by Tasha Blue
“He's in for a surprise , then,” Sophie said.
“Please Sophie, go home,” Laura said softly. “I've got this. I'll call you as soon as it's over.”
Sophie didn't look pleased to be leaving Laura with this monster of a man who had impregnated her best friend and left her in the lurch, but she respected Laura enough to let her do things her own way and agreed to leave her to talk to him.
“You know where I am if you need me,” she told her. “And no matter what happens with Daniel, you've still got the rest of us.”
Sophie gave Laura a supportive hug and headed off down the sidewalk, leaving Laura to face Daniel alone. She stood for a few moments outside the café holding onto Annie's stroller and looking through the glass window at Daniel laughing and joking with his friends. He looked just as Laura remembered him; strong, handsome, confident. Even though she was about to face him with big news and big decisions, Laura still couldn't help the flutter that came into her chest when she looked at him. Memories of their night together came flooding back and although she recognized him, she wondered if he would recognize her as she was now. He'd left her as a sexy, available woman and would find her now as a pretty, worn out mother of a newborn. And what would he think of Annie?
Of course Laura's daughter was a beautiful, happy little girl, but as loved as she was now, she had still been a surprise and while Laura was over her own shock, she now had to present her little surprise to a man who had been blissfully unaware.
Inside the café, Daniel was smiling that incredible smile of his. He was more tanned than when he had left, but also more toned, if that was possible. He looked healthy and in good spirits, and Laura wasn't sure she liked being the woman who was going to bring that all crashing down.
People behaved as though she had a right to be angry with him, but Laura didn't see it that way. Their night together was supposed to have been a single night of passion, and neither of them had foreseen that anything more would come of it. If Laura hadn't have gotten pregnant, then her one night with Daniel would have been just that—one crazy, heated night with a stranger a year ago.
Daniel was a father now, and she a mother, and the three-month old baby in Laura's stroller was a living bond that now existed between her and the man inside the café. No matter how much she tried to forget about him or move on, they had created something together that no amount of time could undo. The time had come now to have a conversation with this man. that Laura had been waiting to have with him, for a very long time.
She pushed open the door of the café and lifted the wheels of the stroller over the doorframe. She pushed the stroller over to the table where Daniel was drinking coffee with two other tanned, muscular men and waited silently until he looked up and spotted her.
Laura wondered if he would recognize her, but the look in his eyes when they settled on her face told her he knew exactly who she was. His expression was firstly one of delight, chased quickly by surprise, and then, when he looked into the stroller and saw a little girl of an age that matched a certain timeline, a fleeting look of terror.
“Hello,” Laura said.
Daniel put down his coffee and smiled in a flustered, panicked way.
“Hello,” he said.
He turned to the other firefighters and told them that he needed to catch up with an old friend and then he followed Laura back out of the coffee shop and they walked together up the high street with a tense, uneasy silence hanging between them until they reached the park and stopped at a bench on the grass.
“I've been trying to get hold of you for a long time,” Laura said at last, when they were both seated and looking out over the children playing baseball and couples walking hand in hand.
“I was away in Colorado,” Daniel told her.
“I know.”
Although he was talking to her, Daniel's eyes were fixated on Annie. Undoubtedly, could see himself in her. Now that the two were side by side, Laura could see that the resemblance was striking.
It felt strange to be sitting next to this man after all this time. The last time they’d sat close together like this it had been just before they had come together in the most wonderful way and they had both been wild and uninhibited, chasing their passions to their sweet ends. Now they were sitting side by side with their daughter between them and Daniel's unspoken question burning in the air.
“Is she...?” he managed to stammer out at last.
Laura simply nodded. “She looks like you, doesn't she?”
The captain hesitated a moment and then turned his gaze back to Laura. “Are you sure she's mine?” he asked a little tentatively.
“I'm sure,” Laura replied with a tad of annoyance to her voice. “Believe it or not, the way I was that night... Well, it was out of character for me.”
“Me too,” Daniel replied.
“I find that hard to believe,” Laura said.
“Why is it hard to believe?” Daniel retorted, taking offense at her tone.
“Come on,” Laura said patiently. “A guy like you? You must be with a different woman every night.”
Daniel leaned over the stroller to look more closely at his daughter, drinking in every detail of her precious little face and tiny hands and feet.
“I'm not that kind of guy,” he told her. “You just had an effect on me that I can't explain.”
Laura didn't push the issue. After all, if wild attraction to a man could turn her into a sensual seductress, why couldn't it turn him into a confident player?
“Is she healthy?” Daniel asked with concern, nodding towards Annie with wide-eyed fear. “I mean, I haven't been there. Was everything okay? Is she... Are you...?” he sighed as he stumbled over his words. “Just tell me everything.”
“Her name is Annie,” Laura told him. “She's just over three months old. She's very healthy. She laughs all the time.”
