But Loving Him Was Red...

A Month Later

“Hey, just move those over there,” I told Seth, the Dad of the little girl; Cruz, whom was in Lucia’s playgroup at the day care to move the picnic table to the other side of the yard. He picked it up and carried it past me, giving me a smile as he walked.

He was a single Dad, his girlfriend left him a few months prior to pursue an acting career, he said he came home from work and she left, saying to pick Cruz up at daycare.

He had a John Cena kind of build, with straight brown hair, gorgeous teeth and loving green eyes. He was absolutely adorable; we had a conversation as we stood outside of the daycare waiting for the kids to be done.

His daughter had beautiful brown eyes, like her Mom, and his nose, his face shape and his eyelashes. She was turning three in July and was the apple of his eye. I turned over my shoulder as I saw Sidney’s Range Rover pull into the driveway. I frowned, realizing I forgot I invited him to Lucia’s party.

He was excited, more than excited to be attending and I felt like partially, we had put the past two years behind us and we were just working on the future.

We weren’t back together, I think we are honestly further than fuck away from being there, but we were talking and that is better than nothing.

Sidney told his parents that he had a daughter and within twenty minutes, I got a call from Troy, thanking me and saying how proud he was of me.

“Hey Emily,” Sidney smiled, bringing a giant pink paper covered box tied with a golden bow over his shoulder as he walked through the gate. He stopped when he realized there was apparently supposed to be someone following him.

He set the box on a nearby table covered with presents and shouted. “Come on, Emily wont bite,” I arched an eyebrow and stood on my tiptoes to see who he had brought. Sidney walked back through the gate and returned quickly with Geno by the arm, he forced a smile when our eyes met.

If he didn’t want to be here, why did Sidney invite him?
I frowned, sipping my champagne out of the glass I had in my hand. I know it was a kid’s birthday party, but all the screaming and crying, you have to be sauced to make it through this kind of event.

I watched as Taylor tiptoed down the driveway to her little blue Civic and hurried out onto the road. She said she wanted to stay for Lucia’s birthday, but when I said Sidney was going to be there, she chickened out and decided it wasn’t such a good idea, with him knowing she was pregnant, but she can’t tell him who fathered her child. She found out the other day she was having a little boy, and was dying to name him Landon.

“Thanks for inviting us,” Sidney smiled, walking up the yard dragging Geno. He stopped in his tracks and released Geno abruptly. “I…” He stumbled over his words. “Lucia?” He pointed at her sitting at a little table, wearing her birthday crown, her hair in curls framing her little angelic face.

They all had their faces painted up like butterflies and clowns. Dad hired a face painter to come down earlier and paint the kids faces.

He couldn’t make her party, but did more than what I thought he’d do with hiring the face painter, paying for the cake and the catering, putting money in a college fund for Lucia, on top of buying her a shit load of stuff, and then saying he’d be down with more stuff sometime within the next couple months. Now, she’s not spoiled by my father…

“Yep, that’s her… Wearing the birthday crown in the back,” I pointed her out, while she was chattering onto Cruz sitting beside her at the table. “Want me to… you know, introduce you?” He abruptly looked over at me, a look of shock across his face. It was pretty sad, I thought that I had to physically walk up to Lucia and explain who Sidney was, it was just so sad.

“I… I didn’t expect her to be so… real,” He whispered. “What if… What if she doesn’t like me?”

I put my hands on his face, making him look at me. “Of course she’ll like you,” I took his hand in mine and we walked over towards the table, the entire time our hands entwined together, it was making my stomach do flip flops and sending a rush through my stomach. I was feeling everything I ever felt for him come back to the surface, and it didn’t help that his hands were soft to the touch and warm.

I released his hand and knelt down. “Lucia,” I pointed my finger for her to come. She sat the flowered plate down and slowly trotted up to us, letting her dress flow to her knees. She had on a dress my Mother sent for her that arrived yesterday; it was pink with red flowers over the material, and little white sandals on her feet.

“Hey sweetie, you having fun at your party?” I patted her shoulders with my hands. I was amazed at how big she was getting and the fact she was already two. 16 years to go and she’ll be 18 and I’ll be yanking my hair out.

“Dylan wouldn’t share the crayons, Mama,” She pouted, slowly looking up at Sidney. “Who are you?” She whispered, staring at him, connecting their identical features. I knew she was a sensitive child; she always was drawing pictures of the happy things and was heartbroken when people raised their voices around her.

Sidney cleared his throat and then looked at me, obviously waiting for me to answer her question. God, even I didn’t know what to say. I pulled Sidney down beside me, so we were both eyelevel. I had to tell her the right way. I took her tiny hands in mine. “Lucia, this is Sidney, and he is your Daddy,” I grabbed his hand and put it over hers. She stared at him awkwardly and then at their hands before looking immediately at me.

“Where’s Cawd?” She asked, blinking her eyes softly. Claude was the only thing she really knew since she was little and she didn’t do very well with change, but I was hoping she’d be okay.

I frowned, knowing I’d have to explain this to her eventually.

“Lucia, Claude had to go somewhere and he’s not coming back,” I whispered. “So I searched for your real Daddy, and I found him,” I patted his shoulder and watched him looking at her intensely. “And he loves you very much,”

There was a brief pause and Lucia looked at Sidney and smiled. “You my Daddy?” She asked, pulling a sticker off of her dress and sticking it to his cheek. It was of a purple butterfly with blue wings.

Sidney looked at me and then back at Lucia. “Yes, Lucia, I am your Daddy,” He smiled and I watched his chin tremble.

“Want to play horsy?” She asked, taking his thumb in her hands and leading him off through the backyard, chattering off about the rules of the game. It was basic, she rides around on his back and he neighs. She played it all the time with Claude and me.

I stood up, dusted off the knees of my good jeans and walked back over by the food table, where Geno was standing. I grabbed back up my champagne and watched Sidney running through the yard, with Lucia up on his shoulders, both of them laughing and smiling. It melted my heart to see them so happy, both of them.

Geno slid beside me and touched my shoulder with his. “She’s all he’s talked about all week,” He slowly rolled his eyes. ‘I’ve never seen the guy so happy before,” He sipped his own glass of champagne. “The other day he spent the entire day painting and cleaning his house, and cleaned a room and bought a whole bunch of shit for her, it was really…” He scratched his chin. “Very sweet,”

“Your english is phenomenal,” I turned and stared at him. Nothing else changed. His eyes were the same, his face, his chin, his hands, his hair, everything. “What the fuck happened?” I blurted out. I was so used to ‘No Emily I walk here, no drive’

“Layla,” He sighed. “She taught me legit English, so I don’t sound like a fucking moron when I talk,” He scratched at the side of his neck and gave me a sideways glance. “So, you and Sid, huh?”
“Oh god, Evgeni, there is nothing there anymore,” I explained, looking back at Sidney and Lucia, now both sitting at the table.

Lucia on the chair and Sidney sitting cross legged on the ground; he had stickers on both his cheeks now and was wearing her birthday crown. I was surprised she didn’t have him in a cape and heels yet. “I wanted him and Lucia to finally meet and I think it’s the best thing for the both of them,”

“You do realize, after today, he’s going to want to see her…” He looked over at me, with wide eyes. “All the time, right?”

I huffed, looking at my feet. “Yes...” I moved my bangs out of my eyes. “I’ve had her for two years, and I think he deserves to see her,”

But deep down I was a little afraid that maybe Sidney could want to take me to court and fight for custody of her…