Finding Daddy

Normal P.O.V.

“So are you guys sure you’ll be okay from here?” Nikki asked…again. I was getting sick and tired of hearing that question. This had to of been the fifth time we were asked in the past ten minutes.

“Yes, we’re big girls. We can handle ourselves,” I sighed. Nikki chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. We had eaten at a fast food joint before stopping at this big, fancy looking building. DJ and James had went in to go finish “business stuff” while Nikki was seeing us off.

“Sorry. You guys just remind me of one of my daughters,” Nikki explained with a shy smile. I couldn’t help but smile. He might look like some big tough guy, but he really was a sweetheart.

“Nikki, thank you for everything,” I spoke sincerely. He grinned.

“It’s fine. If I didn’t help you guys in some way I would have felt guilty for years. So the pleasure’s all mine.”

“Nevertheless, I won’t forget this.” Nikki brought me into a hug which I quickly returned. He then hugged Autumn before his phone went off to notify him of a text message. He frowned at the screen before shoving his phone back in his pocket.

“That was James. Our manager needs to speak to me. But first, if you guys run into any trouble or need help of any kind, I want you to contact me. Let me see your phone, Autumn, and I’ll add it.” Autumn handed over her device and he quickly typed some stuff in, a ding letting us know he had saved it successfully. As he handed it back he said, “Don’t hesitate, okay? I will drop everything to come help you guys.”

“Thank you Nikki. That means a lot,” I spoke, feeling tears burn at the back of my eyes. Shit, why did I have to feel like I'm going to cry so much? But in my defense, the only people who had ever said that to me was Autumn and her parents. It felt like a heart swelling moment to me.

“Sorry guys, but if we’re going to make it to the hospital with enough time, we need to head out,” Autumn spoke, hinting to the fact we were possibly on a time crunch.

“Of course. I’ll see you two later,” Nikki spoke.

We exchanged hugs again before we headed over to my car which they had put in the parking lot before the bus was driven back to whenever tour buses went when out of use. I climbed into the passenger’s seat since Autumn offered to drive and looked back at the entrance. Nikki waved once more before heading into the building. As Autumn left the parking lot, I hummed along to the song on the radio. I couldn’t place the name or band, but I knew I knew the song.

“So what did you think of Nikki?” I looked at Autumn curiously as she got onto Pacific Coast Highway. That was an odd question.

“He’s a nice guy. He looks like he’s a badass, but he’s just a muscular teddy bear.”

“I told him that myself and he got offended,” Autumn laughed. “I would suggest you don’t tell him too. He might feel like his masculinity is at risk.”

“But I wanted to make his man card expire,” I whined. We shared a laugh. “But seriously, he’s kind of what I want my dad to be like.”

It fell silent at that, Autumn with her worried look. I sighed, staring out the window of the car. I knew she wasn't very optimistic about this ordeal. “I’m sorry. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“No, it’s fine Danny. That’s the whole reason we’re here.”

“But you’re worried that he’s going to be the opposite of what I expect.” It wasn’t a question. I knew how she felt deep down, but the optimistic side of me tried to ignore it. I was hoping she would turn around and keep on the bright side.

“I’m sorry, Danny. I can’t help it sometimes.” It fell silent for a few moments before Autumn broke it again. “Tell me what your father is like.”

“Autumn, I told you a million times. You don’t want to hear all that again.”

“Yes I do. Tell me,” she urged. I sighed, but a smile was on my face.

“He’s really nice, like, insanely nice. He’ll stick up for me without fail and will kick any guy’s ass who hurts me. All the guys I want to date are going to be terrified of him…”

Time Lapse

We finally were in Huntington Beach, California. Autumn was following the signs to Huntington Beach Mercy Hospital, apparently the local hospital. I was too busy, however, staring out the window. I had only been near the beach once when I went with Autumn and her parents down to Galveston, Texas, but even then it was nothing like this.

“We’re here,” Autumn spoke pulling me out of my trance. I hadn’t even noticed we had pulled into the parking lot until that moment. I quickly climbed out as Autumn did. As we got closer to the front entrance, my feet felt like they were lead and my heart rate increased. This was it. We will either get the information I was dying for or we’ll be rejected. Possibly pulled out by security and then I’ll be back to square one. “Are you okay Danny?”

