They Always Told Me I was Gorgeous In a Way

Leah’s POV

The car ride home had to be the most awkward one I’ve ever been in my life. No one was talking; we all just sat there like brainless zombies. I had Hannah on my lap and she was still sleeping from the long flight we had. Max kept glancing at Hannah and it made me uncomfortable. I didn’t know if it was because this was the first time I have seen him in a year or that he kept looking at our daughter. Either way, he still wouldn’t stop looking at me or Hannah.

When Ronnie finally drove the SUV into his driveway all of us sighed in relief. We were all tired from the car ride from the airport and all we wanted to do was sleep. Hannah was awake now and she was more hyper than ever. She kept bouncing in my lap and she kept talking about weird things. But what can you expect, she’s a five year old. When Ronnie shut the car off I carried Hannah out the car and my knees almost buckled.

“Leah, let me carry her into her room.” Some said behind me. I turned around and I saw Max with his hands in his pockets. He was staring at the ground but he glanced up back at me. I hesitantly handed Hannah over to Max and Hannah started giggling. Max smiled and carried her into the house.

“He seems to start noticing how much they do look alike.” Alex said behind me. I smiled.

“Hopefully. But I bet he’s still the stubborn ass that he was a year ago.” I sighed. I grabbed my stuff from the trunk of the car and I hauled it into their house. When I walked in it was…clean. Everything was picked up and placed on a counter or in a shelf. The carpet was cleaned and the windows were open, allowing fresh air into the house.

“ Hey Leah, so you and your friend mind sleeping in the same room?” Robert asked. I looked over to Alex and she nodded in response. Robert and Omar picked up our bags and carried them over to our room.

“Hey Ronnie, where did Max go with Hannah?” I asked.

“I think he went up to his room.” He responded. I walked up the stairs and I went down the long corridor. When I came face to face with Max’s door I heard a small guitar being played. I creaked the door open and Max’s head snapped up. He had Hannah on his bed with a blue guitar in her hands. His pale hand was guiding Hannah’s along the strings. She seemed to be entirely focused on the guitar that she didn’t even know that I walked into the room.

“Having fun Hannah?” I asked her. She nodded but didn’t look at me. Max looked at Hannah and said nothing. The corners of his pale lips were twitching upwards into a small smile.

“Leah, can I talk to you?” Max asked. I rubbed my arm and nodded. He left Hannah with the guitar. I walked out of his room and Max followed. He shut the door and faced me. I looked up at his face and he looked like he was in a deep thought.

“Look, I’m sorry that I was a dick before. I shouldn’t have treated you like that. I should have known better.” He apologized.

“Max, it’s not that you treated me like shit, you treated your own daughter like shit. You’re supposed to apologize to her, not me.” I said.

“ I- it was hard for me to think that I had a daughter. You never told me so it was difficult for me to picture it in my head.” He explained. At least he’s thinking.

“Max, I would never lie to you about something that big.” I said.

“I know.” He said.

“So, now what?” I asked him. He didn’t look at me. His gray eyes kept darting away from mine.

“Maybe we could start over. Maybe we could be a normal family.” Max suggested.

“Max, as much as I seriously care for you, I don’t think that would be best. You can still be apart of Hannah’s life, but not apart of mine.” I said. He nodded and walked back into his room. When he shut his door I walked down that stairs and into the living room.

“Was he in there?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, and Hannah was too.” I said absentmindedly. I sat down and I didn’t talk for the rest of the night. The conversation was getting to me and I knew it was going to drive me crazy. But one good thing came out of it, Hannah now actually has a father.