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Jeanie looked from her mom to her dad and back to her mom. Then her face broke out in a grin to rival the sun. She ran over to her father and pulled on his shirt, waiting until he leaned down to whisper, “Can I call you daddy?”
Wow.In a move as unexpected as it was meaningful, Aidan looked to her before responding, and she nodded the only possible reply. With an emotional smile, Aidan held his little girl. “I’d like nothing more.” His voice was thick with emotion, and Laura couldn’t stop a tear from staining her cheek.
Jeanie stood up, clutching Aidan’s hand like she would never let him go. “I’m so happy you and Mommy are getting married!”
A wave of pain crashed down like a tidal wave, stealing her breath and crushing her soul. “Sweetie, Aidan and I are not…"
"I became your daddy in a different way," Aidan broke in suddenly, stopping her words. Laura looked up sharply. Why wouldn't he let her say they weren't getting married?
Confusion also marred Jeanie’s expression. “I don’t understand. How else can you get a new daddy?”
Laura searched for answers in Aidan’s stoic regard. How could she explain to her daughter what she herself did not comprehend? Of course, she understood why Aidan was Jeanie’s father, and how, but not why they couldn’t be a family. Why he still believed she was going to keep Jeanie from him, that her declaration of love was meaningless. Why he wouldn’t even listen.
“Because daddies come in many ways.” Vaguely, Aidan answered Jeanie’s question. “I've always been your daddy, but we didn't know, and that's why I haven't been around. So I'm not as much of a new daddy as a newly found daddy.”
Her daughter still didn’t understand, and it would be many years before she could, but there was no more to tell her now. “So, Jeanie, is this a good surprise?”
Jeanie’s face returned to sheer brightness. “It’s the best surprise I’ve ever had,” she proclaimed. “Even better than when the lunch lady gave methreescoops of ice cream.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Aidan chuckled. “If you’d like, we can spend time together right now. I’d love to hear about that project you did in school the other day. The one you were telling me about.”
The little girl needed no more prompting. She took her father by the hand and led him into the living room, already describing the spaceship she had created. And just like that, Laura stood alone in the hallway.
The clock ticked the seconds, yet she did not move. A minute, and then two, and then three passed. Determined not to display her devastation at her daughter’s beautiful day, she set to busying herself. She cleaned the kitchen, and cleaned some more, as minutes and then hours passed. The happy sounds of fun and laughter drifted in as Jeanie showed Aidan not one, but all of her preschool projects from the last year. They played games and read stories, surfed kid-friendly websites and did crafts, not emerging until lunch and then going straight back. Laura looked up as they reentered the room after hours more had passed, twin sets of happy smiles and glowing eyes. The resemblance was stronger than ever.
“Did you have a good time?” Washing her hands, Laura picked up Jeanie and placed her on her lap. “Did you have fun with Aid… Daddy?”
“Yes!” Jeanie nodded widely. “Daddy said maybe we could go out for dinner, but we had to ask you first.”
Laura glanced at Aidan. She supposed she should be happy he respected her enough not to make plans without her consent. “That sounds like a great idea. Why don’t you have a special daddy-daughter dinner?”
At the suggestion, Aidan looked surprised and Jeanie confused. “You don’t want to come with us, Mommy?” She blinked.
“Mommy just has a lot of work to do today,” Laura offered the thin excuse. She had completed all her work at the office. “You and Daddy have a good time.”
Jeanie looked towards Aidan, and he nodded. The child grabbed her coat, and hand-in-hand, father and daughter walked out the door. Slowly, Laura shut the door behind them.
It would have just been too painful, too devastating to pretend to be the family they would never be. So she ate a t.v. dinner that tasted like flavored cardboard and instead cleaned the rest of the apartment. She scrubbed and vacuumed, brushed and washed, in a hopeless attempt at distraction. Yet no matter how much she scrubbed or how hard she scoured, she could not clear the heartbreaking reality from her mind.
The hours passed in rapid succession, filled with burning pain. Laura had completed the common rooms and was just finishing Jeanie’s when a soft knock sounded from the door. She opened it to admit Aidan, carrying a sweet sleeping child. Soundlessly he went to the little girl’s room, emerging a minute later to shut the door behind him, not all the way, but just as Jeanie liked.
“She fell asleep in the car,” he explained without emotion. He paused, as if searching for the right words, then breathed deeply. “I'd better go. If it’s all right, I'd like to accompany Jeanie to her soccer game tomorrow.”
She nodded her permission. Retrieving his coat, he turned, but before he could leave, she called, "Aidan, wait."
He stopped, but didn’t look back.
“Please… let's talk.”
He still did not turn around. What should she say to him, whatcouldshe do to make him believe her? Taking a deep breath, she said it simply. “Everything I said was the truth. Every single word.”
For a second, he hesitated, and hope flared. In the next, he stated quietly, “I wish I could believe that, but it doesn’t change anything. Our future is set.”
Then he was gone.
She shut the door. What had he meant by the cryptic words? What future was set? So many questions, and only a single certainty:
This was happened when the billionaire took control.