“Annie,” Daniel repeated. He stared at his daughter with utter enchantment, although there was still that nervousness in his eyes. He took a deep breath and fell back against the back of the bench, running his hands through his hair in a panic, much the same way that Laura had done, siting on the edge of her tub, all those months ago. She couldn't help but smile a little to see him go through the same motions that she had, unaware of what a blessing Annie was.
“I tried to find you as soon as I found out I was pregnant,” Laura explained, “but you were already gone. I phoned every station in Colorado a hundred times and I went back to the station here every week for months until I was sure you weren't coming back. I had a decision to make and, well, here she is.”
“I'm sorry I wasn't here,” Daniel said sincerely. “I had no idea. I'm sorry you were on your own. Wow, I can't believe this. I've had a daughter all this time. I mean, just... I don't know what to say.”
“I was shocked too when I found out,” Laura half-laughed. “A baby wasn't part of the plan.”
“No,” Daniel agreed, shaking his head slightly in his disbelief. “It was brave of you to keep her.”
“I couldn't have done anything else,” Laura told him honestly. “I knew I had a child inside of me and I couldn't let her go. As soon as I knew she was there, I could feel her somehow. I hadn't planned this, but I'm glad she happened. She's an incredible child, Daniel.”
“I'm sure,” Daniel nodded. “I'm sorry, Laura. I'm a bit shell-shocked. I can't believe I've been walking around all this time, clueless that she existed. I'm so sorry.”
Laura held up a hand to stop his apologies.
“What's done is done,” she told him. “All that matters now is where we go from here. Annie is in this world now and God knows, I love her to pieces and am always going to be there for her. I've just been waiting to find out whether you will be there for her too.”
Daniel knelt on the ground beside the stroller and reached a hand in to stroke his daughter's soft curly hair. When the little girl reached out to grab his finger, the masculine man simply melted.
“She's ado
rable,” he said emotionally. “Of course I'll be there for her. For both of you. Anything you need. Just name it.”
“Well, we're getting by,” Laura told him. “And I'm not a gold digger, but a little help here and there as she grows with clothes and things would go a long way. She grows so quickly.”
“Of course,” Daniel nodded eagerly. “Clothes. What else? What does she eat?”
“She's still on formula at the moment, but I'm going to start trying her on solids very soon. They say they're ready for that between four and six months,” Laura told him.
“Formula,” Daniel listed aloud. “I can do that. What else does she need?”
Laura smiled. “Baby stuff,” she said. “You don't have to go mad. Her grandparents spoil her rotten and her godmother too.”
“She has a godmother?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, my best friend Sophie,” Laura revealed. “You saw her in that photo, remember?”
“I do,” Daniel replied. “Oh God, I've missed so much, haven't I?”
“You didn't know,” Laura reasoned. “There's still time for you to be there for her. She still hasn't said her first words, or taken her first steps or any of those big things. If you want to be there, then there's still time.”
“I'm so sorry,” Daniel repeated in a heart-felt apology. “It must have been awful for you. I can't believe you've been raising her all on your own and went through the birth and everything... Do people know that I'm her father?”
Laura nodded. “They know she didn't come from thin air,” she laughed. “I told people that her father was away for work, but nothing more. If you decide to be part of Annie's life, then I'm sure you'll meet them all in time.”
“My mother is going to have a heart attack,” Daniel laughed. “She's been asking about grandchildren since I was out of college. It'll come as a shock to her, but she's going to go crazy for this little one.”
“You're going to tell them about her?” Laura asked with emotion tightening her throat.
Daniel looked up at her with earnest eyes. “Of course, Laura. She's my daughter.”
After all these months of holding it together, Laura couldn't help but shed a tear or two of relief now. For so long she had been carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, and being mother and father to this child. She had begun to think of her night with Daniel as some distant, far away thing that had started to become less and less real until it felt like she had imagined it. To have him here with her now, real and solid and sorry to have been gone felt like some small miracle.
The captain returned to his seat beside her and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“It's going to be all right, Laura,” he said softly.
A hundred different people had told her that; Sophie, her mother, Marie. But hearing it from Daniel made her truly believe it and she leaned her head against his chest to sob a little from relief. He hugged her tightly and then asked if he could hold his daughter.
Laura lifted her from her stroller and Annie squirmed a little as she did when she was disturbed, letting out a little gurgle of protest, but falling quiet as soon as she was in her daddy's arms. For someone who made a living out of carrying people from burning buildings, Daniel had no idea how to hold a baby and Laura laughed at his uncertain pose. She repositioned Annie in his arms so that one arm was resting underneath the baby and the other was holding her back, so that she was cradled against his chest. She must have been comfortable there, as she almost immediately fell asleep.
Daniel became emotional once more and Laura could even make out the beginnings of tears suspended in his eyes.
“She must like me,” he grinned. “I've never been good with babies. She must know that I'm her daddy.”
Laura reached out and stroked her baby's head softly. Watching Daniel hold her with fatherly love made her own heart swell. Even though the future was still uncertain and scary, she was glad for this one moment when the world came to a still and she could live in a snapshot of perfection with Mommy, Daddy, and baby all together.
