This weekend, I've got something special planned."
Her eyes lit up. "You do?"
Aware that Simon might be listening in on their conversation, he leaned closer and whispered, "It's going to involve the whole family."
"Even London?" Aurora exclaimed excitedly.
Andrew shushed her. "Definitely."
She squealed and hugged her father. He walked out, his mind reeling with what he could do this weekend that involved all of them, and something that did not end in a disaster.
His mind kept going blank.