"MOMMY!"
Colby heard a tiny voice scream out as he sat in the kitchen with Annette. Rebecca had decided it would be best to explain to the kids that their father was home first instead of them walking in and seeing him just sitting on the couch.
"She does that every day" Annette laughed, and she noticed Colby's tense shoulders. "What's wrong, dear?"
"I don't know what their reaction is going to be" he shook his head
"They're your children. They've been through a lot in the last three years without you. They have grown up without you here so long it will be tough for them at first.. be aware of that, be aware that they may not accept you right away, but they will once you earn their trust."
"Thank you for stepping in and helping Rebecca during all of this. I know she could have handled it on her own, but having you here to help as much as you have meant a lot to her, and it meant even more to me to know you had a hand in keeping them in check."
"I love my grandchildren" Annette nodded. "They keep me young and thriving," she smiled.
Colby stood up from the chair and walked toward the living room. He leaned against the wall and listened to his wife.
"You know how we have talked about your dad coming home soon.." Rebecca said, and Colby saw the tiny brunette's head nod slowly as she sat next to her mother
"Colby," he heard another voice, and he saw his son for the first time, and it broke him.
"He's your dad," Rebecca said as she looked over at the little boy
"He's our father," Chase said. "Father and Dad are two different things."
Colby thought back to his relationship with his father; he would always call him father, not dad.. he never felt like much of a dad to him, so now hearing his son speak that way of him was like a ton of bricks coming down on him.
"I'm not going to force you two to warm up to this idea right away, and I understand it will take time. Your dad understands it's going to take time, and he will have to earn your trust but can you please try to give him a chance?" She asked as she looked between her two children, and they remained quiet. "Colby," she said as she looked towards the kitchen.
Colby strolled into the living room.
He was met by two pairs of eyes staring at him in silence.
He stood there, unsure what to say or even where to sit, so he sat on the floor.
"Can you two say hi?" Rebecca asked quietly
"No," Chase said quickly as he glared at his father. "I'm not talking to him" he stood up from the couch and stormed past his father.
"Chase.." Rebecca said as she stood up and looked at her husband
"It's fine" Colby nodded. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy" he shrugged as he looked up at her
"I'm gonna go try to talk to him and figure out where his head is at" Rebecca placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Divide and conquer," she said, and he nodded
Colby watched his wife disappear up the stairs, and his mother-in-law followed her closely to try and help in any way she could.
Colby turned his attention to the tiny brunette who was still sitting on the couch staring at him.
"Hi," Colby said quietly, and he watched the little girl take a deep breath as she reached for the teddy sitting on the couch next to her.
"Hi," she said quietly, so quiet he almost didn't hear her
"Hi, Sawyer," he said with a small smile. "It's nice to meet you."
"You met me before," she said. "I was just smaller."
"That's right" he nodded. "You were just a little girl, and now you're a big girl."
"I'm six now," she said
"Six?" He asked, "That's almost a whole adult!" He exclaimed, and she let out a tiny giggle. "What is this guy's name?" He reached out to touch the stuffed teddy bear in her hands
"Tommy the teddy," the little girl said
"Tommy the teddy," Colby nodded. "Like Tom Holland?" He asked, and the little girl's jaw dropped as she nodded
"I love him!" She exclaimed, "He's my favorite!" She said
"Your mommy told me that," Colby said. "She also told me you like a band.. what are they called? ABC?" He asked
"No!" The little girl shook her head
"EFG?" He asked
"No!" She giggled. "BTS!" She exclaimed
"That's right! BTS! I knew that!" He said as he stood up, "Ya know, I got you something the other day. Do you want to see it?" He asked, and she nodded
Sawyer watched him stand up from the floor, walk over to the bag on the other side of the living room and open it before coming back to her.
"Can I sit next to you?" He asked as he stood in front of her, and she nodded as she moved over to let him sit down next to her. "Your mommy was telling me you like to color and draw and paint," he said
"It's my favorite" Sawyer nodded as she looked up at him
"And I know you like BTS, and we found a BTS coloring book" he handed it to her. "You can color in it. Use your markers or your paint set.."
"Cool!" The little girl exclaimed as she took the book from him and flipped through it
Rebecca finally calmed her son down after talking to him for close to an hour; Chase would be up in his room for the night, it seemed, so she made her way back down the stairs towards her daughter's voice.
Sitting on the ground were her husband and daughter, markers and crayons scattered across the floor as they used the coffee table to work on pictures from the coloring book.
"That one is my favorite. His name is Jungkook," Sawyer said. "You can color his hair this color," she said, and Rebecca saw her daughter hand her husband a blue crayon as she sat on his lap and colored on another page from the book.
"What are you two doing?" Rebecca asked as she entered the living room quietly
"I'm learning about the alphabet band," Colby said
"Me and Daddy are coloring," Sawyer said as she looked up at her mother
Colby's eyes met his wife's, and they matched one another's. Filled with surprise and tears threatening to spill over. Neither of them expected Sawyer to take to him so quickly and not expecting her to jump right back into calling him Daddy.
It was a big moment, but neither Colby nor Rebecca wanted to draw attention to it. They didn't want to make their daughter think she was doing something wrong by calling him that. They would let it go, share the silent moment between the two of them and let their kids lead the way on this journey.
