Eleven months later …174Please respect copyright.PENANA94f8uKwKvd
"Hey, little Nightingale?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAND6zasSnLU
"Dah! Dee! Doo!"174Please respect copyright.PENANAHw0pLgeDj0
"Nightingale?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAyFGms7Dq0N
"Uh?" She drops her blocks and looks up.174Please respect copyright.PENANAbsmGgyFlfk
"Do you want to go somewhere? Hm?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAt5MyN18kjO
She tilts her head, like, woman, have you lost your mind? Of course! She jumps up and falls on her butt. She screams.174Please respect copyright.PENANAvw8ivJ7DrZ
I laugh. "Silly, you can't walk yet." I walk over to her and pick her up. "Come on. We need to get your socks and shoes on."174Please respect copyright.PENANAwwU1YNJt3X
She flails her arms with her hands clenched tight on two blocks. I set her down and walk over to her dresser. I open the top drawer and grab a pair of grey socks. I grab her little sandals and walk over to her. She sees what I have and drops the blocks in her hands. She shoots her hands in the air and squeals, doing jazz hands. I roll my eyes and laugh. She giggles.174Please respect copyright.PENANAMD4J4LmQSr
"Oh, you're too cute." I kneel down and put her socks and shoes on. Then I pick her up and head to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, I grab my keys and head out the door. I get outside and put Nightingale in her car seat. Then, I shut the door and get in the driver's seat. I start the engine and back out of the driveway. I pull out on the road and head to the park.
I get to the park and park in the parking lot. I turn the engine off and get out. I put my keys in my pocket and open the back door. I unbuckle Nightingale as she squeals in delight. I take her out of her seat and shut the door. Then, I carry her over to a nearby picnic table. I set her on the table and sit down. She squeals.174Please respect copyright.PENANABGPoeeRP7g
"You're one happy camper, aren't you? Happy you finally get to come outside in public? Hmm?"174Please respect copyright.PENANA98Ff5SN8Sy
She squeals again.174Please respect copyright.PENANA4TzmmL3e4t
I smile. "Oh, so cute. Who's a cutie? You are." I sigh and look around. "Oh. I wish your father could see you. He'd think you're cute too, I'm sure."174Please respect copyright.PENANAFXdhCaLk5n
She looks up and points behind me. I turn around to see a man walking towards the park. She squeals. She crawls over to the edge of the table and tries sliding to the ground. Instead, she ends up doing a backflip and lands on her butt. She giggles and looks up as the man stops right in front of her. He looks down at her and smiles. She smiles back and giggles.174Please respect copyright.PENANAkFoR1cKRMl
He bends down and strokes her hair. "You're absolutely beautiful."174Please respect copyright.PENANAnFY7Crw08W
"Dee!" She puts her hands over his eyes and giggles.174Please respect copyright.PENANA1KWXsKL1oy
I can't help it. I smile. Suddenly, my phone starts ringing. Nightingale brings her hands down and looks at me, tilting her head to the side. The man looks over at me and gasps. I answer the phone and get up. I walk away a few feet.174Please respect copyright.PENANA9c8QcdNz2e
"Hello?" I ask. "Who is this?"174Please respect copyright.PENANATjfH6yxJ9o
"Why, Nikki, how could you not know?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAHUDGkRVCkd
"Mom, I didn't look at the phone number. I didn't—"174Please respect copyright.PENANAA0jdawGNWD
"I found a foster—"174Please respect copyright.PENANA3i7g4AGBGk
I groan. "Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm not getting rid of Nightingale. At all. Is that understood?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAou0WotYZdm
"But her father isn't—"174Please respect copyright.PENANAWn5JCZPGA6
"Her father knows what's best for her. Okay? I'm done talking. I've done graduated school, gotten a job, and moved out. I'll be fine."174Please respect copyright.PENANAoq4UDWCMTC
"But what about college?"174Please respect copyright.PENANA1Z6S6a8xei
"Dang it, mom!" I hang up and sigh. I let my phone drop to the ground and put my hand on my forehead with my other arm supporting it. "Oh my God."174Please respect copyright.PENANASSHgLpr4u0
I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around to see the man standing behind me.174Please respect copyright.PENANAtx6rN4jVrM
"You alright?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAG3bgvuuWIX
"I'm fine." I walk over to the table and sit down. I watch as Nightingale plays with the sand. She squeals. I laugh and smile. She looks up at me and claps her hands. I sigh. "Oh, you're so cute."174Please respect copyright.PENANACcmgzlTycE
After an hour, I finally am starting to wonder who the mysterious man is. I look up and see him looking at me.174Please respect copyright.PENANAEvWuoHiT4X
"Who are you?" I ask.174Please respect copyright.PENANAGPBAfpRpbF
"Samual. You don't remember me?"174Please respect copyright.PENANA2wpfsr6qMe
"No."174Please respect copyright.PENANAFsEXUI78QH
"I'm sure Dracula would absolutely love her." He looks at her and back at me. "Has she learned to walk yet?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAVzxIt2lnpc
"No. She hasn't. She's only eleven months old."174Please respect copyright.PENANABsiDiIy9zI
"Well, as soon as she learns to walk, you could let me know and I could take you two to see Dracula."174Please respect copyright.PENANAW1P9zv81yO
"Are you sure that would be a good idea? What if he doesn't recognize me? Or worse, he does but he doesn't want anything to do with me or Nightingale?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAEGcZdRnDAd
"I doubt that second one. The part of him not recognizing you is more reasonable than anything else."174Please respect copyright.PENANAIxzwJBNxdP
"True. But what about Nightingale? Will he even know who she is? What if he thinks she's someone else? What if—"174Please respect copyright.PENANAGa0A1LV8Ch
"What on earth is your daughter doing?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAeKlQ7ccoHs
"Playing with sand."174Please respect copyright.PENANASjBMYkR7um
"I don't think she is. It doesn't look like it."174Please respect copyright.PENANAiMlvgRvWif
I look at Nightingale and gasp. "Nightingale, what are you doing?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAFgf9w16M45
She looks up at me and falls on her butt. She giggles. She gets up again and takes a step forward. I get up carefully and grab my phone. I come back and quickly pull up snapchat. I pull up my picture screen and start taking a video.174Please respect copyright.PENANAUCZ588WHRU
"Well, look at you. Someone's learning to walk." I back up a few steps and she takes two slow, small steps. She giggles. I smile.174Please respect copyright.PENANArRhDnyFN2x
"Da! Doo! Da! Dee!" She squeals.
