AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Looking at my baby girl, I wondered at the foolishness that allowed me to invite my father over to meet her.
Inside my home. Up until now, I’d only ever met up with him in public places.
Part of it was a final ‘fuck you’. To show him what I made of myself without his support. I wasn’t ready to look at the other part too closely, but I knew what it was. That constant, niggling desire to make him proud. It shamed me.
I sat down on the floor with my back to the wall, my legs stretched out in front of me.
Sia’s face lit up. She still wasn’t talking. It worried me.
Hope laughed. Assured me that she was smart and alert, that kids develop at different rates. She also told me she felt Sia was more interested in exploring her environment than talking about it.
Pushing herself to her feet, she toddled over and climbed onto my legs. Leaning forward, she sprawled across my chest, her cheek over my heart.
I cupped her tiny head, kissed the baby fine hair.
How could Julianna walk away from this?
The doorbell rang, startling both of us.
She looked at me with wide eyes, then looked towards the door with a big smile on her face.
“Aw, little one,” I said as I rocked to my feet with her in my arms. “You’re going to be disappointed. That’s not Hope.”
My father stood on the other side. Four years older. Four years greyer. Gifts in hand.
This was the first time he ever showed up with gifts.
I stared at him for a moment before stepping back and opening the door wider. “Come on in.”
He stepped inside, completely arrested by Sia. He gulped audibly. Reached out a shaking hand to gently touch her face. “She’s beautiful. She looks exactly like you.”
“Let’s hope she doesn’t inherit my body hair.” Despite my best effort to remain emotionless, his words sent a jolt of joy through my heart that left a bitter ache in its’ wake.
There was something to be said for a connection to your little self. To someone who knew you as a baby, saw you in your own children, and took pleasure in the visible echo of your existence.
He chuckled. “Your mother used to worry about the same thing. She wasn’t convinced my hairlessness would be enough to balance the Greek genes.”
I forced a smile before I turned to lead him into the family room. “She was right.”
He hung his coat on the hook at the door. “Your home is beautiful.”
“Small talk? Really?” I closed my eyes. I had no desire to be hostile. Hostility indicated feelings where I wanted there to be none.
“No.” He shook his head. “I’m happy for you. You deserve every good thing you have. You deserve more.”
“I deserved more. Past tense,” I hissed. Pissed with myself that I let him get under my skin, I stalked into the family room. “You’re not here to make amends, you’re here to meet your granddaughter. So come and meet her so we can call it a day until next year.”
I sat down on the couch and indicated for him to sit with a wave of my hand, then set Sia down on the floor between us where the coffee table used to be before I replaced it with her toybox.
He sat down on the edge of the seat across from me. “I know you don’t want me here. I was surprised you invited me. I’d leave right now, give you the peace you deserve, but I have a few things I need to give you. I appreciate you giving me the time to meet…”
He and I both realized at the same time that he didn’t know my daughter’s name.
“Anastasia,” I rasped.
Tears immediately sprang to his eyes as he looked at Sia who sat looking up at him curiously. “She would have been so proud.”
My throat tightened. She would have been so proud.Of me? Would she have been proud of me?
