Fortitude

Chapter 11: Gone

Song that inspired me to write this chapter:

Monsters - Ruelle

Valerie's POV

The rest of dinner goes by surprisingly smoothly, and by the end of it, Angie's sitting in Jake's lap, laughing at whatever lame joke he's telling her.

They are getting along pretty well.
That was good, I guess.

I feel Ty shifting next to me, and I put my hand over his under the table.

He's been quite civilized and polite during the dinner, and want him to know that I truly appreciate it.

"Proud of you," I mouth, smiling at him.

He nods, squeezing my hand.

I squeeze his hand back.

"Oh, I almost forgot. This is for you, Angela."

Jake gives her the box, and she squeals.
Tyler rolls his eyes while Angie opens the box and gasps.

"Mommy! Look!! A pink teddy bear! I'm gonna call it Pinky! It's even better than Forty!"

My smile instantly fades away as she throws Fortitude to the floor and hugs her new teddy bear tightly against her chest.

I force a smile as she shows it to me, then pick up Fortitude from the floor and stare at his face
for a moment. The face I've become so familiar with over the years, the face I've memorized.

Fortitude was more than just a teddy bear for me, it actually helped me through the darkest time of my life, and gave me hope every time I looked at him.

Hope that everything was going to be okay.

"I love it! I'm going to my room to play! Promise me you'll be back soon! Pinkie swear!" Angela says, offering Jake her pinkie finger. He slowly takes it with his.

"I promise. Soon." he whispers, still holding her pinkie with his.

She shifts uncomfortably, and I look at Tyler. He's looking at Jake the way a lion looks at its prey, before jumping at it and killing it.

"Well, Angie, don't you wanna go play in your room?" I say, hoping that Jake takes the hint before Tyler does something he probably won't regret, but something that would ruin the night for Angela, and that would most likely get him arrested.

When Jake unhooks their fingers, Angela runs up the stairs to her bedroom, and I notice Jake's eyes following her every movement.
It's a bit strange. I have a weird feeling about it, but I shrug it off.

He's probably still overwhelmed by the whole 'meeting his daughter' thing.

He starts scratching at his arm again, and I think about what Tyler said, about Jake being a junkie.

It couldn't be true, could it?

"Honey! Didn't you forget to say something?" I call out to her and she yells "Thank you for Pinky!" and Jake offers me a small smile.

"Well, it's late. I should probably go. Thank you for having me. The food was delicious, I had a great time," Jake says as he gets up.

Ty and I stand up, walking him to the front door.
I hear Ty sigh in relief. I have to say I'm relieved, too. The dinner's finally over, and I haven't realized until now how nervous I was.

Suddenly, Jake stops in the middle of the living room, and turns to us.

"It was great meeting Angela. It made me realize how much time I've lost, and how I need to make up for what I did. I really wanna be there for her. I wanna be her father. I want custody of her. Fifty, fifty."