Finding Daddy

I paced awkwardly in the bathroom of Dad’s home. After the meeting with Charlie had gone well enough, Dad decided that Autumn and I should meet the rest of their friends formally. According to him, the other three had all been at the house when we first came by. But I could only recall Angie’s father and their shorter friend, Johnny, I think his name was. Maybe the third was there, with my emotions raging that day, I might have just not noticed him.

Truth be told, I wasn’t very worried with meeting the two men I remembered. Angie’s father would probably grow to like me just with how much his daughter liked me already. She’d probably force him to even if he didn’t. Or, at least, that’s what I hoped. And the guy, Johnny, was really nice. Even when everyone just assumed I was equivalent to a gold digger, he had been nice and polite with us. Val told me he had a baby boy and I was actually excited. I love children. The person who intimidated me was this man I didn’t remember. Val and Dad assured me he was nice enough, but the thought of a new person I knew nothing about made me feel nervous.

There was a soft knocking on the bathroom door, causing me to jump slightly out of surprise. “Danny? Open up.”

I recognized the voice and instantly flipped the lock. I sat on the counter of the sink as Autumn let herself in. She shut the door behind herself and gave me a bright smile. “What are you doing in here? Making sure every strand of hair is in place?”

“I’m nervous,” I spoke, deciding to not play along with Autumn this time. She frowned and shook her head softly.

“You’re kidding, right? After meeting your father and half-brother, meeting some guys they’re friends with freaks you out?” I nodded pathetically. “..you didn’t take your medicine, did you?”

“Fuck, I’m an idiot,” I murmured after hitting my forehead with my palm. I had let the simplest thing slip my mind, causing me to be anxious over such a small situation, like Autumn was referring to. “I’m just going to stay down here and not come out, okay?”

“No you’re not,” Autumn sighed, grabbing my arm and making me stand from where I had been trying to climb into the cabinet under the sink. “Come on, you got Jimmy and I with you. We can beat this stupid anxiety for today.”

“But what if we can’t?” I cried/whined as she pulled me out of the bathroom and dragged me down the hall towards the back door.

“Well, we definitely aren’t with that attitude.”

“It’s not funny Autumn! You’re laughing at me with my head on the chopping block!” I insisted.

“I promise there are no overly sized, sharp objects out there,” Autumn vowed as she opened the back door and pushed me out first. When I saw Angie’s father standing next to Dad by the grill I instantly tried to turn around and run back inside. Autumn wouldn’t allow me, pushing me away from the door and yelling ‘Matt’. I turned back to see my father and the man next to him turn around and smile at me.

“Good luck!” I turned back to the door to see Autumn had stepped inside and shut it. She locked it before grinning and skipping off. I was really starting to doubt how good of a best friend Autumn really was. 'With me' my ass. I heard an excited screech, causing me to whip around. It seemed like as soon as I did, a form was clinging to me, shouting my name right into my ear.

“Danny!” Angie shouted, spinning us in a circle. When we stopped the world was still spinning before my eyes. Angie gave me no slack and ran off, pulling me behind her with my hand in her own. We finally came to a stop and I blinked repeatedly to clear up my vision. When it finally did I was standing face to face with Angie’s father.

“Daddy, this is Danny. Danny, this is my dad, Zacky. Believe me, he’s a big softy,” she whispered the last part to me, but the men heard all the same. This ‘Zacky’ guy rolled his eyes and offered a hand towards me.

“It’s nice to meet the girl my daughter wouldn’t shut up about the last few days.”

“Pleasure to meet you too,” I replied as we shook hands. When we let them fall I gave him a once over. He was actually pretty attractive. He had stunning jade eyes and full lips. His arms, revealed by a sleeveless Jack Daniel’s shirt, were muscular and covered in tattoos. I could tell where Angie got her looks from.

“Where’s Gena?” Dad asked Zacky curiously, his eyes trailing the backyard. Only Jimmy and Charlie were out, sitting in lawn chairs. Besides that the large area was empty.

“All the girls are inside helping Val. Last I checked, Mom had told you to help too,” Zack spoke to his daughter. She grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

“I wanted to introduce Danielle to you.”

Her father opened his mouth, but was cut off by the back door sliding open again. We all turned to see Val, Teri, and another blond woman step out of the house. They each carried three cups, each filled with what looked like lemonade. Once Val spotted me near the grill, she called the unnamed woman to follow her. Talentedly, Val handed Matt and I each a cup, as the woman did the same to Angie and Zack. We all gave our thanks.

I looked over Zack’s wife as they pecked each other on the lips. She had short, platinum blond hair that went to her chin. Her bangs were pulled back from her face, giving attention to her grey eyes and narrow face. She was dressed in a simple, blue sundress and white flats. She was very pretty, I had to admit that. “Danielle, I would like you to meet my wife, Gena.”

“Nice to meet you,” I smiled. She quickly returned both the smile and hello. Suddenly the back door was slammed open again and an unfamiliar man ran into the backyard with a young girl on his shoulders.