I laugh and smile. "You're so cute."174Please respect copyright.PENANA92B85F0Zft
Finally she reaches me with a squeal and hugs my leg. I save the video and put my phone away. I pick her up and whirl her around. She squeals. I stop and set her down. She gets up and follows me to the table. I sit down and watch as she climbs up on the seat. She manages to get up on the seat and sit down. She says something and I look at her.174Please respect copyright.PENANAiPZPJPofNI
"What did you say?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAyeEBtdQDZE
"Dad! Daddy!"174Please respect copyright.PENANAkd1QHc63jN
I gasp. I look up at Samual. "What am I going to do? I can't just go visit him. I have a job."174Please respect copyright.PENANAKOqJZ4ufiR
"Do you have any vacation days?"174Please respect copyright.PENANApw5p6LNuAn
"I think I have about a month so far."174Please respect copyright.PENANAjmJvTW7Spg
"You could take a few days to a week off so you can go visit him. For her."174Please respect copyright.PENANAHAAdEtg9wL
"She'll be turning one in three days."174Please respect copyright.PENANAyizpEuR3V6
"Perfect!"174Please respect copyright.PENANAKgG1yS456D
"What's perfect?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAHKuhTTphcA
"You could take her to see him for her birthday."174Please respect copyright.PENANAtCFmvkvw6j
I look at Nightingale, who's looking at me with a confused look on her face.174Please respect copyright.PENANAmS9WY4TFGp
"Mommy?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAUMthn21RL5
"Oh. Yes. I'm mommy."174Please respect copyright.PENANAbt68srYlmX
"I daddy."174Please respect copyright.PENANAeRc4zZFgaR
"You're daddy?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAujdlxaWW7J
"Uh-uh. I daddy."174Please respect copyright.PENANA2QoRNLvwQ1
"Oh. You want daddy."174Please respect copyright.PENANAUw4wFn4Vaq
"Yah. I daddy." She looks up at me with a sad look in her eyes.174Please respect copyright.PENANAT4A9Ld25zo
"Oh, baby. Come here."174Please respect copyright.PENANApbjIUv53MX
She climbs into my lap and puts her head against my breast. I can hear her sobbing.174Please respect copyright.PENANAdIjGk8dVDF
"I … daddy," she sobs.174Please respect copyright.PENANA5datN5vjsw
I stroke her hair. "Oh. It's alright. Shh."174Please respect copyright.PENANAfQ72Mrzik7
Samual looks at me sympathetically. "Well, you could call work and ask for a week of vacation."174Please respect copyright.PENANAQbRwvy4V4d
"Why would I do that?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAXJARmDWsD9
"It's obvious she wants to see him really badly. You could do that for her first birthday."174Please respect copyright.PENANAkVKxEmmCQi
"But I don't know my way out there."174Please respect copyright.PENANAXqRDvGA1h7
"I could take you."174Please respect copyright.PENANA9bu5tKvV98
"But Nightingale needs a car seat."174Please respect copyright.PENANA2x9ATcHeEd
"You can hold her in your lap and I can take the back roads."174Please respect copyright.PENANAwqXXVBP8mi
"Oh. Fine. For her." I pull out my phone and call my boss.174Please respect copyright.PENANATgG3AD3mNP
"Hello?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAgLFB3IulIH
"Oh, um, could I take a week off of work? For my daughter? She'll be turning one in three days and I want to take her to visit her father."174Please respect copyright.PENANA7sBEBaaySf
"A week? Are you sure?"174Please respect copyright.PENANAA98e1EI2HA
"Yes, I'm sure."174Please respect copyright.PENANA5FfyGHIBo3
"That'll leave you three weeks."174Please respect copyright.PENANASTbVlp5OFX
"Yes, I'm aware of that."174Please respect copyright.PENANABTmN2tXxIt
"Alright. A week it is."174Please respect copyright.PENANA1qqvkbTcnQ
"Okay. Thank you."174Please respect copyright.PENANAoYS9myG3X9
"Yup. Bye."174Please respect copyright.PENANA20ZwQQznoH
"Bye."174Please respect copyright.PENANAaRNCZ9HoW6
I end the call and smile. "It worked."174Please respect copyright.PENANA7ftuJ6Xraz
"Seriously? You're kidding."174Please respect copyright.PENANAyMpMN8XupJ
"Yeah, seriously. I got a week off."174Please respect copyright.PENANAELncAFSUcW
He just looks at me.174Please respect copyright.PENANAs1tAKczrhn
I smile.174Please respect copyright.PENANANROYjS8KMB