⇾ 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 | 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐈

𝚇𝚇𝚇𝙸𝙸

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚃𝚠𝚘 → 𝙰 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚂𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎?

⊹ 𝟷𝟶-𝟷-𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟾 ⊹

Kenwood was quiet since Julian and John had fallen asleep. Paul and I sat across from each other, sipping tea. The baby squirmed from inside of me, clearly upset that I was no longer walking around and rocking it in the process.

Paul had only been here about ten minutes now, and I couldn't make sense of the serious look on his face, nor was I energized enough to try and decipher it. Last night had been one of those nights where the baby decided to keep me up, and by the time it finally calmed down, I was ready to sleep...until I realized that my body didn't want me to go to sleep. And that was how I ended up drawing until six in the damned morning. At that point, I had to get Julian ready for school, so I couldn't even go to sleep then. And no matter how tired I was, my body wouldn't even let me take a nap with John and Julian.

Needless to say, I was beyond exhausted. 

As for Paul, I hadn't even known that he was going to be here. I had only made tea before he came because I had been craving some. I guess the timing had been just right.

"So, why are you here?" I asked him because it was the question that was burning on my mind the very most. Why had he interrupted my only moment of peace and quiet today? With John asleep too, I was basically kid-free!

"Linda wants me to meet her daughter," he said, his eyes going a little wide. 

I raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with that?" I asked. "I thought you liked Linda."

"I do!" Paul replied. "I'm just scared that Heather won't like me," he said, taking a sip of his tea.

"So, you're talking to me?" I asked. How in the hell was I supposed to help him?

He nodded. "You always give good advice, Liss, and I definitely need some of your wisdom right now. How do I be a good step-dad? How do I get her to like me?"

I cleared my throat and readjusted myself in my seat, setting my tea aside to instead rub my hands along my belly. Sometimes that calmed the baby down. Not always, but a lot of the time. "Paul, why don't you ask John?" I asked him. "He is the father. Not me!"

"But John's been a bit of a shite father...at times!" he added when I shot him a threatening glare. "You've always been a good mum. Okay, if you were Linda, what would you want me to do? Say you've got a boyfriend meeting Julian...what would you expect from him?"

"Well, Paul, do you really want to know?" I asked. He nodded desperately. "Well, first of all, don't be her bloody step-dad. Treat her like she is your daughter because if you decide to marry Linda, then you're stuck with Heather for the rest of your life too."