Page 58 of The Single Dad Dilemma
“Ouch.”
“No,” she says, laughing. “I don’t mean it as a bad thing. It’s just… I don’t want our relationship to begin with what would end up being this violent stain on the memory of our first weekend as an official couple.”
I consider her words, thinking to myself that she’s probably right. I wouldn’t want to be that man again in front of her if I didn’t have to be. And in this case, it seems like it wasn’t totally necessary.
“Just as long as you know I would,” I say, rubbing her back.
“You would what?” she asks, looking up at me.
“Honey.” I sigh and run my hand up her throat and cup her cheek. “I would burn this city to the ground just to taste your lips.”
She sighs deeply, biting her bottom lip to suppress a smile.
“Well, my feet do get cold a lot,” she says, her crystalline eyes fixed on mine.
“Say the word, Darcy.”
She presses her mouth to mine, kissing me deeply. I grip her tightly, giving myself over to her. I meant what I said to her. I would do it for Lou and I would do it for Darcy, too.
I have loved my life with my daughter. Despite our rocky start, the loss of her mother, I have never wished I could be someone else. I’ve never wished I wasn’t a parent. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t felt like something was missing. I knew there was a hole that would eventually need to be filled. For a while, I didn’t want to fill it. Then I tried to use other things to fill it. Finally, I resolved to thinking it might always be that way.
But the moment Darcy entered our lives… I don’t know, it was like a puzzle piece just fell into place. It felt so natural, soeasy. I went looking for a nanny, but I found so much more than that. When you think about who your person will be, what they will be like, things like kindness and honesty always come up. I could say all of the typical answers almost everyone will give. But to each individual, there’s always something they can’t put a trait to. The intangible.
It’s like you see magic in the person. It’s that one thing that when people ask what you love about them, you can’t explain it. They’re just… made for you. This is always how I will talk about Darcy.
She can be worried about the future and unsure if we can make it. She can worry about thinking school will break us up. That’s okay. Because I know it won’t. I am strong enough to carry the three of us through the rough patches.
It’s too early to tell her I love her. She’ll think I’m a nutcase. So instead, when I break our kiss and brush my thumb over her cheek, I say what I can.
“I just want you to know something,” I whisper.
“What’s that?” she asks, her eyes sparkling brightly.
“I’m going to love you some day.”
Her gaze grows wider as her lips spread into an easy smile.
“Well,” she says, sighing. “You let me know when that day comes.”
“Oh, I will, honey,” I say. “I will.”
The day drifts by lazily. We spend it with Lou in the backyard. First, with a water gun fight, then we roast hot dogs and s’mores over the fire pit. As the day turns dark, I pull the camping gear out of the hallway closet and put up a tent next to the patio. We keep the fire fed, catch fireflies, and tell spooky stories.
When Lou falls asleep, a light snore fills the tent.
I pull Darcy out into the yard, then zip the tent behind us to make sure bugs don’t get in. I pull my phone from my pocket and start a favorite playlist of slow songs. I turn the volume low enough to not disturb Lou, but we can still hear it.
Darcy puts her arms up around my neck as I grip her waist. I sway her side to side in step with the music. I pull her to my chest, enveloping her with my body.
I don’t know who I have to thank for this wonderful life, but I consider myself a lucky man. And now that I have it, I will do whatever is necessary to keep it. Lou has my heart in a way only a daughter ever could. But whatever remains, whatever is for romantic love, belongs to Darcy.
THE END
EPILOGUE
DARCY
Ifinish taping the top of the last remaining box in my room. I’m leaving my bed because I don’t need it. And the dresser for the same reason. But other than that, the room is officially empty.
