Struggles of a Single Father (Book 1 of the Struggle Puff Series)

Chapter 52

Written – 9/08/2020

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"I'm sorry, what?" I whispered between clinched teeth.

Kimberly was nervous to meet my gaze, so she decided to stare at her cup instead, "Ain brought Tilisia to me nine days ago."

"Wow. And you didn't think it was necessary to, oh I don't know, tell me!?"

"If I didn't find it necessary, I wouldn't be here." Clearly, my own aggression was rubbing off on her because she was now looking at me with fury, "I didn't tell you the first few days because I was more concerned about her wellbeing than your pride."

"Pride? What pride?"

"The pride you feel whenever you get the chance to be her savior."

Her words had caught me off guard. I didn't know what to think, let alone say, about her response.

She took my silence as an opportunity to continue, in a calmer manner, "I get that you want to be the best dad, and I have no doubt that you are, but with situations like this, you have to take a step back and give her room to come to you willingly. She'll tell you what happened when she gets back, I can assure you of that, but you can't force her to do it either."

"No. Let's go back for a second. I believe you were telling me about my pride, Kimberly. I would just love to hear more about that."

"Is that what you really want to be fixated on? The pride comment?'

"Yeah! Because I still don't get what you're thinking. There is no pride when I have to help her, because the situation was either completely avoidable or partially my fault. If it's the former, I'm just mad because I thought I had done a better job as a parent to get her to avoid it, but if it's the latter, I'm mad at myself for being at the center of her life when I clearly shouldn't be."

"That's the problem, Carter!" Kimberly had stood up and was shaking me by my shoulders, "You hit the nail on the head when you said that you weren't the center of her life! So why are you continuing to act like you are?" She had stopped shaking me, now on the verge of tears, she continued in a calmer manner, "She's growing up. She has her own story now. Let her live it and write it. It's not like you'll no cease to exist, you'll just be the supporting character. Just like we are to you, you are to Amy, Amy is to Jake, so on and so forth. Tilisia will still lean on you and ask you for help, she's still young, but you can't force it."

For someone who didn't raise a kid, she sures seemed to have this whole thing on lock already.

"I'm starting to think that you're more cut out to be a parent than I was." I said with a weak chuckle, "You're really out doing me. She's already going to you first and she's only met you once. Feels like just yesterday when she was telling you to beg."

She laughed as we both settled back down on the couch, "I think she saw through me just as well as you did. I can only imagine that she's one for theatrics and couldn't stop once she had started."

"Kinda like you."

"Just like me." She echoed softly, "You know, I don't want you to think that I'm discrediting your worry. You have every right to be scared, confused, hurt, or whatever it is you're feeling right now. It's justified. I get it."

She took our silence as a chance to get up and grab her things, "I should be going. I just wanted to tell you that." She pushed her hair behind her ear as she looked around before returning her gaze to mine, "Just be gentle when she comes back. She's been through a lot."