Aislin offered a smile to Katia, shaking her head with amusement, her heart easing at seeing her daughter so content. "Of course you do," she said quietly, "I'll make sure to get some pretty res nail polish today, okay?" She smiled, watching Katia as she settled, running her fingers through Katia's hair gently when Katia settled against her chest before she focused on Luke, trying so hard not to get caught up in just how adorable he and Katia were when they were interacting together. She could see the wheels turning behind Luke's eyes, though, and that anxiety creeped back into her chest, because she was worried about how he would react with the answer he was looking for. Swallowing, she dropped her gaze back to Katia, finding it hard to look at him as she kept running her fingers through Katia's hair gently. "As if I was ever able to lie to you, anyways?" she asked quietly, trying to joke, trying to rid herself of the ache in her chest, and she cleared her throat, nodding slightly. "But... Yeah, Luke, she is." She hoped and prayed that Katia didn't understand the conversation, that she wouldn't understand the weight of it, worried about Luke's reaction, but also not wanting to break her little girl's heart if he reacted badly. "I, uh... I even gave her your last name. Katia Hemmings." She offered a weak smile, though, still not lifting her gaze. "I'm not doing the whole 'I missed you more' 'No, I missed you more' bit. That was ridiculous back with the 'You hang up first' stuff." Shaking her head slightly, she listened to him quietly. "That's good. I'm glad you've been good, Luke. I'm glad you're getting to live your dream, you deserve it."
Rosie giggled with her Mama's squeeze and she grinned broadly up at her Mama. "I love your hugs, Mama," she hummed out happily, her grin broadening before she focused on playing with Michael's hat, though she found herself peering at Michael every now and then. "I think you should put a polka dot bow on him, Mama, it'd look really nice!"
Michael grinned at Rosie as he listened to the kid, amused, and he leaned over, pretending to get a good look at her bow. "Oh, kiddo, I don't know. I think I like your bow more than I'd like a polka dot bow," he teased lightly, grinning with amusement when the girl lifted her hand to quickly grab his, mostly to keep him from taking her bow. Michael smiled, though, his heart swelling at the feeling of the little girl's hand taking his own and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry, I'd never take that cute little bow from you. It definitely suits you more," he teased her lightly, grinning at her giggle, though Rosie didn't let go of his hand, so neither did he. Instead, he settled his gaze on Enaia when she spoke and he felt his heart resting a bit when she said that nobody outside Aislin and Katia had been a help. It meant that nobody had taken up his spot in her life. But he felt guilty, too, because it meant that she'd been raising Rosie all on her own. And, when she confirmed that Rosie was his, that guilt grew, but was outshone by the happiness that welled up in his chest. "Really?" he asked with shock, his grin returning, broadening, growing so big that he honestly thought his cheeks might start hurting eventually. "She's mine?" There was so much fondness in his voice, in his heart, and he just felt so happy, so excited, knowing that he had a daughter, having never really know how he would react to ever having a child until this moment. "Holy sh-" He stopped himself quickly, reaching to cover Rosie's ears, unable to really help it, despite Rosie whining and trying to pull his hands off, wanting to listen, and he mouthed 'Holy shit' to Enaia instead of saying it aloud anyways, his grin growing all the more. He laughed, though, as Rosie pulled his hands away and shot a look at him, causing him to make a playful face in return. He couldn't believe how happy he was with the news, with the knowledge, and he peered back at Enaia, watching her. "This is just the best news ever, Enaia." He wanted to talk louder, he wanted to clearly let her know how he felt about this, how happy he was, but he didn't want to startle Rosie, worried about scaring the girl - his little girl - in any way. He didn't even bother to continue talking about his band, too focused on the news that he had a daughter, a beautiful little girl whose laugh and smile were so infectious that he couldn't help but to grin each time he looked at her. "She's perfect, Enaia, she really is."
October 26th, 2018 at 12:39pm