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

Ch. 11: Angel

"Daddy?"

I followed Catherine into the room, but paused when I realized that we were not alone with DLR.

The room had four men sitting in it, and I easily recognized each of them as a member of the band. My memory of their faces still lingering from the days when I had obsessed over Van Halen. Catherine, on the other hand, seemed lost as she scanned the room, not knowing which face was the face of her father.

It kind of broke my heart knowing that she couldn't pick her own dad out of a crowd. I tried to stifle the sadness by reminding myself that she would know soon enough.

Looking at the band, I recognized each member immediately. Of course, there was DLR, the lead singer. Like Steven, he was sitting in front of a sound board that looked out over a recording booth. Behind him, looking over his shoulder, stood Eddie Van Halen, the lead guitarist and brother to Alex Van Halen, the band's drummer. Alex was sitting on a large sofa nearby, reading an issue of Kerrang! Beside Alex sat the bassist, Michael Anthony. He seemed to be trying to read over Alex's shoulder. They all looked up as soon as we walked in.

"Aurora!" DLR leapt up from the chair he had been sitting in.

Catherine's eyes widened and she seemed to be in shock. Just when I thought that she was going to step forward and go to him, she turned tail and took refuge behind my legs.

DLR's mouth fell open in obvious disappointment, while the band behind him burst into laughter. I winced at the sound and held a protective arm at my side, in front of where Catherine was poking her head out from behind me. I knew that it was only laughter, but I didn't want Catherine to feel frightened by the volume of their combined giggles.

"I'm sorry," I muttered an apology, hoping it would soften the blow of rejection for DLR. "She was so excited to come here earlier. She's just being shy."

"Shy? That doesn't sound like David's daughter," Eddie teased.

I knew that he was only joking, but I wanted to slap him in the face. How dare he say that in front of my daughter! I didn't want her three year old mind twisting his words and thinking that DLR wasn't her dad after all.

"She is," I insisted, my voice coming out more aggressive than I'd meant for it to be.

Eddie gave me a suspicious look but turned away to whisper something to Alex. I glared after him before turning back to DLR.

"Just gimme' a sec," I held a finger up to request a second alone with Cathy.

I immediately turned around and dropped into a crouch, a feat that proved to be extremely difficult in my skirt.

"Cathy? What's wrong baby?" I cooed to her, brushing hair from her pouting face.

She seemed to be looking passed me, glaring over my shoulder at DLR.

"Cat?"

"Which one's my daddy?" She demanded, her eyes finally meeting mine.

I paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. Once again, I had to go into "Mommy Mode", which required hard thinking before I took any action. Again, I always worried that one of my mistakes would somehow traumatize her for life. What was the right thing to do?

I didn't want to overwhelm her with all of these men in the room. Granted, I hadn't known that the whole band would be here with us, otherwise I would've rescheduled with DLR. I wanted to ease her into it. Let her find out on her own terms.

Glancing over my shoulder, painfully aware of all of the eyes that were staring at my back, I looked to DLR. He gave me a weak smile and a wave.

"Which one do you think is your dad?" I asked softly.

"What?" DLR gasped, his voice a whisper.

Eddie furrowed his eye brows and looked at me like I was insane. Alex's eyes were concealed behind a pair of sunglasses, but I saw that his lips were in a straight line. Michael Anthony just stared at me dumbly.

"You hear me, Cat?" My voice was stronger this time. "Which one?"

Catherine looked at me blankly. She seemed to be registering what I was saying. Registering that I was giving her full access to decide for herself which one of these strange men was her dad.

After a moment, she pulled away from me and silently began stepping towards the cluster of men on the opposite side of the room. I turned slowly on my heel, staying low to the ground, watching her intently.

Halfway between the band and myself, she turned around as if to check and make sure that I was still there. I flashed her a grin and nodded, silently encouraging her to keep going. She continued walking steadily, inching her way towards Michael Anthony.

DLR frowned, openly dismayed that she hadn't gone to him first.

We all seemed to be stuck in an unspoken limbo as Cathy made her rounds around the room.

First, she stopped at Michael Anthony's feet. The bassist gave her a smirk, but it was fleeting. She paused and lightly began playing with one of his shoe laces. For whatever reason, this didn't seem to please her, and she immediately stepped away from him and went to Alex.

Alex, still hiding behind his shades, just stared at the tiny girl. He seemed bored and completely uninterested. For a drummer, he was a stark contrast from someone like Steven, carefree and fun. After staring in silence at one another for a solid minute, Alex seemed to unnerve Catherine and she soon scuttled away from him as well.

While hurrying from Alex, she slammed into Eddie's legs. Though she didn't fall over, she did recoil a bit and I instinctively lurched forward as though I was going to try and save her. Of course, I was too far to help her even if she had fallen. I quickly calmed myself down and continued to watch. I was forcing myself to let her be independent, and I couldn't stop her now.

Eddie seemed to be forcing a smile for her, but I could tell that it wasn't genuine. What seemed to be these guys' problem with my daughter? The only one who seemed sincerely excited to meet Cathy was her dad.

I guess that's all that really matters....

I had no room to complain. DLR could've been a total tool and ignored me when I'd told him about Cathy. On the contrary, he seemed to be stoked to meet her. No one else's opinion mattered. Not to me, anyway.

After a few moments of looking Eddie up and down, Cathy stole away from him. The little girl had easily seen through his fake smile, and she must've known that her real father wouldn't look as though he was grimacing when he was supposed to be smiling. I sucked in a quick breath as she finally walked over to DLR.

She stood for a moment, taking him in. He didn't give her a smile, nor did he stare at her with disdain. He simply gazed at her in awe as though she was a precious gem that he had been waiting his whole life to see. He seemed to be enthralled by her, especially now that he could see her up close.

Catherine also seemed to be interested in DLR. She stared up at him, much longer than she'd looked at the other men, before she reached up and touched the tassels that dangled from the long sleeves of his shirt. The crazy Aztec pattern of his pants seemed to hypnotize her as her eyes trailed all the way down his legs to his boots. His clunky, red boots.

"Daddy," Catherine breathed, her eyes growing wide. It was as though she knew that her dad could only be someone who dressed as wild as she did. His crazy outfit was a dead give away.

I felt tears beginning to form and I held a hand up to my smiling lips to try and hold back my sobs of joy. I watched as DLR's eyes crinkled and he beamed down at Cathy, his eyes became just as misty as my own.

"How'd you know it was me?" DLR choked out, crouching down and holding up his arms for a hug. Catherine immediately fell into his arms, wrapping her own tiny limbs around his waist and burying her face into him.

"Daddy, you look like an angel too."