After We Met, page 8
“Sure, but why? I don’t usually come until Christmas.” She takes a drink of her margarita.
I’m really not sure how April’s going to react to this news. “Well, I’ve convinced Lani to bring Sophie to Florida during your fall break. She and Sophie are going to stay at the house and they’ll sleep in the spare bedroom upstairs.”
“Umm…I don’t know if I’m okay with this, Damon. I can’t stay with you for more than a night, but your baby mama can?”
“Don’t call her that, April. This isn’t easy for me, but I want to get to know my daughter and want the chance to be around her. She’s my kid, April, she’s going to be in my life and so is her mother.”
April sighs. “You’re right and I’m sorry. That’s good that she’s going to let you see her.”
I order us another round and we drop the subject of Lani and Sophie.
When April and I get back to the hotel, she’s back to her normal self. On the elevator I pull her to me, wrapping her in my arms. I kiss her slowly and thoroughly, but guilt plagues me because all I see is Lani. What I wouldn’t give to hold her in my arms and to kiss the lips that I grew to love in such a short period of time.
I pull back as the elevator doors open and then drag her toward our room where I attempt to fuck Lani out of my thoughts.
I pull into the parking lot of Perkin’s restaurant. I managed to find out where Lani’s mom worked and stopped by to see her. Lisa agreed to have lunch with me because I told her I wanted to talk about helping Lani.
Lisa is standing in the lobby when I step inside. It’s clear where Lani gets her good looks from because her mom looks like her older sister, not her mom. She’s scowling at me as I walk toward her. “Thanks for meeting me.”
“I’m only doing this because you say you want to help my daughter and granddaughter.” The hostess leads us to a table. “Are you going to start paying child support?”
“Yes, as soon as I’m home, I’m going to make an appointment with my lawyer and will get those checks coming as soon as possible.” I take a drink of my water. “Lisa, I want to buy Lani a car. The piece of shit she’s driving now sounds like it’s going to break down at any moment, and I want her driving our daughter around in something safe.”
Lisa crosses her arms over her chest and leans forward. “I agree she does, but she will never let you buy her a car. She’s not too proud to admit when she needs help, but I know this she’d definitely put up a fight about.”
“Could you get her car away from her one day this week and I’ll at least take it in for a tune-up, oil change, and maybe get some new tires on it?”
She nods. “I’ll ask to borrow her car tomorrow. Will that work?”
“Yeah, that’s great thanks. She’s a good mom, isn’t she?”
Lisa’s smile is a lot better than her scowl. “She is. Sophie’s been such an easy baby, which helps.” Lisa’s quiet for a moment. “Listen, Damon, my daughter told me everything about Florida. The aftermath was painful to watch. You wouldn’t answer her calls or call her back and Molly threw her out of their apartment—she was sad all of the time.”
My stomach knots as I stare out the window. I turn back to her. “You have to understand that I needed to fix things with Molly. If I saw Lani again, then my daughter was going to quit speaking to me.”
“Are you kidding me right now? I get that you had to fix things with your daughter, but you basically shoved Lani out of your home and threw her on the plane. Then you cut her out of your life like she’d never been there. I get it was only a week, but my daughter has a big heart and she must’ve seen something in you that she fell for.”
I lean forward. “I’ve thought about her a lot over the past three years. Do you think it was easy to let her go? I’m almost forty-five years old and I’ve never felt a connection like that before.”
She throws her head back and starts to laugh. “You felt such a connection to her that for three years you disappeared out of her life, out of the life of the child you created, and you have a girlfriend.”
“What did you expect me to do, Lisa? I began to fall in love with someone who was my daughter’s age. I felt like a pervert and scum, and I did what I thought was best. Yes, I do have a girlfriend, but she doesn’t factor into any of this.”
“Do you mean she’s never going to meet Sophie? Spend time with her?” Lisa asks.
I shrug. “We’re not serious, Lisa. If a time comes that we get that way then I’ll introduce her to my daughter.”
