The New Girl

Dad

Going inside. It'd be the hardest thing I do all night, all weekend probably.

"Knock, please." I whispered to Ayden. I feel like my voice box was just stolen from my throat.

Ayden did as I asked and knocked on the door to my dad's house.

Part of me prayed that this was the wrong address and this wasn't the new Matt Turner residence. I prayed that no one would answer this door.
But my prayers weren't answered seeing as my dad opened the door.

This is the first time I've seen him since the accident. It's been very hard for me to get through this and seeing him feels like a major setback.

My dad opened his arms and intended to hug me, but Ayden and I stepped around him to get inside his house.

Sitting straight ahead in their kitchen was Ellen, his new fiancée, and his daughter who is now two years old, Lilly. Watching her feed their daughter made my heart physically hurt.

Ayden put his arm around my waist in attempt to soothe me. It didn't work out as well as he or I could've hoped.

After I moved away from his hug like I just did, Dad awkwardly cleared his throat and led us into the kitchen.

"Gabby, this is Ellen and Lilly. Ellen, this is my daughter, Gabby." I feel like he shouldn't even be allowed to call me his daughter anymore. He left.

"This is Ayden, my friend." Ayden waved his hand to greet my dad and his family.

Not only is the awkwardness at level 10, but this is harder than I thought it would be. Being back here in the same town of everything that was wrong in my life.

"How is Dominic?" Dad asked when Ellen got up with Lilly to go clean her off since she just got done eating.

"Better." I replied. I didn't have the energy to put up a fight with him.

I'm endlessly grateful that Ayden came here with me because I know for a fact I wouldn't have been able to do this with anyone other than Ayden at my side.

"We are really glad you came."

"I didn't come for you." I reminded him. "I came to meet my half-sister." Dad bit his lip and nodded.

He tried to bring up past memories that he thought would warm my heart to get my forgiveness, but it was useless. Nothing anytime soon could make me forgive him. I'm not ready.

Eventually Dad got too sidetracked with all of his other family members to pay attention to Ayden and I.

We were sitting on the floor in the living room talking about nothing in particular, that being Ayden's conversation choice to keep my mind off of what's going on around me, when Ellen came over with Lilly. She put the toddler down on her two feet and she began spinning in circles in her white dress that had a pink bow around the waist.

"Do you two want to play with her for a little while?"

"Sure," Ayden said before I could reply. I wanted to say no.

She looks so much like my dad and so do I. I don't want to think about how we sisters from different mothers, but the same fathers.

"Gabby," Ayden said softly when he saw that I refused to look at the toddler in front of me. "You can resent your dad for leaving your family and you can be mad at Ellen for giving him an ultimatum at the worst possible time, but this little girl... she didn't ask for any of this. She had no control over any of this."

So I looked at her again. She was staring right back at me. It felt like I was looking in a mirror when her big green eyes were staring at me and a small smile played on her little lips.