Three years later
Zayn
"Zayn, you never have time for me anymore." Annie yells at me as I sit in the living room watching the news. Alyssa sits on the floor playing with her baby dolls. "Daddy, will you play with me?" She asks and walk up to me. I sit her on my lap and grab a doll. "Whatever zayn, I'm going out. I'll be home later." Annie says and walks out the door.
Ever since Alyssa was given to us, she's acted different. Always me me me. I I I. Mine mine mine. But nothing will ever be more important to me than my little Alyssa. She was a gift.
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It's been three years since baby Lisa has disappeared. Yet the parents still haven't given up on the search for her.
"I remember she was our little Christmas gift, and she was taken away." The mother cried. My heart races as I watched the T.v. I mean who would ever take a child.
"I should've never gone out. I just feel so guilty for leaving my wife in the hospital. Where were the nurses with our baby?" The father questions while holding a picture of the baby.
"Who's that daddy?" Alyssa asks me. I rub her head. "Just a family that's going through a really hard time right now, love. Nothing to worry about." I say and kiss her head. "They lost their baby?" She looks at me with those big blue innocent eyes. "Someone took their baby. That's why I'm keeping you safe with me. So nobody can take you from daddy." I say in a hushed voice.
Alyssa hugs me tightly. "I'm never leaving this place." She cries. "Alyssa," I hug the crying child. "I promise, no one is ever going to take you from me. You're mine. All mine." I say. "But what about mommy?" She asks. Even Alyssa knows the turns Annie has taken down the road. "Just me." I say truthfully. "Mommy doesn't love me?" She asks the one heart breaking question a father never wants to hear.
"Darling it's not that she doesn't love you. It's that she's going through a tough time too." I try to explain to her without giving any details. She's just too young to understand. "I hope those people find their baby. That way they can be with their daddy like I am." Alyssa hugs my neck and holds her Barbie.
"And if not they can make another family." I say. Alyssa looks at me with confusion in her eyes. "You'll understand later on in life, sweetheart." I chuckle. The birds and the bees can wait a bit. I change the channel to one of Alyssa's favorite shows. I remember sitting in the floor with her year by year watching tv. Teacher her to crawl. To speak. To walk. To run.
All the wonderful things a parent gets to experience. There's nothing like that feeling of accomplishment when you can look at your child and reflect on what you've created. "Hey daddy?" Alyssa breaks the silence. "Yes beautiful." I answer. I always give Alyssa a compliment when she talks to me. I love to see the smile on her face whenever I do. Those cute little baby teeth show when she smiles and giggles.
"How come you're so tan and I'm not?" She asks showing me the difference between our skin colors. "You look more like mommy than you do me. That's all." It's not like I can explain the whole melanin levels in the skin color and heritage differences between her mother and I just yet. She'll end up giving me one of those cute yet confused looks.
"How are you so tan?" She asks. I shrug my shoulders and then tickle her sides. "It's because I look like grandpa." I smile. She just smiles and dances to the theme music of her cartoons. I get up and follow in suit dancing with her and spinning in the living room.
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I set Alyssa's dinner plate down in front of her and then walk back in the kitchen to finish dinner before Annie arrives back home. Her job keeps her out very late at night so I always make sure to keep dinner out for her. Our cat Prada walks around the kitchen coughing. "Prada? You okay down there." I ask.
I look over at Alyssa to make sure she's okay and I notice all of her vegetable were missing from her plate. "Alyssa you sure do love your veggies don't you?" I ask as I watch her shove a piece of chicken in her mouth. "Very yummy, daddy." She says and smiles. "How did you eat them so quickly?" I ask and sit next to her.
"I'm very hungry." She says and chews her food. I look at the floor beneath her feet and notice her fork on the ground. "Why is your fork on the floor?" I ask her another question. "I'm a magician?" She says with a hint of persuasion to her voice. I nod and put Prada in her little bed next to the fireplace to keep her warm and walk back to the dinner table.
"Alyssa I want to teach you a very important life lesson." I say.
"What's that?"
"You know what you just did?"
Alyssa shrugs her shoulders and kicks her feet.
"You lied to daddy by telling me you ate your veggies when you really let the cat eat them." I raise my eyebrows. Alyssa's lip quivers and she tries not to cry.
"I'm sorry. I don't like them, they're nasty and green and mushy and taste like poison." Alyssa sniffles. I laugh at her simile towards food and poison. "How do you know what poison tastes like?" I laugh.
Alyssa wipes her small tears and nose. "Alyssa. One life lesson you need to know is to never, ever lie to anyone. Do you understand?" I say. She nods and looks up at me. "I will never ever lie."
