Chapter Seven: Meeting Marie
My Dad was so excited that he paid for pizza and told us to meet him at Airlie Gardens.
He rented a shelter on the water and I know he's probably nervous, but so am I.
"And what if they get married and my step-sister is a step-witch? What if this Marie girl acts like my Mom? What if she tries to scold our kids?"
Danny shuts the car off in the parking lot and sighs.
"Grace, how about we just meet them first, alright?"
I can see my Dad talking to somebody.
"They've been his family for two years." I mutter.
"Sweetheart, you're his daughter." He reminds me. "And he's nervous about this. He's hesitated so long because he messed up before. He's trying to rebuild his life."
"Danny, if it gets bad, I'll tell Abby to fake an emergency so we have to go."
"Alright. Let's go."
I know I need to be a good spirit, I'm just nervous.
I get Ethan out of his car seat and carry him, and Danny gets Emily, who stomps her foot on the ground to flash her light up sketchers.
I lock the car and the horn honks, causing my Dad and his whole group of people to turn their heads.
"Danny, I'm nervous." I whisper.
"Just be yourself." He says calmly.
My Dad is walking over to us already. Danny takes my free hand and starts pulling me towards the shelter. I hold on tightly, stopping when we reach my Dad.
"Thank you for doing this for me." He says.
"You're welcome."
He walks with us and I tighten my grip on Danny's hand. We stop when we reach the shelter, and I'm surprised.
Marie is pretty, with blue eyes and brown hair. Her daughter looks like her, but a little heavier, and her daughters husband is average. Their three year old is playing with her toys.
"Guys, this is my daughter Gracelyn and her husband Daniel." Dad says.
"Grace and Danny." Danny says confidently, shaking all of their hands and telling them it's nice to meet them. Marie hugs me and compliments my shirt and I awkwardly thank her and shake hands with the daughter and her husband.
"This is Marie, her daughter Lauren, Lauren's husband Darren, and Kelsey, who is Lauren and Darren's daughter."
Dad hesitate. "And this is my granddaughter Emily and my grandson Ethan."
I set Ethan down to play, moving to stand with Danny.
My hands are shaking so I shove them into the pocket of my jeans.
"How was your drive out here?" Marie asks.
"Oh, we live right here." I point to the right.
There's one spot in all of Airlie Gardens that shows our house and that spot just so happens to be the shelter my Dad chose.
"Really?" She asks.
"Yeah, the house with the two boardwalks is ours."
Lauren lets out a low whistle.
"That's beautiful." She says.
"Grace designed it." Dad says.
"Really?" Marie asks.
YOU ARE READING
Everything Has Changed: Book Four
Novela Juvenil"Emmy? Good morning, Beautiful. It's time to wake up." She opens her eyes and sits up, a pout on her face. She blinks a couple of times and rubs her eyes, looking at me. She doesn't say anything for a second, pouting. "It's not even morning Momma."...
