Haven

Chapter Fifty Seven

Alex

Sitting across from my daughter as she looked back at me anxiously had distracted me from the task at hand. I had fully intended on telling her about Ella moving in, and dealing with any fall out, but the deer in the head lights expression threw me.

"Okay, out with it!" I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face as I await whatever she could say.

"You're just gonna be mad.." she trails off, sheepishly. "No I won't, Jaida." I say impatiently, and she actually cocks a brow at me. "You already are!" She accuses.

Taking a calming break, I force myself to stay level. "Sweetheart, last chance, let's hear it," forcing my voice to level but making no attempt to pose it as a question rather than a command.

She sighs, then cringes, then whines, briefly makes eye contact before dramatically shuddering and dropping her eyes. "I dinged the Porsche.." I couldn't stop the sharp intake of breath at this volition.

"What do you mean you dinged it? How bad is it? What the.." I trail off then, knowing I really need to table this for at least a couple of hours. "How did you do that? It's in the garage, you have no business in there!" But I just can't seem to manage to do what I need to.

Cause the Porsche was my fathers, it's a collectable, and it's in the furthest corner of the garage so that nobody could ever need to drive anywhere near it, ever.

She cringes, shaking her head. "No, I don't wanna tell you," she mumbles as she buries her face in her hands. "I swear it's not bad, just a scratch, and Jamie said the dent is totally fixable."

And I just about blew a head gasket. Dent?! "Baby girl, I'm trying to stay calm here!" I force out. "Is it a ding, or a scratch, or a dent?"

I hear another whimper. "I dinged it, and it's scratched and dented." Yep, I hate being a parent.

I stare at my child in disbelief, wishing my father was here to deal with this one. Then I cringe to myself as I take it back, I'm glad my dad isn't here to deal with this, he'd beat the first layer of skin right off her backside.

"I'm gonna circle back to this, and you may well find yourself in extremely hot water once I do," I eye her seriously and she nods, accepting her fate. Jesus, it must be bad if she's nodding along at the prospect of punishment. "I need to explain a few things to you, and I'm hoping you're gonna hear me out before you react." I half warn her, though I can tell she's as mellow as she'll ever be.

"I'm just gonna come right out with it," I say more to myself. "Ella is in a little bit of trouble right now and needs our help, and unless you have any major objections, she's going to move in here with us." I tell her, and then I sit tight and await the reaction.  

Her brows furrow as a look of worry takes over her expression. "What's wrong with Ella?" She asks me, before rolling her eyes. "Obviously she can move in, of course," she adds and I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in.

Then I sigh again as I begin to come up with an explanation. "You are aware that Ella's father has been abusing her her entire life?" I ask her gently, and while she nods, I see it dawn on her that things were worse than Ella let on. "Ella assaulted him quite badly a few months back, and while I'm able to make the charges go away and seal the records, she's out of luck with the system. I know for a fact that Ella is the least violent person the system has seen in a while, and I've every confidence that she isn't a danger to you, and so I am taking her in and hopefully beginning to help her heal from the damage that's been done." I explain, hating the sick look on Jaida's face. This hurt her. I could practically see the wheels turning as she figured out what I was telling her.