“I still don’t know,” I whisper.
“That’s okay. I do have to say, if it’s winter, make sure that every time you go out you bring an extra jacket just in case you are outside for a while. Learn from my mistakes.” Scarlett chuckles. “Do you have anything you want to talk about?”
My mind immediately goes to needing to decide whether I’m going to stay here or not. I need to figure it out soon since the end of the week is coming up. But I don’t know how I’m going to choose.
It’s such a big decision.
“I can see you thinking about something,” Scarlett says. “Tell me. I’m pretty good at giving people advice.”
“Well, did you ever have to decide between staying here or going somewhere else?” I ask.
Scarlett hums. “Not really. I was running away and planning on staying here for a week until I could heal and leave, but Daddy took one look at me and had me stay with him. He didn’t really give me a choice, but secretly I wanted that.”
“Oh.”
Well, that doesn’t really help. How am I going to get her opinion if she hasn’t gone through something similar?
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you. Why don’t you tell me your situation and we can talk it through?” she suggests. “I love helping people.”
“Daddy and Aiden want me to stay here, not work, and get rid of my apartment back home,” I start off.
“Okay. And what is your hesitation?” she asks.
“I’m just worried. I’m worried that if I do that sometime down the road, Daddy is going to realize that I’m not everything he wants. He’s told me he’s never going to get tired of me, but what if it takes him by surprise and he does? I don’t want to getrid of my place then move here only for it to not work out. Then when he says he doesn’t want me any longer, I don’t have any money to find a place to go,” I tell her my worries. “I’m worried that things are going to go so wrong and I’m going to be left so heartbroken that I won’t know what to do with myself anymore.”
Scarlett grabs my hand and gives it a small squeeze. “Those are valid concerns, and I’m pretty sure your Daddy made sure to let you know that he isn’t thinking any of those things. That he won’t ever get tired of you and he will love you for the rest of your life.”
I nod. “And I believe him, but there is just something inside me that still worries things aren’t going to go right.”
“That’s okay. Sometimes I still think about those as well. That Daddy won’t love my baby girl because she’s technically not his daughter. But after some time, you start to stop thinking about those things. When they pop into your head again, it’s important to go to your Daddy and tell him so that he can ease those worries and hold you extra tight,” she explains. “That’s what I do every single time I have one of those nasty thoughts. Daddy never gets tired of reassuring me, and I know your Daddy won’t mind either.”
I take a deep breath in and nod. “And that works?” I ask.
“Oh yeah. Daddy is very good at reassuring me that he is never going to make me leave. He has told me countless times, but sometimes those worries still pop into my mind, and that’s okay. Hopefully, one day I won’t think about them ever again…
“But talk to your Daddy about it. Come up with a system that whenever you have one of those thoughts, you correct it right away so it doesn’t fester, isn’t something worse, and harder to deal with. It takes effort from both of you. More so you than him since you actually have to go and tell him how you are feeling, but it gets easier with each time it happens.”
“I still don’t know what to do,” I groan and let my face drop into my hands.
Scarlett rubs my back. “Everything is going to be okay. Is the only reason you are hesitating to stay because of your worries?”
“Yes,” I mumble.
“Then I think you should stay,” she replies. “If that’s your only reason, then you must have a lot of reasons to stay.”
“I guess I do,” I reply. “Daddy. Aiden. You. I feel safe, comfortable, and seen. I don’t have to worry about things.”
“See, they are already outweighing the things you are worried about,” she points out. “So I think you should stay here, but that’s just my opinion.”
“I’ll think about it some more,” I whisper.
She pulls me in for a hug. “Everything is going to work out in the end, I promise. You can worry all you want about it, but deep down you know what you are going to do and everything is going to be okay.”
We stay like this for several minutes, just enjoying the peace of outside.
“What are you two girls talking about?” Daddy asks as he walks up to the cabin.
“Nothing, just enjoying being outside,” I reply.
