Book 5: I'll Wait, Dear (Steven Adler FanFic)

Ch. 10: Invincible

"Okay. Lemme' take a look at you."

I dropped to my knees and began fussing with Catherine. I started out by fixing any fly-aways in her hair and straightening her sweater.

I knew that my daughter was gorgeous, this was an indisputable fact, but I was still nervous. I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted to ensure that everything went right today. Not for me or even for DLR, but for Catherine.

"Momma, I wanna' meet Daddy," Catherine reminded me. Her words tugged me from the trance I seemed to be in and I finally pulled away from her.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Cat. Are you ready?" I asked, watching her carefully to be sure that she was less nervous than I was. The smile on her face and the skip in her step proved that she was indeed in a much better state than I was at the moment.

"Yes! Let's go, go, go!" She squealed, bouncing in place.

I turned around to face the secretary, who had returned to retrieve us not long after I'd left the room Steven was in. She had been waiting patiently in the hallway for us to prepare to meet DLR, and I felt a little guilty for having made her wait for so long.

"I'm sorry," I said sheepishly. "We're ready now."

She beamed at us, seemingly unconcerned by how long she had had to wait. "Sure. Follow me."

Grabbing Catherine's hand in my own clammy, trembling one, we followed the secretary into the hallway.

As we passed Steven's door, I couldn't help but peek into the room out of the corner of my eye. What I saw was a quick glance of Steven throwing a drum stick and Pancake running to go catch it. As irritated as I was with the guy, I had to admit that his dog was cute and it was adorable to see him play with it. It had the same delight and wonder of the age-old tale of seeing a boy and his dog.

Just as we passed, he happened to look up and we locked eyes for a split second. He shot me a warm smile. I looked away as quickly as possible.

No distractions, Rory, I reminded myself. I forced my eyes to look ahead and focus only on the back of the blonde's head. I let myself fall deeper into a trance with each bounce of her curls.

"Here we are, ladies," the secretary turned on her heel suddenly, motioning with her arm to a door off to the right. "He's expecting you, so just step right in."

"Thank you so much," I stammered, my anxiety boiling over when I realized that we had finally reached DLR's room.

She gave us one final nod before stepping passed me and going back down the hall. I listened intently to her heels clacking against the floor, my body suddenly refusing to move until she was no longer near.

"Momma?" Catherine's tiny voice floated up to me.

I looked down at her warily. "Yes?"

She seemed to be studying me, her head lulled back and pressed up against my leg. Those big, green eyes of hers were watching me carefully.

"Momma, are you scared?" She asked softly.

Shit. I had tried so hard to be brave for Cathy, to show her that this would be a fun experience. I was terrified that any sort of negative vibes from me could somehow ruin this day for her and would, in turn, manage to somehow traumatize her in the future. But it seemed like it was no use. I was a scaredy cat, and even my three year old could see it.

"Why are you scared, momma?" Catherine asked, turning around and hugging my leg.
I bit my lip, trying not to cry. I was her mother. I was supposed to guide her, be brave, be the bigger person. But right now, I felt like the child. All I wanted was to be held and kissed and be told that things would be alright.

Since Cathy had been thrown into my life, I'd spent the passed three years trying to mature and make the right choices. There was no more room for mistakes. Right now, however, I felt as though I had reverted completely and gone back to a much more childish mental state. Perhaps this was a mistake.

"Don't be scared momma," Catherine chimed in when I still had not responded to her previous attempts at consoling me. "You look like an angel."

A tear fell from my eye and I exhaled as I felt all of my fears begin to drain from me. I don't know what it was about her words, but something in them was so sweet, so innocent, I couldn't help but smile.

I glanced down at Cathy, my eyes watering. She was staring up at me, her expression stoic, her arms still wrapped around my leg.

"You look like an angel too, Cat," I laughed. It was a choked laugh as I held back my tears, but it seemed to do the trick because Catherine was smiling up at me again.

Her happiness, her innocence, and her love, it gave me strength. She made me invincible.

"Are you ready to see Daddy?" I asked for about the millionth time.

"Yes!" She screeched excitedly.

"He's behind that door," I said, nodding to the door in front of us. She looked between me and the door eagerly. Her whole body seemed to be vibrating with  anticipation.

"What're you waiting for?" I giggled. "Open it."

That was all of the encouragement that she needed. In seconds, she was grabbing the door knob and turning it. The door easily swung open, and Catherine stumbled into the room.

"Daddy!"