“I'm going to look after you two,” Daniel vowed. “It was a rough start, but I'm going to take care of you from now on.”
The fireman held his daughter against his chest for a long time as though he wanted to make up for all the cuddles he had missed, but eventually as it began to grow late and the wind cooled, he had to at last lay her back down in her stroller.
“When can I see you again?” he asked Laura hopefully.
“Any time,” Laura said. “Do you remember where I live?”
The smile that jumped to Daniel's lips at the question was the same smile that came to her face whenever she remembered that night and he nodded.
“I remember.”
“Well, I usually get home from work around six. You can come around any time after.”
“I'll be there tomorrow,” he promised. “I'll bring some of the guys with me and we'll baby-proof the house.”
Laura smiled. “That sounds good.”
As soon as she got home that night and put Annie to bed, she rushed to call Sophie and tell her what had happened.
“So he accepted responsibility, just like that?” Sophie asked incredulously. “There must be some catch.”
“I don't think there is, Soph,” Laura said. “He said that what happened that night was out of character for him, too. I don't know what it was. We just both sensed something in each other. It was an attraction that got out of control, but I think we're both responsible people, really. You should have seen him with Annie. He loves her already.”
“Well that I can believe,” Sophie replied. “My goddaughter is an angel.” Laura's friend sighed. “I worry about you, Laura,” she told her. “Just tread carefully with him, all right? I know how infatuated you were with him that night, and I know that you want a father for Annie, but just remember that he was a one-night stand and that you don't really know him or what his intentions are. I'm really happy for you that it seems that he's stepping up to take responsibility, but just don't open yourself up to get hurt, okay?”
“I won't, Sophie,” Laura promised.
She could understand her friend's concern. After all, as soon as she saw Daniel again, all those feelings which had first attracted her to him that long year ago, were stirred again. She remembered how she had felt the first time those deep, dark eyes looked at her and how she felt wrapped up in his arms. Of course, she was looking at him differently now. Daniel was no longer just the stranger she had sex with a year ago, but the father of her child.
The way that he held Annie today and vowed to look after them had comforted Laura in a way that nobody else had been able to in all this time. She trusted Daniel instinctively and maybe that was her naivete, which Sophie warned her about so often. Even so, when Annie was tucked up in her crib and Laura was alone with her thoughts, she couldn't help but think of him and wonder.
Chapter8
The following evening, Daniel arrived just as he promised he would, with two friends in tow. One was tall, dark, and lean and the other one was tall, fair, and even leaner. Laura supposed that athleticism came with the job. Physical qualities aside, the two other men seemed kind enough. The dark-haired one was named Sam and the fair-haired one was named Michael. Daniel introduced them to her in turn and then looked around eagerly for his daughter.
“Is she sleeping?” he asked.
Laura nodded. “She's tucked in now, but she'll be hungry soon. You can hold her again then.”
“You have to see this baby, boys,” Daniel said proudly. “She's gorgeous.”
Sam laughed and nodded.
“We couldn't believe it when he told us,” he said to Laura. “The last we heard of him he was off to Colorado and then he reappears again as a father. Hats off to you for doing it on your own for so long.”
“Yeah,” Michael agreed. “Dan hasn't been able to stop telling us how guilty he feels about the whole thing, so we thought we'd come by and help you out a little bit to
make up for it. Daniel really wants to make it right.”
Daniel laughed humbly as his friends spoke about him and bashfully told them to be quiet. If Laura had worried about how Daniel would perceive her fully clothed and as a mother, she had to wonder again at how this shy, sensitive man was the same creature who had ripped her clothes off of her that night.
“Shall we get started?” he suggested.
The men got to work putting clips on the drawers and cupboards and they installed a little gate by the kitchen.
“She'll be crawling before you know it,” Sam warned. “My wife and I have twins. One day they couldn't walk, and the next they were both marathon runners. You can't take your eye off them for a second, but it eases your mind a little to know that they can't get into the cupboards.”
“I appreciate your help,” Laura told them sincerely. “My Dad's getting to be a little too old for all this kind of work now, although I know he'd do his best. You should have seen Sophie and me trying to put together the crib! It was a nightmare.”
Daniel's face creased in guilt and he turned from where he was screwing a gatepost into place to look at her with concern. “You did all that by yourself, too?” he asked incredulously.
“Oh, we managed,” Laura said modestly. “It took us a few attempts. Sophie screwed the headboard onto the bottom and I lost some of the screws, but it all came together in the end and the thing hasn't collapsed yet. The stroller on the other hand...”
“I'm going to pay you back for everything you've had to buy,” Daniel promised her. “The crib, the stroller... everything. You shouldn't have had to deal with all that on your own.”
“It's all right,” Laura assured him. “You're here now. A lot of the stuff was gifts from family and friends, anyway. Everyone really came together when Annie was on her way.”
“How did you choose the name?” Michael asked her with interest.
“After my grandmother,” Laura told him.
“Hey Dan, isn't that your mom's name?” Sam asked him.