I sat in the backyard for a little while longer after everybody went back inside. I was just taking it all in. How I got here from where I used to be. How I was completely different from my father. I knew exactly what kind of parent I wasn't going to be just by watching him.
The patio door opened and Sika walked out. "Hello dear." he said.
"Hi." I smiled.
"It's a beautiful night out isn't it?"
"Yeah. It is." I paused. "Sika, I wanna thank you. For raising Joe to be the kind of man he is. He's respectful and loyal and he's amazing. Spending the day here, I can see where he gets it."
"No problem dear. You know, I see how much he loves you. You should be proud that you found a man as wonderful as my son." he said.
That brought tears to my eyes. "You're a wonderful father Sika. You don't find those too often."
"I know. It's a shame about your father." he said.
I looked at him shocked. I never told him about that.
"Joe didn't say anything. I guessed. I'm very sorry." he said.
"Yeah. Well, I learned what kind of parent I won't be from him." I said.
"That's good. You should always try to be a better parent than your own. I can tell you're gonna be an amazing mom when the time comes."
"Thank you." I said.
The patio door opened again and Joe walked out. I wiped my eyes and smiled at him. Sika stood up and patted Joe's shoulder before walking back inside.
"Joelle in bed?" I asked.
"Yeah. I'm sorry I haven't spent much time with you today. I just haven't seen Joelle in a while." he said.
"No. It's okay. I actually liked watching you with her. You're so good with her. You're an amazing father Joe." I said.
"Thanks. That means a lot coming from you." he said.
"Listen, Summer and Vanessa told me about Joelle's mother. All of it."
He sighed and looked at the ground.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"I don't know. I guess, I didn't want to bring you into it because she still tries to contact me sometimes." he said.
I got up, walked around the table and sat on his lap taking his face carefully in my hands. "Listen, I'm here for you and that beautiful little girl. If you put me in the middle, it's gonna be okay. If you decide that you want me to be in the middle then you better put me there. There's no place I would rather be than here with you and that precious little girl inside. You are an amazing father and a wonderful boyfriend. I love you."
"Have I told you lately how absolutely wonderful you are?" he asked pushing a piece of hair behind my ear. "I love you too."
I smiled and kissed him.
***
I woke up in the morning to Joe and Joelle talking. Instead of opening my eyes, I decided to just listen to them.
"So, baby girl, what do you think of Katie?" Joe asked.
"I like her. She's pretty and nice." Joelle said.
"Yeah. She's pretty great, huh?"
"Yeah daddy. Do you love her?"
"With all my heart sweetie. There's nobody in this world I'd rather be with." he said.
"In that case, you should marry her." she said.
"JoJo it's too soon."
"Daddy, it's never too soon for love. You love her and I know she loves you. You should ask her to marry you. Not only for you but for me too. I would love to have her as my mom."
As much as I wanted to cry right now, I had to keep pretending to be asleep.
"Okay. I'll think about it. Why don't you go on downstairs and we'll be down there in a little bit." he said.
I heard the door open and then close and I knew it was just Joe in the room. He placed a kiss on my cheek and I slowly opened my eyes looking at him and smiling.
"Hey pretty girl. Good morning." he said.
"Hi." I said.
"You should get up and get ready for the day. My sisters wanna take you shopping with Joelle as a girls day."
I was happy that his family accepted me so quick. It made me feel good inside that at least somebody accepted me. "Okay." I said.
"God, you're beautiful." he said moving a piece of hair from my face.
I smiled at him. "You say the sweetest things to me Joe. How did I ever find you?"
"You just got lucky I guess." he said.
"Lucky wouldn't be the word I'd use." I said.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. More like fate."
He smiled and kissed me. I had the most wonderful man that I called mine and a beautiful little girl that wanted me to be her mother. How much better could my life get?
"I love you." he said.
"I love you too baby." I said.
Joe walked out of the room allowing me to get up, take a shower and get dressed. I walked out of the bedroom once I was done with everything and met everyone in the living room. They all smiled at me and I stopped.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Nothing. You just look really pretty." Joelle said.
I didn't buy it. Something was definitely going on and I think it had something to do with what I over heard earlier.
"Ooookaayy?" I said.
"You ready to go?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah."
Vanessa, Summer, Joelle and I walked out of the house and got in Vanessa's car. I was in the front with Vanessa while Summer and Joelle were in the back.
We spent most of the day at the mall buying things and I even had all of us get our nails done. Joelle got hers painted while the rest of us got acrylic stuff done. I loved acrylic nails. They were so pretty.
It was nice to spend the day with the girls. It gave us all a chance to bond a little more and get to know each other and also gave Joelle and I a chance to feel each other out. Not that I had to but she just wanted to make sure I was good enough for her dad. It was cute.
