You could feel your heartbeat in your chest.
Never before had you been this nervous. After seven months of dating Jamie this could be the end of your relationship. It had taken Jamie a month to even tell you he had a daughter, Allie. Finally, you were going to meet her.
This meeting wasn't just important to you, it was important to Jamie too. You were the first one of Jamie's girlfriends that she had met. To lessen the awkwardness, you had both agreed that meeting in an public and informal setting would be the best, so you picked the Dallas Zoo.
Pulling into the parking lot, you saw Jamie and Allie waiting for you. You caught Jamie's attention, he smiled at you, instantly putting you at ease and calming any nerves you had. Stepping out of the car, you smoothed over your outfit one last time before walking over to meet them. You smiled and gave them a small wave as you approached. Just enough to show Allie that you were friendly, but not enough to scare or creep her out. You greeted Jamie with a quick hello and waited for him to introduce the two of you.
"Allie, this is my friend (Y/N)." He said. You and Jamie had agreed beforehand that he would refer to you as his friend, not wanting to rush anything.
She took a hold of Jamie's hand and looked up at you, as you leaned down a bit to get more on her level.
"Hi, (Y/N)." She almost whispered, shyly. Thankfully, Jamie was quick to change the subject, asking both of you if you wanted to go see the animals. Allie, still timid, nodded, which you reciprocated.
As you walked through some of the more exotic animal exhibits, you tried to make small talk with Allie, trying to get to know her. For the most part she paid little attention to you, until Jamie would remind her to answer you. You could tell Jamie was trying just as hard as you were to have a connection be made with her, which was difficult because neither one of you wanted to force anything.
Finally, at the giraffe exhibit you thought you had made your big breakthrough. You got the opportunity to feed one, as you were doing this you looked at Jamie quickly, replying to something he had said. Suddenly, the giraffe moved it's head towards your direction. The movement frightened you, causing you to almost shriek and jump back. Neither Jamie nor Allie could contain their laughter, and finally, after the laughs stopped, Jamie made sure you were okay.
Although it was at your expense, you were excited that Allie's wall was finally down, and now, maybe you could start to build a bond with her. Sure enough, after that she started to answer your questions, and began to ask you a few of her own.
While the three of you were walking to the hippo exhibit, Allie spotted a frozen lemonade stand. Excitedly, she asked Jamie if he would get her one. Of course he said yes, and offered to get you one too. He made eye contact with you, as if to ask if it was okay if he left Allie with you. You smiled and gave him a brief nod.
"Allie." He said. "Is it okay if you stay here with (Y/N) while I go get the lemonade?" He asked her, crouching down to get on her level. While both you and he watched Allie for her response.
"Ya, can we go see the hippos while you're gone? You can meet us there." She said looking up at you.
"That's fine. Make sure you listen to (Y/N), and stay with her." He added sternly, before standing back up and walking towards the lemonade stand.
Just before the two of you started walking into the hippo exhibit, she took your hand. As you approached the glass window, she let go of it and put her hands on the ledge under the glass window, lifting herself up so she was able to see the hippo easier. Suddenly, the hippo turned its head so it was looking right at Allie. Excited by this, she turned around so that looking back at you, yelling look. You happily, opened your mouth, reaffirming how cool it was. As she turned back towards the glass window, she saw it. The hippo, while looking at her opened it's mouth super wide, almost growling at her.
Instantly, she took a step back form the glass and grabbed your hand. You could tell how scared she was, and you put your free hand on her shoulder to comfort her and show her you were there. She looked up at you and motioned for you to come down to her level, so you did.
"Can we go?" She whispered into your ear. You nodded as you walked out with her, still holding hands.
You found a nearby bench to sit on, as you could see Jamie paying for the lemonades. All of a sudden, Allie looked at you.
"You're really nice. I'm glad you're friends with Daddy." She said.
"I'm glad I'm friends with your Dad too." You answered.
"Your his first girl friend, can you French braid my hair? None of his boy friends can." She asked you.
"Of course, Allie." You laughed. Jamie, smiling, walked over to the two of you. His hands were full with frozen lemonade.
Your mind began to wander, thinking of the man walking towards you. You had never thought about how actually hard this must have been for him. All of the "girly stuff" he had to learn about during Allie's childhood. Jamie's wife, Allie's mother, had died just a few days after she was born and while Jamie's sister and his mother had played a huge role in Allie's upbringing, she had never had a real mom. You couldn't imagine life without your mom, and instantly your heart broke thinking of Allie.
"What did I miss?" Jamie asked, giving out the frozen treats in his hands.
"(Y/N) and me went to see the hippo, but it scared me so we left." She said, taking a big bite of her lemonade.
"Oh no." Jamie said, shooting you a concerned look.
"It's okay. (Y/N)'s really nice, and she held my hand." You smiled looking down at Allie while she said this. Jamie locked eyes with you and gave you a content look, which you reciprocated.
The rest of the afternoon went better than you could have expected, Allie even reaching for your hand on a couple of more occasions. As you were leaving, she even made you promise that the next time she saw you, you would braid her hair.
