“Coming,” I called as I trudged up to the door. For a small woman, Sara was getting in some good shots. The locks rattled for a moment before I clicked them open.
“Custody papers?” She smacked the fat, white envelope into my chest. “Are you kidding me? Who do you think you are?”
“I’m her father!” I yelled loud enough for Sara to take a step back. “All I wanted to do was get to know her and be a part of her life, and allyoudo is fight me at every single turn. Last weekend, I finally had enough. My daughter can stay at my apartment on weekends and she can accept a gift from either of us. She belongs with me just as much as she belongs with you. I’m not taking her away from you, but you aren’t keeping her from me. Or us. Not anymore.”
She choked out a sad laugh as she strolled passed me, settling in the chair by the door. “Do you know what it’s like to have no one? I meanreallyhave no one?” Her jaw clenched as she glared at me. “Do you have any idea how hard it’s been all these years on my own? To have no one to count on but myself to take care of Victoria? Even before I crossed paths with you that night, my family thought of me as a screw-up. When I came home with the round belly as confirmation, they cut me off. I send them pictures of Victoria, but who knows if they even open them.” She shrugged as she raked her hand through her hair.
I crossed my arms and said nothing in reply. I brought my eyes to hers and nodded, hoping that would urge her to continue.
“I never got to have . . . fun with her, you know? I always had to work two jobs to make rent, but at least dance class was something extra I could get away with for a little while.” She sniffled and did a quick swipe of her cheek with the back of her hand. “Brianna gets to be fun. She gets to go to the arcade and the mall and have the ‘girl’ time.” She held her hands up in air quotes. “As petty as I probably sound, I hate the shit out of that.” Her voice croaked as her gaze dropped to the carpet.
My chest pinched at the utter despair drifting across her face. Maybe my presence and offers of help screwed up the only normal she could give her daughter, and I’d never wanted that.
“Well, now maybe you can.” I crouched in front of her. “I can afford to pay a lot more child support, I told you that. You wouldn’t have to work so many hours and could have a little fun with her sometimes. I don’t want to pull her away; I just want the chance to be a parent, too. I still don’t know what the hell I’m doing.” I chuckled.
“No, you do.” I was surprised to hear Sara answer. “Like I said, I’m not used to accepting help. At first, I was afraid you’d hurt her, stop coming around once the novelty wore off.”
“Sara, I’d never—”
“I know that now. But then another unexpected problem came up. I never thought I’d feel like I was competing for my own kid’s love. She asks for both of you all the time. I failed her in so many ways. Now she’s old enough to realize it.” Her voice cracked as her gaze fell.
“You didn’t fail her. She’s a respectful, smart, wonderful little girl.” I put my hand over hers. “And that’s all because of you.”
She sniffled and nodded. “Thank you. I just feel like I’m drowning. One low paying waitress job after another isn’t going to move us forward. I was offered an internship, but I can’t take it.”
“Why can’t you take it? That sounds like a great opportunity.”
Her chest rose as she took a deep breath. “I found a school that will take my culinary credits from nine years ago. I could work in a restaurant close by and live at school, but I can’t take Victoria, so I had to say no. It’s all the way upstate anyway.” She gave me a resigned shrug.
“What if I took her?” The words flew out before I had a chance to think about them.
Sara blinked as she leveled her gaze at me. “Took her? No, I can’t just leave her. I’ll find something else, eventually.”
“She could live with us. We could come visit you on vacations or you could stay here. Vic could stay in her school and in her dance class.”
She bit her lip as if she was mulling it over but shook her head.
“Listen,” I whispered. “I have a lot of years to make up for. I’d love for her to come live with us. I know a lot about second chances—they don’t come around very often.”
“But, I can’t leave her,” she said more to herself than me as her eyes filled with more tears. “What kind of a mother would that make me if I left?”
“A mother who was making her own life better so she could make hers better, too. You both deserve that. When do they want you there?”
“Um, next month. I could move into student housing in a couple of weeks. If they let me say yes.”
“Then, you better call them.” For the first time since I saw her again, a small grin spread her cheeks.
“Okay, I’ll let you know. And either way, Victoria can stay with you on weekends. She loves you guys; it wouldn’t be right to keep her from you.”
I grabbed the papers from her hands and threw them into the garbage can by the door. “Thank you, Sara.”
She turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway. “I always told Victoria her father was a nice guy. I’m happy I was right.”
I locked the door behind her and rested my forehead against the wood. I’d been a father for a few months, but only moonlighted. Now, I’d be one full-time. Instead of panicking, I embraced it. In fact, I couldn’t wait.
Brianna came up behind me and looped her arms around my waist.
“How much did you hear?”
