Daddy Brought Home the Stepdaughter

Chapter 1

There was probably never a happier man in the world than Brad Whitaker until that day. He had a job as a radio host he was happy working at, a beautiful wife, a beautiful home, and two beautiful children. Even though he was only Dylan and Megan's stepdad, they had, eventually, gotten used to having him around and had even grown to like him.

Until the day that blew his whole Dream Dad situation out of the water.

It started off as any regular Monday. Well, sort of. Brad had just come from work. "Hello. I'm home." He called to Sara and Dylan, who were sitting in the kitchen. "Hey. How was the, uh..." That was when he realized that poor little Dylan was in tears. "What's wrong?" Sara shrugged helplessly.

"He won't talk to me. He said he only wants to talk to you." Brad's eyes went wide, and he looked at Dylan incredulously.

"You want to talk to me? Really?" Dylan nodded. "You mean me and your mom? Dylan shook his head that time. "Just me? By myself?" Dylan nodded again, and Brad resisted the urge to do a happy dance.

"Sure. I'm... I'm totally free. Let's go to the den. We'll sit there. We'll sit. We can do it sitting or standing? Doesn't matter. We're just gonna do it. We're not gonna overthink it. Yeah. Great. Okay, good. Just the men, yeah. A little rap session. Great." He led Dylan to the den, mouthing "Oh, my God" back at Sarah excitedly.

As they sat in the den, Brad patted Dylan on the back comfortingly.

"I just want you to know that I'm just here to listen. All right?" He told the small boy excitedly. "No judgments, no lectures, just a compassionate ear." Dylan nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Well, there are these kids at school..." he started slowly, Brad listening completely.

"Mmm-hmm."

"and they're bigger than me, because they're fourth graders." Click! Brad had taken a picture, and Dylan had lost his train of thought. "And..." Brad blushed, putting his phone down.

"Oh, was that weird?" Dylan nodded. "I'm sorry, I'm just... It's a big moment for me, and I'm just trying to capture it. It just came off awkward. So, go ahead, continue telling your story. Fourth graders." Dylan sighed again.

"Anyway, there are these fourth graders, and..."

DVD

"He actually confided in me." Brad told Sara excitedly as they prepared dinner. "I mean, it was that father-son feeling I've been dying for, and it was even better than I thought it was gonna be." He sighed dreamily. "I mean, he really needed me. Me." Sara nodded, distracted.

"That is so great, honey." Brad nodded excitedly.

"He even said not to tell you. So I'm actually totally betraying his trust right now." That made him chuckle, but Sara was more concerned with something else.

"What are we gonna do about those little snot-nosed fourth graders?" Brad shrugged, unconcerned.

"Oh, I think it's going to be fine. He's going to try to do some trust falls on the playground." She looked to him impressed.

"Really? You think that's gonna work?" Brad nodded.

"As long as they catch him. Yeah." That was when sweet little Megan wandered into the kitchen, looking for none other than Brad.