Lisa’s quiet for a few minutes and then she whispers harshly, “Don’t you dare hurt either one of my girls or you’ll deal with me.” Lisa grabs her purse and stands up. “I’ll get her car to you.”
She storms out of the restaurant and I grab a couple of bills from my wallet and throw them on the table. “Well, that ended poorly.”
“Damon we’ve changed all the fluids, sparkplugs, battery, and tires. We patched up the hole in the muffler, and we tuned up the engine. The body is actually in pretty good shape, and I had my boys wash it. It’s not as good as new, but it is pretty damn good.” I pay Russ, the owner of, you guessed it, Russ’s auto body shop and he hands me the keys.
It cost me some major cake to get the car done today, but the owner, is a cousin of Molly’s mom and we always got along.
As soon as I start the car up, I’m surprised how good it sounds, and I am super pleased with the work. On my way back to drop the car off with Lani’s mom, I fill it up with gas. As I pull into the driveway of a tiny little home that’s in desperate need of new windows and siding my stomach turns.
I didn’t pay much attention to it earlier and now I wish I wasn’t seeing this. The front door opens and Lisa comes out with Sophie’s hand in hers. My daughter sees me and pulls away from her grandma to run toward me. I wait to get approval from Lisa and get it so when she reaches me I scoop her up in my arms.
“Pway.” She screeches in my face. I kiss the top of her head, her little pigtail sticking out up top tickles my nose as I inhale the sweet baby scent of hers. “Pway wif me.”
Lisa sighs heavily. “Come on in.”
I step inside and look around. I’m surprised how cute and homey the place looks. On the far wall are pictures of Sophie from when she was in Lani’s belly to a picture in which she’s sitting on Lani’s lap and Sophie is kissing her on the lips.
“That was on Sophie’s second birthday,” Lisa says from behind me.
I set Sophie on the ground and she grabs my hand. Mine dwarfs hers in size and my heart melts. My daughter drags me down the hall to a room with a twin-sized bed against the wall on one side. A crib is against the other. A dresser is in between them and it looks like it’s seen better days. They have to share a room. I don’t like that for either of them.
I let go of her hand and she walks over to her crib. She reaches between the slats and grabs a baby doll. Sophie brings it over to me. “Dis my baby.” She then hugs it to her chest.
I pick her back up in my arms and hug her to my chest. “I see your baby.”
She kisses the baby and then holds it up for me to do the same thing. I do and then I kiss her cheek. I carry her out into the living room where Lisa’s folding some laundry. “GaGa.” Sophie squirms to be let down and she runs right to Lisa.
“Hi my precious baby.” She leans down for Sophie to kiss her lips. I love that both Mom and Grandma have showered my daughter with love. From the looks of it, they don’t have much, but they have that…love. “We have to get going so I can pick up Lani from work.”
“Oh yeah sure. Here are the keys.” I dig them out of my pocket. I give her a quick rundown of everything that the mechanic did. “I filled up the gas tank too.”
“My daughter is going to be ticked that I let you take her car in, buutttt…she’ll be grateful—I’m grateful. When do you head back to Florida?” she asks as we step outside.
“Ahem…I leave Thursday morning.” The thought of leaving my daughter, both of my daughters makes me sad, but in a little over a month, they’re coming to Florida for two whole weeks. I only wish that Lani would forgive Molly, and would let her spend some time with Sophie, but we both fucked up and I don’t know if she ever will.
I climb into my rental and wave to Sophie who then blows me kisses as I pull away. When I get back to the hotel I find April sitting on our bed. “Hey babe. What’s up?”
“Damon, you’ve done nothing but talk about Lani and your daughter since you found them.” She stands up and moves toward me. “Are you still in love with her?”
Am I? Was I ever? I know I’m not in love with April, and as I look at her, I know that’s how she feels about me. How did I not see it? Because I’m a selfish asshole, that’s why. “I honestly don’t know.”
She nods slowly. “Do you ever think you could love me?”
Fuck, why is this happening right now? I look her in the eye and shake my head once. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lead you on.”
