Eleven months later …341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAkeBI9CMU
"Hey, little Nightingale?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1B484Avr7
"Dah! Dee! Doo!"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthW26q2rID
"Nightingale?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHppjX7FeDS
"Uh?" She drops her blocks and looks up.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIT7T6FIqJA
"Do you want to go somewhere? Hm?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTj872Abtzx
She tilts her head, like, woman, have you lost your mind? Of course! She jumps up and falls on her butt. She screams.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukHzpTdDTe
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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53cwk9ffp4
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPCCWrmVuE
"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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbT86jWHqK
"You're one happy camper, aren't you? Happy you finally get to come outside in public? Hmm?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcNF1Occqy
She squeals again.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYyzgng5I9
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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYcO5rAzx7
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSloCtkTBSM
He bends down and strokes her hair. "You're absolutely beautiful."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejDwOiy0oQ
"Dee!" She puts her hands over his eyes and giggles.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6zkLoyF2j
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmDZB8iZi7
"Hello?" I ask. "Who is this?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBF8sVXD5in
"Why, Nikki, how could you not know?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XKVVLqsPy
"Mom, I didn't look at the phone number. I didn't—"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxwvgZsnRa
"I found a foster—"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwSIRlSrda
I groan. "Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm not getting rid of Nightingale. At all. Is that understood?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7WtGan0sM
"But her father isn't—"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsJkAWLZ9j
"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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRNH2NKttH
"But what about college?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPfLKvGwX1
"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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyDXVYVHQX
I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around to see the man standing behind me.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvhZLigmfF
"You alright?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMuxp7aSIg
"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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8ZXFB8bvQ
After an hour, I finally am starting to wonder who the mysterious man is. I look up and see him looking at me.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfyCYyEh0h
"Who are you?" I ask.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtuqYJJTdm
"Samual. You don't remember me?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6XrLMeWgF
"No."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWaIShxGerw
"I'm sure Dracula would absolutely love her." He looks at her and back at me. "Has she learned to walk yet?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC97fGB4XGk
"No. She hasn't. She's only eleven months old."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLCWleiDF3
"Well, as soon as she learns to walk, you could let me know and I could take you two to see Dracula."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2QTvWV3SW
"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?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4mzD2OQ93
"I doubt that second one. The part of him not recognizing you is more reasonable than anything else."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHla0RiMBD
"True. But what about Nightingale? Will he even know who she is? What if he thinks she's someone else? What if—"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzF3N983rv
"What on earth is your daughter doing?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5jDdYcsIa
"Playing with sand."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LQQgqEtwM
"I don't think she is. It doesn't look like it."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2nqizTF9z
I look at Nightingale and gasp. "Nightingale, what are you doing?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15SbhssyoP
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyVPpUdrsq
"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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49bQDlY9Xp
"Da! Doo! Da! Dee!" She squeals.
I laugh and smile. "You're so cute."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUdrZYafuj
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lvkFvSHWa
"What did you say?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSGgyyicBl
"Dad! Daddy!"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvL2NFwe1G
I gasp. I look up at Samual. "What am I going to do? I can't just go visit him. I have a job."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mGDLIiAyc
"Do you have any vacation days?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSN4AOaotJZ
"I think I have about a month so far."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwITdKFTSV3
"You could take a few days to a week off so you can go visit him. For her."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLy8cDYAeB
"She'll be turning one in three days."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Hu8nnfVL9
"Perfect!"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu52L4TDf9P
"What's perfect?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBkPoQU5Wa
"You could take her to see him for her birthday."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLN7LJnmOYC
I look at Nightingale, who's looking at me with a confused look on her face.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQPkWLxTsC
"Mommy?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8oM9UqXeU
"Oh. Yes. I'm mommy."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeG2Dni2Rc5
"I daddy."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcHUxkoahN
"You're daddy?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDomIakWL9d
"Uh-uh. I daddy."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduBvEbJ1PH
"Oh. You want daddy."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfEJkgRm6P
"Yah. I daddy." She looks up at me with a sad look in her eyes.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVHis9qqsO
"Oh, baby. Come here."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0I8qQ0KfDV
She climbs into my lap and puts her head against my breast. I can hear her sobbing.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1fLAQ0GsdF
"I … daddy," she sobs.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3dC6R4VV3
I stroke her hair. "Oh. It's alright. Shh."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzBvHThhhY
Samual looks at me sympathetically. "Well, you could call work and ask for a week of vacation."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS93YdMUurs
"Why would I do that?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzFp7iVm8N
"It's obvious she wants to see him really badly. You could do that for her first birthday."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vk15K0MOe
"But I don't know my way out there."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMwAs4YbSb
"I could take you."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZEpmircsA
"But Nightingale needs a car seat."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeImqJLKv8
"You can hold her in your lap and I can take the back roads."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEW1eflX5S
"Oh. Fine. For her." I pull out my phone and call my boss.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaEolkoZqu
"Hello?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjb40anH6zc
"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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIVpOQ4bON
"A week? Are you sure?"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplB6GqTc1x
"Yes, I'm sure."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxy0Be9Axn
"That'll leave you three weeks."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0CkrEhRF7
"Yes, I'm aware of that."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHfprPCLfM
"Alright. A week it is."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMaHT3gCbg
"Okay. Thank you."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQROKG22mdd
"Yup. Bye."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKV28xxG9E7
"Bye."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9g5rs9K9Eq
I end the call and smile. "It worked."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeN2aj1V8f
"Seriously? You're kidding."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLVFCEb6u1
"Yeah, seriously. I got a week off."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuqrGIDFMF
He just looks at me.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmdux9vxz4
I smile.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgsdrPM0ZM
