Daddy Issues (Andy Barber x OC)

18

Isla was literally out of the door and running down the path towards Andy before Pippa had even realised that he had arrived. He was taking her for the weekend and now his eyes flickered up to rest on her as he hugged their daughter.

"You forgot the bag missy". Pippa smirked as she came down the path and exchanged a quick peck on the cheek with Andy. "Smooth journey?"

"No more than usual". He smiled and glanced to Isla. "Ready for a boring weekend with me and Jake?"

She snorted. "I've had more boring".

"Oh thanks!" Pippa chuckled but not taking offence. Her daughter was just excited to spend quality time with her dad and get to know him more.

"You know what I mean". Isla grinned and gave her a kiss goodbye. "Anyway, you can have some peace".

Pippa grinned. "For the first time in years, who knows, maybe I'll throw a party while you're gone".

Her daughters eyes narrowed at this and she had a little smirk on her face. "Do you even have that many friends to even call it party?" She lightly jested.

"Nope, it'll be just me and a bottle of wine, maybe three".

"Well that sounds familiar." Andy put in, remembering the messy nights in college dorms that involved various alchoholic beverages. "Anyway we'd better get going".

Isla headed to the car, "Love ya mom!" She called as she got in.

Pippa turned to Andy, "So I will be there for 2pm on Sunday to collect her".

"And I shall be waiting..."

Another long stare before they both looked away. "Anyway, any problems then call me..."

"She's our daughter, she's a problem anyway". He smiled and both of them laughed lightly. "You sure you're gonna be ok?"

"I haven't had a proper free weekend in sixteen years. It's Friday night, I'm gonna go inside and get drunk!" Pippa told him with a grin.

Andy now looked at her expectantly. "Should I be expecting drunken texts?"

"Quite possibly, you might just wanna ignore them and turn your phone on silent".

He laughed lightly. "Well...enjoy the peace and the wine while it lasts".

"Oh I plan to...see you Sunday". She smiled and gave him another kiss on the cheek before watching him and Isla drive off.

Pippa knew that she was going to be drunk off her face, and that unfortunately Andy would be receiving both messages and drunken voicemails from her.

**

"So, Mom told me you guys had sex..." Isla announced as she and Andy travelled back to Newton.

He did a double take as he looked over at her. "Wait...what!"

"Well I kinda guessed, but she caved and told me - so what's the deal?" Isla asked, tapping away at her phone like this was just the most casual conversation in the world. He knew that she and Pippa were very close, but did they really share stuff like this with one another?

"There is no 'deal'" he stated, "It just happened and that's that..."

Isla had her techniques, and she wasn't going to back down. "So is it gonna be that every time mom comes over to get me on the weekends that you're gonna bang her? Because if that's the case then Jake and I need to get outta there for an hour or so...I mean, I'd rather you didn't tell me how long it would take you but..."

"Isla!" He cut her off, still in disbelief.

"What? It's just a question?"

Andy huffed, knowing that he'd have to answer, "And no it's not gonna be that - look, I care about your mom and stuff. I always have but..."

Isla waited. "Buuuuuuuut?" She emphasised in a long drawl to hurry him along with his answer.

He mimicked her. "Buuuuuut it's probably not gonna happen, at least not for a while with things how they are".

"So you'd get back together with her?"

"Once I get divorced, perhaps it would be an option - but for the moment? We're not thinking about that".

Isla made a face. "You guys totally make things so complicated for yourselves, you know that?"

"Oh, and what would you suggest then genius?" He would probably regret asking her this.

"Both of you just need to suck it up and get back together". She saw his face. "It's literally all I've wanted since I was a kid ok?"

Andy snorted, "You're still a kid whether you like it or not".

"Daaaaaaaaaad", Isla groaned, "look mom still loves you, don't you love her?"

"I think we need to stop this conversation here".

"I won't even tell her, but can you tell me?"

Andy sighed, eyes still fixed on the road, "your mom knows how I feel, just as I know how how she feels - but it's too early. Give us time to work things out, okay?"

Knowing that she wasn't going to convince him otherwise, she backed down and looked out of the window. "Okaaaaay".  Already there was a plan forming in the back of her mind, and she quickly texted Jacob.

Need to talk when I get to yours

What about?

Our parents and stuff - we need to talk about what happened with my mom and yours.

Ok, sure.

Only if you're cool with talking about it?

Yeah I'm good, cya when you get here.

Andy's voice now snapped her back from
her phone, "Right, tell me what you've been doing at school this week..."