“You didn’t. I knew you weren’t looking for serious, and I won’t lie—I was hoping I could change your mind.” April glances down at her phone. “My Uber’s on its way. I’m going to head back home. Enjoy the rest of your visit with both of your daughters.” She pushes up on her toes and kisses me on the lips. “See you around, Damon.”
Just like that, she’s gone.
Lani
“Okay class; don’t forget your book reports are due tomorrow,” I announce as my kids all head to the back of the class to grab their backpacks. At the door I hold out my hand, giving them all high fives as they walk out. The last student leaves and I head back to my desk.
I’m in the middle of entering grades for the day when there’s a knock on my door. I look up and Molly is standing there. She’s been around a lot over the past month and a half. Always trying to talk to me or asking about Sophie. The one thing she’s never done is apologize for everything that happened. “Can I come in?”
“Umm…sure. I was just finishing up and then I need to get Sophie from daycare.” My daughter absolutely loves going there and is already learning so much.
“Dad loved the picture you sent him that Sophie colored.” I figured it was the nice thing to do and she loves coloring. Of course, it’s basically different color scribbles.
“I’m glad.” I stand up and grab my bag, shoving my planner and folders inside. “Damon said you’re coming to Florida too.” I wasn’t thrilled with that information because I don’t want to feel like I’m being ganged up on by both of them.
“Ahem…yeah, I am.”
We’re silent as we take the stairs down and she walks beside me as we reach the parking lot. I give her a wave and walk toward my car.
“Lani, wait up,” Andi calls out as she runs across the parking lot toward me. Molly watches my girl hug me and I don’t want to think about the sad look on her face.
I focus back on Andi. “What’s up?” I toss my purse and bag on my front seat and then turn back to her.
“Are you getting nervous about the trip to Florida?” She knows everything that’s gone on and that Sophie and I are spending two weeks down there.
“I’m nervous about being in that house again, and about being near him.” I shrug. “I’m doing this for Sophie and I just need to keep my distance from him.”
“The girlfriend’s already gone?” I’d been surprised when Damon shared that little tidbit with me. He wanted to make sure I knew that she wasn’t going to be an issue.
“Yeah, I guess with everything going on with us she didn’t want to get in the middle. I don’t blame her, but she wouldn’t have to worry about me taking her man. He and I are done and have been for three years.”
Andi looks at my car and then back at me. “Is the car still running good?” I’d been super pissed at my mom at first when I found out about Damon taking my car to get fixed, but when I called him and we talked I thanked him for thinking about Sophie and me, and our safety.
“It is, it’s running so good I swear I’m not burning through gas as fast. People no longer stare when I pull into parking lots.”
“When you get back do you think you’d let me set you up on a blind date?” I look at her pointedly. “Yeah, I know—I know, but this is a friend of Dante’s from work. He’s really sweet and funny. He was engaged up until a year ago and he’s finally ready to start dating. You’ve said you thought you might be ready…right?”
Ugh, she’s right I did say that. “Okay, maybe when we get back I’ll meet this guy, but I’m not promising anything.”
She squeals and starts jumping up and down while she claps her hands together. I can only shake my head at the lovable dork. I pull her into my arms and hug her tight. “You know I love you.”
“Of course you do because I’m awesome! I love you too, babe.” Andi kisses my cheek. “Call me when you get to Damon’s.”
I promise to call her and jump in my car. I wave as I pull out of the parking lot. When I get to the preschool/daycare I go inside. The front desk girl, I can’t remember her name, greets me. She presses a little button and the click lets me know that the door is unlocked.
In the back, beautiful butterflies are painted on the walls. I pass open doorways with all ages of little ones. When I reach the lily pad room, I poke my head inside. My daughter is playing with another little girl.
One of Sophie’s teachers, Samantha comes walking over to me. “Hi Lani. She had a good day today. We’ve been working on our numbers today and we taught them a little song about counting. Sophie loves to sing.”
