Page 7 of Extracurricular with Mr. Abbot
Megan shakes her head.
“That’s good, sweetie,” Erin says as she bends down so she’s at my daughter’s height. “You remind me of someone,” she says as she presses her finger against Megan’s nose.
“Who?” Megan breathes, enthralled by Erin. I don’t blame her. Erin is by far the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, she’s so easy to be around, and she has such a beautiful smile that it’s almost impossible not to be enamored by her.
“A princess,” Erin replies easily. “Do you know that I have now seen two princesses?”
Megan’s mouth opens in surprise. Never have I seen my daughter interact so animatedly with anyone she didn’t know before. Seeing how Erin is with her, it’s making it harder for me to stay away.
“My best friend is a princess, and so are you. I’m so lucky to have met such a beautiful princess.” She presses her finger against her nose once again, and Megan giggles. “Where’s your mommy and daddy, Princess?” She asks. “Do you want me to help you find them?”
Megan giggles louder. “No, silly, my daddy’s there,” she tells her as she points to me.
Erin turns to me, that beautiful soft smile on her face, the second she sees me, I watch as it falls, and pain slashes through her eyes. “That’s good, sweetie, you should go back to him now. Okay?”
Megan nods. “Okay, bye,” she says and rushes toward me.
I take a step forward, but Erin shakes her head, tears filling her eyes. She backs away, her hands up, she’s pleading with me not to go near her. My heart fucking hurts as I watch a tear fall down her cheek. She shakes her head again and turns on her heel. I watch with gritted teeth as she runs away, her feet heavy as she pounds against the ground.
“Daddy, that lady was so pretty,” Megan tells me. “Why did she run away?”
My jaw clenches. How the fuck do I tell my daughter that I’m the reason she ran?
“Come on, honey” I say softly, hoping that she’ll change the subject. “Let’s play with the ball, we’ll have to go home soon.”
“Oh, no,” she whines, and I raise a brow at her. “Okay, Daddy.” She throws the ball at me, and she laughs when I don’t catch it.
We continue to play, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t take my mind off Erin. Fuck. I want to make sure that she’s okay. But I can’t. Not now.
* * *
I knockon the door and wait. Fucking praying that she’s here. I barely slept last night. I kept tossing and turning. She’s all that I think about. All that I see. What the hell is wrong with me? I should be focusing on my career and my daughter. Instead, she’s all that I see.
The door opens, and I see a tired looking Erin wearing nothing but an oversized tee. Her hair mused, and her eyes heavy with sleep. The moment she realizes it’s me standing in her doorway, her eyes narrow.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she hisses at me.
“I wanted to check and see if you’re okay. I would have been here last night, but I’d had to have brought my daughter, and you’d have never got rid of her.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, the movement causing the hem of the tee to rise, it’s now mid-thigh, and I inwardly groan. Fuck. I need to have some fucking control. “As you can see, I’m fine.”
“Can I come in?” I ask. “I’d like to explain a few things to you.”
She sighs and takes a step backward, opening the door wider for me and letting me in.
“Megan’s four,” I begin, wanting her to know the truth as to why we can’t be together. “Her mom walked out on her when she was six months old. She said she wasn’t cut out to be a mom. I hate her for doing so, but I also know how hard it was for her. But Megan deserves better.”
She nods. “She does. I don’t know what your ex was like, but I can’t imagine walking away. It must have been hell for her to do so,” she whispers.
I don't tell her that it wasn’t. Heather never formed an attachment to Megan. She wasn’t sure if she wanted her, but by the time she found out, it was too late for her to do anything. She was already in her fifth month of pregnancy. We were a one-night thing, it was never anything more. Heather went through with the pregnancy and then tried her hardest, but no matter what, the bond was never there. She gave Megan to me when my daughter was six weeks old, and I’ve had her ever since. Heather saw her around five times between the age of six weeks and six months. She told me one day that she was done and she was leaving. That was the last time I saw her.
“Megan has diabetes. The insurance, along with my salary from the college, is what makes me able to afford her medication, baby. If I could, I'd give it up for you. But my daughter comes first. Always.”
I watch as she swallows hard. Her eyes filled with tears, but she nods. “I get it. I really do. But I wish you had told me that instead of walking out without a proper explanation.”
“You’re right, you did deserve the truth, and I’m sorry that I didn’t give it to you.”
She nods. “So what happens now?”
