Teach Me Daddy

My shift finally ended and I raced home in my rundown car, anxious to wrap my arms around my makeshift family and pull them close to my chest.

“I’m home, you guys!”

“Cassie’s upstairs with Ana,” Kevin said. “She threw up on herself.”

“She threw up? Is she feverish? Rashy? Constipated?”

“Yes, no, no, and no,” Cassie said as she came down the steps with Ana. “She ate too many hot dog.”

“Hot dogs, yummy!” Ana exclaimed.

“Ah, we overate again,” I said as I plucked a naked Ana from Cassie’s arms. “Why do you always do that, hmm? Last week, you ate too many Cheerios.”

“I want Cheerios!” Ana said.

“Of course you do,” I said with a sigh.

“Wanna know how things at the bookstore went?” Cassie asked.

“I didn’t realize there was much to tell,” I said. “What’s up?”

“They want to promote Cassie to full-time employment,” Kevin said.

“Thanks for spoiling the surprise, dork,” she said.

“Cassie, are you serious?” I asked. “That’s awesome!”

“I guess,” she said, shrugging. “I’m not sure if it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life, but it’s money.”

“That’s what happens when you don’t think about the direction you want your life to take,” I said as I put clothes on Ana. “You end up in jobs you don’t like.”

“Hey, it helps with things around here, right?” she asked.

“But I also want you to be happy,” I said.

“Cassie says happiness is a choice, not a destination,” Kevin said.

“Cassie also says ‘bottoms up’ to whole bottles of tequila on a Wednesday night,” I said.

“And it sure tastes good going down,” she said.

“But not as good coming back up in our bathroom,” I said, grinning.

“Pee pee,” Ana said.

“You need to pee pee?” I asked.

I put Ana down, and she ran for her little potty in the corner. I was in the middle of potty training her while trying to get Kevin comfortable with school. He was going through that awkward stage where he didn’t really know where he fit in and I was trying to get him to open up a bit more. We talked a lot, and he and Cassie really bonded, but I think that’s because he thought Cassie was pretty more than anything else. For a thirteen-year-old boy, sitting next to a curvy girl with long brown hair and deep blue eyes was the equivalent of propping open a Playboy magazine.

“Ana is doing well with her potty training,” Cassie said.

“She is,” I said as Ana ran back to me. “I’m proud of her.”

“Now, we just gotta get her pooping in the potty. Then she’ll be ready to get a job, too!”

Kevin laughed while I shot her a look. I could see the playful smirk playing on her face while her and Kevin started up a game of Minecraft. It was something Kevin had become addicted to after playing it at a friend’s house, so Cassie and I saved up all our money and got him a gaming system and that specific game last Christmas.

“You sure you don’t want me to take Ana to her appointment tomorrow so you can catch the lunch shift?” Cassie asked.

“I’m sure,” I said. “I really want to take her to this appointment, especially with there being shots involved. You’re welcome to come, but I’ve already got someone covering my shift.”

“If you contracted your shifts out, you could probably scoop up some of their tips as payment,” Cassie said.

“You’re the weirdest person I know, you know that?” I asked.

“Oh, I make it a point,” she said, winking.

“Wanna build a castle?” Kevin asked.

“We built a castle last time,” she said. “Can we blow up this one?”

“Only if we build it with bricks,” Kevin said. “They scatter farther when you blow ‘em up.”

“I’m gonna go lay Ana down to bed and then I’ll be back to watch the festivities,” I said.

“Better hurry up! Countdown to explosions in T-minus twenty minutes!”

I shook my head and walked up the stairs as I headed to Ana’s room. She was already falling asleep on my shoulder as I laid her down in her crib, and the moment I covered her with her blanket, she was closing her eyes. I stared at her for a while, admiring the hairpin curve of her lips as she drifted off to sleep. She looked so much like him. It was uncanny. I’d pick her up in the morning and be hit with those big blue eyes and, suddenly, I’d be thrown back to that night.

That night I spent with my deep, dark prince.

I rubbed my neck, feeling the spot he’d marked three years ago. Back then, I’d covered it up for two weeks while it faded. But now? I’d give anything for it to be back.

I bent down and kissed Ana one last time before I ventured back downstairs. As I watched Kevin and Cassie giggling on the couch, I realized I wouldn’t trade this for anything. No matter how much of a surprise Ana was and no matter how much it hurt to lose my parents, I had the family I wanted.