“You’re a horrible human being, you know that?” I looked at her in disgust and walked to the back garden so I could check on Skylar. “Hey, where are you?” I called out as I walked through the French doors.
“Right here, Uncle Noah,” Skylar yawned up at me from the chair she was sitting on. “I was just taking a quick nap.”
“I think it’s time for bed, honey.”
“I don’t want to go to bed.” She shook her head.
“But you’re tired.”
“I’m not tired.” Her lower lip trembled.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m scared I’m going to wake up again and this will all be a dream.” Tears slid out of her eyes. “I don’t want to wake up and not see you.”
“This isn’t a dream, poppet. I’ll be here in the morning. I’ll be here every morning. I was coming to get you tomorrow. But instead, you came to get me first.”
Skylar looked at me silently with big hopeful eyes and so I continued. “I made a mistake when I left you, Skylar. I didn’t know how to say goodbye and I didn’t know what Monica was going to say or do if I tried to take you with me. I tried to ask her to let me take you so I could give you a better life. But she threatened to do bad things. And because we’re not family, I didn’t have any legal rights, but I was trying, my love. I was always trying.”
“I was so sad.” She grabbed my hand. “I was so sad when you left.”
“I’m so sorry, Skylar. But I promise I will never leave you again.” I smiled at her and held her hand tightly. “I promise that I will always be here for you because when you love someone you will always be there for them; to protect them, to love them, to kiss them and hug them.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” I heard my phone ringing and saw Robin’s name on the screen before putting it back in my pocket. I didn’t want to interrupt my time with Skylar by answering the phone. Not now. I hoped and prayed that Robin would accept my call in a few days. But right now, all I could focus on was Skylar. She was finally going to become my daughter and this time, I had to make sure that I did everything in my power to keep her safe and make her feel loved.
***
“Here’s to families.” Zane’s beer can clinked mine as we sat on the couch after dinner. It had been three days since we had met with the attorney and I was now in full legal custody of Skylar.
“Here’s to me having the best family ever.” I grinned back at him and took a chug of beer. “Thank you for being the best brother ever.”
“It was the least I could do.” He said and leaned back. “She’s a great kid.”
“She is.” I agreed. “I sure hope I don’t do anything to screw her up.”
“You won’t.” Zane smiled at me. “And you know Lucky won’t let you.”
“That’s true,” I laughed. “She’s already acting like a mom.”
“I know.” He groaned. “She’s going to want ten kids now.”
“You’ll be happy to give them to her.” I laughed and he chuckled.
“What about you? You want more?”
“I think that’s a bit early to ask. I just became a dad and I don’t even have a girlfriend.” I laughed but I felt a little sad inside. Robin hadn’t answered or returned any of the calls I had made in the last two days. I knew that I should have tried to explain everything earlier, but I had just been so overwhelmed.
“How’s Robin?” Zane asked curiously and I shrugged. “Does she want to meet Skylar?
“She doesn’t know about Skylar.” I bit my lip and he looked at me in shock.
“Oh, boy.” He shook his head. “You have to stop keeping things to yourself, bro. You’re making it harder on yourself than you need to.”
“I didn’t want to get people involved with my worries.” I sighed. “Especially not if I’m planning something that may be illegal.”
“I knew you were up to no good.” Zane shook his head. “As soon as I saw you on the phone, I knew you had some hair-brained plan up your sleeve.”
“You didn’t let on.” I looked at him in surprise.
“I knew you wouldn’t tell me what was going on.” He sighed. “So I took matters into my own hands with the help of Lucky.”
“I can’t believe you guys did all that for me.”
“I told you once before, Noah. I always sense when things are wrong with you. And I will always do everything in my power to make them right for you.”
“Thank you, Zane.” My voice was emotional. “I love you, bro. You know I used to think that only my future wife could show me how deep love could be. But your love and devotion for me, well, it almost breaks my heart. But in a good way. You make me believe that the bright side of love is the only side I should ever think and worry about. You make me believe that anything is possible.” I took a deep breath and was about to continue when the doorbell rung.
“You should go and get that, bro.” Zane jumped up and pulled me up.
“Who is it?”
“Open the door and go and see.” He gave me a quick hug and walked away. “I’m going to go up and see if Lucky wants any help reading Skylar her bedtime story.”
“Okay.” I nodded at him and walked to the door slowly, my heart was pounding as I opened the door.
“Hi,” she said with a tight smile.
“Hi,” I replied, and opened the door wider to let her in. “It’s good to see you, Robin.”
“Zane said you wanted to talk? That it was an emergency?”
“Yes.” I nodded, grateful that my brother had stepped in for me once again. “Yes, I’d love to talk. There are some things I want to tell you.”
“Okay.” She looked at me with hurt still in her eyes, and I knew that she was mad at me. I knew that she was upset that I hadn’t confided in her earlier. I knew that I had cracked her veneer and it broke my heart.
“First off, I want to ask you a question.” I took a deep breath. “Do you think that we could start again, from the beginning?” She looked at me, unspeaking, and I continued. “This time I want to get it right. This time I need to get it right. I know you’re mad at me and you have every right to be, but I like you and I really want this to work. Please just tell me yes or no. Can we start again?”