Dan The Dad (Phan)

30

"What are you doing here?" I asked sharply.

"Um, It's my daughter's birthday?" Allie replied as if I was stupid.

"Do you really think you deserve to see her after abusing her and abandoning her?" I said but really my mind was trying to think of ways in which I could call the police. I was so terrified she was going to try to take Megan back from me.

"Mummy?" I heard a little voice come from behind me, I turned around to see Megan standing there and dread now overflowed in my body.

"Thank you Daddy! All of my birthday wishes came true!" She said happily and started to head towards her mother, my mind went into over drive with panic once again.

"NO!" I said quickly and stopped her. Megan looked up at me as if I had just betrayed her. "You can't." I told her and she started to cry.

"How dare you keep me from my daughter that I gave birth to and raised!" Allie shouted at me. Megan tried to fight me off to get to her mother and I was afraid that once Allie got ahold of her she would quickly take off out the door with her.

"I want my mummy!" Megan bawled as she tried to squirm away and Allie continued to shout at me.

"She is MY daughter Dan!"

"Not anymore, I'm her legal guardian right now." I said as I continued to try to wrangle Megan. "PHIL!" I shouted and I picked Megan up making her only fight against me that much worse. "Please stop Megan." I begged her.

"Come here sweetheart." Allie coaxed Megan which added more fuel to her fighting fire. "Dan! Put her down! Stop keeping my daughter from me!"

"I'm not-" I grunted against Megan's elbow to my stomach "keeping her from you, you left her here." I finished my sentence.

"Don't listen to him Megan, he's been keeping you from mommy and he's not letting me see you." Allie told her making her cry and reach for her mother worse.

"Stop lying!" I shouted before calling for Phil desperately again. I was so agitated  and frustrated at this situation that it was starting to get the better of me.

"Megan please stop! she hurt you! You can't go back to her!" I now tried to reason with the five year old which was nearly as impossible as pulling teeth from an angry alligator.

"I bought you so many birthday gifts, they're all in the car!" With this Megan managed to struggle free and I saw her mother reach for her.

Phil swooped in just in time to pick Megan back up and take her away. As he passed me I could barely hear him whisper over Allie's yelling.

"The police are on their way. Stall her."

"Listen, Listen, listen, Allie." I said to try to get her to stop yelling at me.

"As of right now I'm her legal guardian. Maybe we could work something out." I said and she stopped.

"How are you her legal guardian?! You're not even her father! Her father's a drug addict named Kevin!" She hissed. It hurt, It hurt like hell to know this. I felt like I had been shot, but I had to try to keep a level head.

"It doesn't matter what I am to her other than her current legal guardian as of now. If you want to work with me on this you're going to have to stop talking to me like that and calm down!" I said and she went quiet.

"Okay." She agreed after a moment of seeming to think about it.

"Let's head into the lounge, and just have an adult discussion." I said calmly. I started to lead her into the lounge when I felt something sharp against my back making me freeze.

"Dan, go get my baby right now as calmly as you can without alerting Phil, and I won't plunge this knife as far as it'll into your back." She said quietly from behind me so only I could hear. Fear was now all but seeping through my pores which would of been terrible if it wasn't for the adrenaline.

"No." I said calmly trying to stall even more.

"Dan, I swear to god." She pushed the knife's point harder into my back until it hurt a bit. "You don't mess with an angry mother. I will kill you to get to my child." She said.

"Okay." I said as calmly as I could but my voice still shook.

I continued to walk down the hall until we reached my old room to see Megan sitting on her bed alone as if waiting for us. where the hell was Phil?! Why wasn't he with her?!

"Megan." I said calmly. "Get your things, you're going with your mum." She quietly looked between me and her mother who still stood behind me and seemed scared as if she knew what was going on.

"I don't want to anymore." She said quietly.

"Megan, you need to do it." I told her carefully.

"NOW!" Her mother barked making her flench in fear before scurrying off of her bed in her little pink pajamas. She went for her backpack and put some of her toys inside and went to her shoes.

"Daddy, are you alright?" She asked me.

"I'm fine, just get your shoes on." I told her "Everything is going to be alright." I couldn't help but wonder where the hell Phil was.

"Where's Phil?" Allie asked quickly just now realizing he was gone.

"He had to go potty." Megan said.

"Hurry up!" Allie yelled at her daughter again as she struggled with her shoes.

"I'm trying." Megan cried.

"Can I help her?" I whispered to Allie "There's no way out of this room other than the one your blocking." I pointed out.

"Make her hurry." She said through gritted teeth. I quickly went over to Megan's side and got down on the floor with her to help.

"I love you, Okay?" I whispered to Megan as I got her first shoe on the crying child.

"I love you too daddy." Tears streamed down her face.

"Don't bloody call him that! He's not your father!" Megan screamed in frustration.

We suddenly heard a scream making Megan scream in terror. I pulled Megan towards me into my lap protectively before I even realized what had happened.

Allie was laying on the floor being tazed as a female officer rushed into the room to mine and Megan's side to be followed by Phil looking completely freaked out.

"Is she alright?" The female officer asked.

"Yeah we're both fine." I told her.

"Come here." Phil told the crying child as they handcuffed Allie and dragged her to her feet. Phil held her in his lap and shielded Megan from the scene that was happening right behind us to her mother.

"It's okay now. you did such a good job at following what I told you to do." he told her and it made me realized he had planned this out because he somehow knew that I had been in danger.

We filed a police report and I heard Phil's story for the first time.

Apparently he had heard everything that was said in the hall between me and Allie and her threatening me. He had then told Megan part of what was going on and not to be scared. He then slipped into the bathroom and got back on the phone with 999 to tell them what was now happening and they had him stay on the line until they got there just in case something bad happened. They had advised him not to deal with it himself because it could lead to a more worse situation and put Allie in danger.

I wouldn't have let Allie take Megan, I just had a feeling that Phil would do something because he always had a plan, I trusted him, not just with my own life but with my daughter's as well.

Megan was still shaken from what had happened and no matter how many times we told her it would be alright and that it was over now she still didn't believe us. We let her sleep with us that night and I let her kick me in the back all night, but I was grateful for it, because it reminded me that she was still there and Allie hadn't taken her from me.