"I'm sorry." She stated "I thought you wanted…"
"I do." he replied still pale.
"You don't look too happy."
"I am, I am very happy."
"You are?"
"Yes, I have a daughter, I think it just hit me that I have a daughter and she's growing up so fast and so beautiful." She took one moment to understand and she couldn't help her smile, by the growl he gave her, it was clear he was not amused.
"Calm down she's not ready for college yet." Michael blanched at her words and she couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"She's not going to college."
"Of course, she is silly," she teased.
"There are boys in college."
"I would hope so."
"She's not allowed to meet them."
"Okay then, whatever you say."
"She won't date until she's thirty."
"Good luck."
"Are you listening to me?"
"Yes, and enjoying your nervous breakdown, she's not even seven years old yet."
Her words must have called him because he took a long breath and watched as the little girl tear into another box with his grandfather urging her on.
"Do you think I'll make a good father?"
This time she turned to him, eyes earnest. "The very best."
Epilogue
?MIRANDA?
Something woke her up — it might have been the anticipation of what the next day would bring or the tinkling sound the pristine snow made right outside her window.
One moment she was lost in sleep, dreaming of all the things she could do, and the very next moment she was awake knowing she could finally do all of them.
She was fifteen years old now, and perfectly happy with her life, none of that crummy teenager angst for her, thank you very much.
But she had sarcasm, something her mother told her all the time when she was giving her a lesson. Yes, she was homeschooled and loved every minute of it.
Her life was so beautiful she wanted to shout as she lay in bed.
Maybe now that she was all grown up and mature her father would allow her to go to Paris — her dad tended to be overprotective like that, much worse than her mom. And that was saying something.
She had gone to see him in the office once when she was younger and the two of them never let her forget it. Never mind the fact that she was only five years old, or that she was supposed to be in school. She had snuck out without telling anyone — even the cops were searching for her.
Totally not her fault, and that was ages ago, but they would never let her live that down, and they told the story every chance they got.
