The bathroom door clicks open. “Sasha?”
“In here.” I call out from my bedroom. “End of the hall.”
Annie steps into my room, looking tiny and adorable bundled up in my bulky heart robe. Her hair has been towel-dried and twisted into a loose braid. She might be the daughter of a single father, but she has more hair skills then I did at that age. Hell, she probably has more skill than I’ll ever have.
“How was it?” I ask.
She shrugs. “It was good.”
We both turn at the sound of the front door opening and closing.
I raise an eyebrow when I glance at the clock. “I think your dad must have sprinted around the store to be done this quick.” Annie giggles. “Wait here, I’ll grab the stuff.”
I hurry down the hall to see Vincent toeing off his shoes and lining them up next to Annie’s at my front door. The sight of him here, in my apartment, looking like he belongs, is enough to put a stutter in my step. And watching him stride towards me in sock clad feet is too much for me to handle right now. His worried expression is just one more scratch on my exposed nerves. I mentally wrap my heart in ice packs. I can’t let my well-earned barriers melt this quickly.
We meet in the mouth of the hallway.
“How is she?” Vincent’s voice is raw
His concern is another strike against my wall. I swallow against the pain. I can’t reconcile this man with the one who treated me so poorly only hours ago. It’s all just too overwhelming. My heart is sore from thinking about my mom. My heart is breaking for that poor little girl who’s also lost a mother. My heart hurts for a man who doesn’t know what he wants from me.
The emotional turmoil must show on my face because Vincent steps closer. “What happened? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine, Vincent. I promise. I just…” I just what? I drop my gaze from his and reach for the bags. “Thank you for getting this. We’ll be out in a bit.”
“Don’t thank me for buying stuff for my own daughter.” Vincent replies quietly.
“You know what I mean.” I grab the bags from his hands.
Before I can step away, Vincent wraps his arms around me. It’s sudden and unexpected. He doesn’t ask permission. He doesn’t warn me. He just pulls my body tight against his.
His heat causes a shudder to roll through my body. I don’t want to like this. I don’t want to feel comforted by this man, but his scent alone is causing my head to spin. His arms tighten. Mine are trapped at my side so I can’t hug him back. And I don’t try.
Vincent’s lips are against my hair and I can feel his chest rumble as he speaks. “I don’t know how to let people in. I’m only good at breaking things. I… I’ll make this right. I’ll make it right.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head before loosening his grip and stepping away.
Unable to deal with my feelings for Vincent on top of everything else, I keep my eyes down as I turn and hustle back to my room.
Dumping the bags out on my bed I see that Vincent got way more than I told him.
“That seems like a lot.” