AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, Cupcake,” he says from the doorway.
Sitting up in my bed, I curl my hair behind my ears and let out a sigh. “Hey, Daddy.”
“Everything okay?” he asks, noticing my mood.
I hesitate before answering. Now is not the time to fill the silence with meaningless ramble, but I have no idea how to have any other kind of conversation with him.
I shrug. “Just dealing with some things.”
He moves into the room, sitting on the end of my bed. He looks concerned as he sets a large hand on my shoulder.
“What can I do?”
I lift my gaze to his face. With a sad smile, I reply, “There’s nothing you can do, Dad. I have to deal with things on my own.”
He doesn’t seem content with that response as his brow furrows even deeper. “Is this about a boy?”
With an exasperated sigh, I climb off my childhood bed. “Not a boy, Dad. A man. I’m twenty-three years old. I don’t dateboysanymore. I date men…or, well…adults,” I stammer.
He stands from the bed and crosses his arms in front of him. “Cupcake, what’s going on?”
“I’m not your cupcake!” I reply with a shriek. Then I quickly compose myself and focus on what it is I’m really trying to say. Looking up into his eyes, I force myself to do like Eden taught me.
Be clear. Be heard.
“Dad, I know I’ll always be your daughter, and yes, to some degree, I’m still your cupcake, but I really can’t keep living like your little girl. I’m grateful that you let me move back in after college, but I need to move out on my own. I’m going to experience heartbreak and pain, mess up, settle down, and make mistakes, but I have to. I can’t learn from your mistakes. I have to learn from my own.”
His eyes don’t leave my face for a moment, and his expression is so serious that it makes me want to unspeak every single word that just came out of my mouth.
Then, on an exhale, he rubs his brow, and it looks like his shoulders melt away from his ears. Taking a seat on the chair in front of my small desk, he puts his hands on his knees.
“I know you’re not my little girl anymore, Jade. I just thought you wanted to come back home and stay with me because…hell, I don’t know. Growing up is hard. I wanted you to always know that no matter what, I’d take care of you. Especially since your mom…”
“Dad,” I say, my voice cracking. “You can’t always take care of me, no matter what. And Mom leaving had nothing to do with that. She’s living her life, and so should you.”
There’s a wrinkle on his forehead as he lets that sink in. “I have a life.”
My head tilts to the side, which makes him laugh.
“What?” he asks. “I do. I go out on the boat on weekends, which is nice, and I met this nice lady—”
“Whatever,” I reply with a shake of my head, stopping him from oversharing something I don’t want to hear. “I believe you. I just think…I’m going to move out soon.”
He nods, but judging by the look on his face, he doesn’t like it. But that’s okay. He doesn’t need to like it. He just has to accept it.
“I’ll support you however you need me to…” His voice trails. “Cupcake.”
I let out a chuckle as I roll my eyes. “Thank you, Dad.”
“And if amanhurts you, I’ll throw his body in the ocean.”
“Dad!” I shout, shoving him on the shoulder.
“Okay, okay,” he replies, holding his hands up in surrender. “I won’t kill him. I’ll just…rough him up a bit.”
“Better.” My shoulders feel lighter. Maybe we got somewhere. Even if he didn’t, at least I did. This is what I needed. To pull myself out of the past.
“Or…” my dad says without looking into my eyes. “I could just fire him.”