I smile widely because she does love singing. One of her new favorite songs is “24k Magic” by Bruno Mars. Of course it’s not new, but when she heard it on Hotel Transylvania 3 she fell in love. I never planned on knowing that song word for word, but when you hear it all of the time you can’t help but memorize it.
“Yeah, she’s always singing along to music at home. Is there anything I should be working with her on while we’re gone?” I hate disrupting Sophie’s routine, but this visit with Damon is important.
“Just have fun and we’ll see Sophie when you guys get back,” she calls out. “Soph, look who’s here.”
My daughter spots me and her face lights. “Mommy.” She squeals and comes running toward me.
I scoop her up in my arms and kiss all over her face. “Can you tell your friends bye-bye.”
She waves and blows kisses to everyone and they all wave to her. Sophie talks excitedly making it hard to catch what she’s saying as I carry her out to the car. I get her buckled in and kiss her cheeks. When we get home, I pull leftover spaghetti out of the fridge and after I change into shorts and a tank top I begin heating it up on the stove.
Sophie plays on the kitchen floor with her new baby that Damon bought for her. It looks just like her and I’m thinking that it cost a lot of money, but I said nothing because my daughter’s face lit up when she saw her. He even bought outfits for the doll and matching pajamas for Sophie.
After I get her fed and eat a little spaghetti myself I stick Sophie in the tub. I usually let her play for a bit, but we need to be at the airport by seven tomorrow morning so it’s best if I get her in bed as soon as I can. I still need to pack and it would be easier without little miss grabby hands.
It’s a good hour and a half before I finally get her settled in bed. Earlier I set our clothes out on the coffee table so I could pack without waking Sophie up. I’m not going crazy with the clothes since Damon has a washer and dryer at his place. Once everything is packed away, I zip up my suitcase.
I get snacks ready for Sophie and stick them in the backpack that I’ll be carrying on the plane. I’ve got her favorite shows downloaded onto my tablet and her headphones all ready to go as well.
Andi has given us her kids’ older booster seat that is apparently okay for planes, which I was thankful for. They also have a little wheelie thing that I will be able to hook the booster seat to so I can just drag it along.
Mom comes home from work as I’m setting our bags by the front door. “Hey honey. All packed?”
“I think so—I’ve packed a week’s worth of clothes because he’s got a washer and dryer and anything else we can just get down there.” I double check that Sophie’s headphones are in the bag.
“Are you sure you want to stay with him? I’ve got a little money saved for a rainy day. It’s yours so you can stay at a hotel.”
I step in front of Mom and place my hands on her shoulder. “No Mom, that’s yours. I promise we’ll be okay. I’ll be able to be there while Damon and Molly get to know Sophie.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not worried about Sophie, I’m worried about you.”
“Me? Why?”
“Sweetheart, you fell for his charms before and it nearly broke you. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
I pull her into my arms. “I’m not going to get hurt, I promise. You’ll be happy to know that I told Andi that she could set me up on a blind date with one of Dante’s friends when I get back.” That appeases her because she’s smiling widely when I pull back.
“That’s great, honey. Dante’s such a good man so I’m sure whoever they introduce you to will be great.” Mom’s quiet again for a moment. “It’s going to be so quiet without my girls.”
I hug her again and then yawn loudly. Mom laughs and then tells me to get some sleep and that she’s heading to bed soon so she can take us to the airport in the morning.
After brushing my teeth and washing my face I head into mine and Sophie’s bedroom and strip off my shorts. I move on silent feet toward Sophie’s crib and stare down at my little girl who is sleeping so soundly and has her baby clutched in her little hands.
I brush her hair back from her face and smile down at her. She puckers her lips in her sleep and then I hear a little toot come from her little booty. I laugh quietly as I crawl into bed. When I get settled in bed, I grab my phone and quickly set my alarm for four-thirty.
Before setting my phone on my nightstand I decide to pull up the pictures I have secretly saved on my phone. The first is one from when Molly and I were in Florida and Damon had taken us for a tour of Key West.
