Mariana did not say anything. She just sniffed, and gave a nod.
"Will Daddy come back?" She asked softly. Her voice was calm but you could hear she wanted to cry. She definitely didn't buy my lie.
"We will be fine Mari, I promise" I promised.
"I know. I don't want Daddy" she mumbled.
"I want a new daddy, can I get a new daddy?" She added sweetly. She raised her head and looked at me, she looked so hopeful.
Well that depends because I don't plan on getting married again. I didn't tell her that.
"Of course baby, and he's going to love you so much and be the best daddy in the world" I told her.
"Really?" A small smile appeared on her face.
"Yes, and he's going buy you things" I continued giving her false hope.
"I don't want anything, I just want him to love me " she said "and play with me" she added as an afterthought.
"He will. Now let's get dressed and go out. I'm bored aren't you?" I changed the topic. I am grateful she took it well and didn't throw a tantrum. She just accepted it.
"I don't want to" she shrugged and detached herself from me. Before I could even question her, Mariana was already racing to her room.
That means she did not take it well. She closed the door and locked it because I couldn't get in.
"Mariana" I called softly
She ignored me, she didn't say anything back to me. I knocked and called out to her until I couldn't take it anymore. I rushed to the cabinet in my room and took the keys of the room. I rushed back to the door and opened it.
Mariana was just on her bed, she wasn't even crying. She just held her teddy bear and was looking at the ceiling.
"Mariana are you okay? Why didn't you open the door? Why did you even lock it?" I asked sitting at the foot of her bed.
"I don't want to be here" was her only response
"Talk to mommy, what do you mean?" I reached for her and pulled her up to a sitting position.
"I don't like it here, I don't want to go out, I don't want to see daddy, I want to go back to grandma's" she said quietly.
"You think your father is going to be wherever we go to just like the ice cream shop?" I questioned, I didn't want to jump to conclusions.
She gave a nod. I took a deep breath. Well Barry just bought himself a ticket out of town. If anyone should be scared of going out, it should be him not Mariana but that shameless man has no heart.
"No need to be scared, we can go wherever you want and I will make sure he won't be there" I promised her
"I don't want to mommy, I just want grandma" she wasn't convinced.
"How about we go house hunting? We'll buy a new house" going back to my mom to fix her mood will really make me feel like a failure.
"Do you want Jollof rice? I can cook it for you." I didn't even wait for her response, I kept naming activity after activity.
"I want a new house" her voice ended my blabbing.
The tightening in my chest loosened up. I was grinning now. "Really? I'll call an agency and see if we can see some house today."
"Okay" she wasn't even excited. She just wanted me to stop disturbing her.