“The party can now begin!” The man shouted.

“Because Gates and Little Gates have arrived!” The young girl shouted out, just as obnoxiously loud as her small body could. The man began to ‘whoop’ and run in circles as the girl held her hands high above her head and styled her finger into ‘the horns’. Everyone chuckled, including Autumn and some brunette who had also stepped into the backyard. The man noticed us surrounding the grill and grinned, heading over to us.

“Dramatic entrance as always Bri?” Dad mused.

“Of course. But it was Melody’s idea this time,” the man defended. The girl, Melody, began to anxiously shift on her father’s shoulders as she looked towards where Jimmy was sitting, making faces at her.

“Daddy, I wanna go see Jimmy and Teri!” She whined, looking longingly at the couple. Dad stepped away from the grill, plucking the young child off of the man’s shoulders.

“Oh, so you won’t even give Uncle Matt the time of day now?” Dad demanded, holding the girl in one arm and tickling her with his free hand. She let out a shriek of giggles, trying to pull out of his grasp. The new woman smiled and walked up, hooking her arm into her husband’s.

“Come on Matt, let the poor kid go,” she laughed. Dad frowned but stopped anyways. He planted a kiss on her cheek before she ran off towards the tall man still messing with her. That’s when the couple turned to look at me. Both had beautiful eyes, hers were hazel and his a chocolate brown. The man had short, spiky hair while the woman had long, brown hair. I took a quick glance between Val and the new woman and decided they must be related.

“Danielle, this is Brian and Michelle. The little girl that just ran off is their daughter Melody. Guys, this is Matt’s daughter, Danielle,” Val spoke. I recognized the man now. He had been by the doorway to the living room when Autumn and I had left. I smiled as they grinned at me.

“Welcome to the family kiddo,” Brian spoke, pulling me into a hug. I squirmed against him and everyone, including him, laughed. He let go and smiled. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”

“It’s fine.”

“So where’s shithead?” Zack suddenly asked, looking around the backyard. By now it was only Dad, Zack, Brian, and I standing there. Val, Gena, and Michelle had headed back inside to do who knows what, and Angie and Autumn had chosen to go sit with the group at the lawn chairs.

“Probably late as usual,” Dad remarked, rolling his eyes. That was when the side gate opened. I was surprised at the entrance. I hadn’t even noticed it with people passing through the house. Johnny appeared with an empty baby carrier in his left hand and a baby bag over his right shoulder. He held the door open as a woman with black hair styled in a bob cut stepped into the backyard with a cooing baby in her arms.

“Hey Lacey! Hey short shit!” Brian called, snickering. Lacey smiled and waved, heading towards the house, probably heading to the kitchen. Johnny placed the baby stuff on the back porch before heading over to the group. Brian slapped a hand onto his back. “How’s Xavier?”

“Good. He won’t stop talking to Lacey about who knows what,” Johnny scoffed with a roll of his eyes. He turned to smile at me. “Nice to see you again, Danielle.”

“Hello. How old is your son?” I asked politely, waiting for his wife to come back out. I had to admit, I was a real sucker for babies.

“Nine months and two days,” Johnny announced proudly, grinning from ear to ear. It was cute to see him so happy about his child. Then again, I would probably be disappointed with him if he wasn’t. Suddenly he ran off, promising to return as he shot to the back door. I shook my head with a smile.

“I’m proud the gnome finally knows what it’s like to be a dad. At least now he can’t pick on us for being so defensive,” Zack scoffed. The other two men nodded in agreement. I let my eyes trail over to the group in the lawn chairs. Jimmy had Melody in his lap, braiding her hair as the whole group talked.

“Do Jimmy and Teri want kids?” I heard myself ask. The men looked where I was looking and Brian sighed.

“He does, they both do. They’ve been trying for a while now, but it just hasn’t worked yet,” Dad replied quietly. I frowned, suddenly feeling very sad for the man. It had to hurt knowing all his friends had children yet he couldn’t have one of his own. Suddenly Johnny was next to us again, bouncing his son in his arms.

“Danielle, this is my son Xavier. Say hi Avie,” Johnny cooed, making his baby wave at me. I grinned, leaning down to be eye level with him.

“Hi Avie. I like your shirt,” I cooed, poking the elephant. The baby giggled loudly, gripping my index finger. Johnny wordlessly passed the child to me and I cradled him in one arm. “So now you’re stealing my finger, huh?”

Xavier bubbled out some kind of gibberish. I smiled and made faces at him. He giggled loudly again, seeming thrilled with my antics. I could tell all the men were watching me interact with the infant, but I was too content with playing with the baby. He had a pretty strong grip for a nine month old. He was going to be a tough little thing when he got older.

“I think that’s the fastest I’ve ever seen him bond with someone.” I looked up as I heard Johnny say this and blushed a bright red.

“I’m just good with kids is all,” I shrugged.

I had to admit, it made me really fucking happy.