My Everything

5

"Morning," Dan beamed. He rested his head on my chest as he smiled at me.
"Mm," I hummed.
"Ever sleep in a guys bed two nights in a row without doing anything?" He resided a brow.
"Never slept in a guys bed two nights in a row, period."
"You're so gross," he tsk'd. "Thanks for helping me feed Viv last night. It means a lot to me."
"Yeah, it's whatever."
"Still hate kids?"
"Very much so."
"Hmm."
"Hmm what?"
"Nothing, you're just funny."

***

"And remember–"
"Yeah, I got it all, Lester, don't worry. Come on, now." He went to go grab my hand—I immediately flinched and backed away. "What's wrong with you?"
"I, just– No one's ever held my hand before. It's weird. I'm sorry."
"We don't have to."
"Yeah... I'll keep my hand on your back or something."
"That's perfectly fine," he smiled. "Come on."
"I'm nervous," I said. "They're gonna yell at me," I whined.
"Why?"
"Because you have a kid and the timeline is weird and they're gonna be like, 'why didn't you tell us about our first grand baby blah blah blah'," I huffed. "Sorry, yeah, let's go in."

I knocked on my parents front door and waiting for either mum or dad to answer. Mum greeted me with a smile and a hug, then moved on to Dan. She cocked her head to the smile as she ran her hand up and down my back.

"Who's your friend?"
"Mum, promise me you won't get mad."
"I'll try."
"This is my fiancé, and this is his kid. Her name is Vivien."
"You have a baby?" she asked me.
"In a way," I lied. "Anyway, Mum, this is Dan."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Lester," he beamed as he stuck his free hand out.
"It's very nice to meet you, Dan." She shook his hand. "Well, come in, I guess."

We walked in and settled down in the living room. Dan set the baby carrier on the floor and unbuckled the restless infant. He sat her on his lap and she immediately turned her head to look at me. I gave her an awkward smile before looking back to Mum.

"So where's dad?"
"Out fishing with a few friends."
"Not surprised," I chuckled.
"So when's the wedding?"
"We don't know yet," Dan said.
"I actually wanted to do it at the courthouse this weekend."
"I'm not getting married in a courthouse," Dan fought. "I've actually always wanted to get married on my grandfathers farm." I rolled my eyes and let the boy talk. "We could actually probably have it in a few months. How does that sound, Phil?"
"Can't we do both?" I asked.
"Can we do my way first?"
"Then what's the point of doing my way?"
"Why do you want to get married in the damn courthouse so badly?"
"Fucking sue me for wanting to marry you sooner," I spat. Dan froze for a second before placing his hand on top of mine.
"We can do both," he whispered.
"Really?" I raised a brow.
"Yeah... if it's what you wanna do, then we can do it."
"Thank you..."
"My pleasure," he grinned.

As the conversation died down, Vivien started reaching for my hand, mimicking her father's actions. Dan moved his hand out of the way and flashed me a smirk. I clicked my tongue before sticking out my right pointer finger for the girl to hold on to.

"I'm surprised you proposed to a man with a kid," Mum said. "You were never one for children."
"Still not," I huffed. Vivien began tugging at my finger as she giggled.
"Then why? No offense to you, Dan, darling. You seem like a very nice boy, but I'm just baffled."
"Mum can I tell you a secret?"
"Of course."
"I proposed to Dan at PJ's wedding. I had been chasing him for a shag for around three and a half years. At the wedding, I got drunk, asked him to dance, then asked him to marry me. The next morning I woke up, he reminded me of what I had done, and I'm honestly just rolling with it at this point."
"Dan could you give my son and I a moment to talk."
"Of course."

As Dan stood up, Vivien's grip started slipping on my finger. Once she let go, she burst into tears and started making grabby hands at me. Dan looked to me in a panic, as if he wanted to hand her off to me. Not having much of a choice, I rolled my eyes and offered to hold her in my lap.

"I'll be back, I guess," Dan said as he headed down the hall.

As he walked away, I started unintentionally rubbing little circles on Vivien's tummy. The happy girl latched onto my hand and started tugging on my fingers yet again.

"Phil?"
"Hmm?" I hummed.
"Why are you marrying a man you hardly know and probably don't love?"
"Why not?" I shrugged.
"Especially a man with a kid."
"I dunno."
"Philip..."
"What do you want me to say, Mum?" I scoffed. "This is happening and... I just can't break his heart, y'know?"
"Why not? You've done it to two other–"
"Shh," I hushed. "He doesn't need to hear that," I whispered.
"He doesn't know you've been divorced twice?" I shook my head. "Phil, these are things you need to tell him."
"He doesn't need to know."
"Phil, the last thing this boy, and his daughter, need is for some asshole to come into their lives for a year or so then leave out of the blue."
"You know damn well what happened with Owen wasn't my fault," I teared up.
"Phil–"
"Did I cheat on Gabe? Yeah, fucking up that marriage I take full responsibility for, but in my defense Owen just messed me up beyond belief. I couldn't trust another guy for god knows how long, but Dan... he's different. I just... there's something about him. I trust him and I-I know he'd never intentionally do anything wrong to me."
"Would you hurt him, though?"
"Now why would I do that to a guy I love?"