Another Cold State Line

Julianna kept petting her hair. She was nervous, and I knew it was because she would chatting with her father for the first time. I had always wanted their first time speaking to be in person, but neither one of them could wait. Ever since I told her that her father wanted to talk with her, she asked me every day if they could talk today.

I watched as she smoothed her hair down and put her tiara in. Lately, she had been obsessed with Disney princesses. Her favorites were Ariel and Mulan, but she said neither really had tiaras. I think my little one was just obsessed with the glitter and glamour of it all. Much like me, she was far more comfortable in jeans and a tee shirt.

“Are you ready, baby girl?” I asked, putting her on a stool so she could see the computer screen.

She nodded excitedly. I turned Skype on and waited for Matt to get on. When his beautiful face appeared, I watched as the two people I loved the most in the world looked at each other for the first time. Matt’s hazel eyes widened as he looked at his daughter that looked so much like him. He took in her hazel eyes and dimples and a smile that could cure cancer spread across his face. He reached out and touched his screen like he was trying to touch her, make sure he was real. Julianna had much the same response. Her eyes lit up at the sight of her daddy. Those dimples deepened and she reached for the screen as well.

“Are you my daddy?” Those were her first words, so innocent. She knew, of course. I had shown her enough pictures of Matt for her to know who her father was. There was no denying it. They were too similar to each other.

“Yes.” Matt’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Yes, you are. Hi, baby girl. I… my god, you’re beautiful.”

She smiled up at him. “Thank you. Why didn’t mommy tell you about me?”

My stomach dropped. “Baby, what did I say?”

“It’s okay, Hayley. Your mommy was scared, Julianna. She thought if I didn’t know about you that she could stay safe. Your mother was hurt a long time ago. We love each other, baby girl, but she was scared.”

“Why would mommy be scared?” Her eyes met mine.

I looked at Matt. “Julianna, you daddy is a good man. He’s the best man I know, but there was a bad man who hurt me really badly. He made me believe I would never have babies. You were my miracle, and your daddy would have been there every step of the way if I wasn’t so afraid of losing you.”

Julianna nodded. “I have so many questions, daddy.”

Matt laughed, glad that the scary part was behind us. It was hard to explain the exact situation to her because she was such a little girl. But I always told her how much her dad loved her. And it was clear by how instantly they clicked. “Well, ask away, little one.”

“What do you do for a living? Mommy said you sing.”

“I sing in a band called Avenged Sevenfold. I have three really close friends who are like my brothers. They would be your uncles. They’re all just as excited to meet you as I am.”

“How did you and mommy meet?”

“We met at a rodeo. Your mom was so beautiful. She was an amazing barrel racer. It was the first rodeo I ever went to. It changed my life.”

They went back and forth like that for an hour. I could tell Julianna wanted to keep talking, but it was nearing her nap time. She yawned and stared at her dad. “Daddy, I want to talk more, but I’m tired.”

“Go take a nap, baby girl. We can talk whenever you want, okay? I promise I’ll come see you in person as soon as I can. I love you.”

“I love you too, daddy.” Julianna hopped off her chair and headed to her room. “I’m going to nap now, mommy.”

I smiled at her. “Okay, I’ll come tuck you in, in a little bit.”

“She’s wonderful, Hayley. You’ve done an amazing job raising her.”

My eyes fell at that. “We should talk about that, Matt. She’s your daughter, and I want you to help her raise her. Custody will be—”

“Custody? I’m not going to take Julianna away from you. We’re a state apart from each other, Hayley. She’s yours. I will want to see her, of course. But I don’t want to uproot her life every other week just so I can see her whenever I want.”

My eyes watered at how good of a man he was. “What did I do to deserve you two?”

“Suffered unimaginable pain at the hands of the worst kind of person. Listen, babe, I’ve got a sound check to do. We’ll talk more about this later.” He clicked off and I was left in awe.

He had called me babe. My feelings for him had never left, but now it was like they were rushing back all at once. And I loved it.

Notes

So stinking cute.