I looked up to see Autumn hesitating outside the automatic doors. I forced a smile and nodded. “Just nervous is all.”

“It’s okay. We’re going to go in there and we’ll get all the information we need,” Autumn tried to assure me. But in her eyes I could see the small amount of doubt. I just nodded and smiled nervously. Together we walked inside. It smelt like old people and death, something I hated. Luckily no one was in the area except for the secretary behind glass. As we approached her, she smiled brightly.

“May I help you?” she asked politely.

“Yes - ” I paused to look at her nametag. “Destiny. I need to find Dr. Lee.”

“Can I ask what it is about?” Destiny asked, even though she was already holding a phone to her ear.

“We need to speak to her about one of her patients,” Autumn said simply. Well, it wasn’t a total lie. She paused for a moment before nodding and dialing a number. After a few moments she began to talk into the phone.

“Dr. Lee, there are two girls here that wish to see you. Yes ma’am. No. Okay, I’ll let them know.” Destiny hung up and turned to us with a smile. “Dr. Lee is, luckily, free right now. Just walk through those doors and take the elevators to floor five. Go right and you’ll find her office.”

“Thank you very much,” we spoke in unison before walking through the double doors. Soon we were standing in front of suite 507, office of Evelyn Lee, Ph.D.. I took a deep breath before knocking with my knuckles. A faint ‘come in’ was heard. I opened the door to see a middle aged Caucasian woman with straight, dark brown hair. She stood and offered a hand.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Lee.”

“Danielle Edwards,” I greeted, shaking her hand. I motioned towards Autumn and said, “This is my friend, Autumn Samuels.”

“Pleasure to meet you two. Please, take a seat. How may I help you?” She asked once we sat in the two chairs across from her own seat which she had settled in once again.

“This is going to sound strange, but I was hoping you could give me information on my father.” She quirked an eyebrow so I quickly continued. “I was born here, but my mother moved to Denver, Colorado. I just want to meet my father, but my mom never speaks of him. I came here hoping you could give me his information since you were the doctor that delivered me.”

I pulled out my birth certificate and slid it across the table to her. She unfolded it and let her eyes skim over the information. She placed it back on the desk and slid it back to me, frowning. My heart instantly sank. This was a waste of time, she wouldn’t give me the information. “It would be against all ethical codes I have to give you the information you seek. The reason it was written out like this was because your mother wanted it to be a sealed birth. It was her right.”

“And it’s Danielle's right to lose the name of her father?” Autumn snapped, her fists slamming onto the desk.

“Autumn, stop,” I demanded.

“No, this is screwed up. It’s her mother’s right for her to never let Danielle even know the name of her father? She’s sixteen years old, don’t you think that’s long enough of her not knowing him? Everyone deserves a father, doctor. I think you can agree,” Autumn said, motioning towards a picture on her desk I didn’t notice before. It was a younger Dr. Lee with an older man next to her, smiling and an arm wrapped around her shoulders. On the frame above the glass read a banner that proclaimed ‘The World’s Greatest Dad!’.

Dr. Lee smiled fondly at the picture before turning to us again. “You’re right. Okay, I will give you the information.”

Autumn and I shared a smile as she stood with her back to us, leafing through the filing cabinet behind her. I couldn’t believe this was happening. For once Autumn’s stubbornness was getting us somewhere. Finally she turned back around with a folder in hand. She settled into her seat again as she flipped open the folder and skimmed through the papers. She finally pulled out a sheet and copied an address onto a sticky note.

“This is the address he provided when you were born. I don’t know if he still lives here or not, but this is all I can give you.” She handed me the note and I smiled at the letters and numbers on the paper.

“No, thank you doctor. This is certainly enough.”

“I hope you succeed in your quest Danielle,” the doctor informed. I gave her a hug as we stood before I ran from the room with Autumn. Standing in the elevator, I was almost jumping with joy.

“We’re almost there Autumn! We’re almost there,” I whispered, hugging the paper to my chest.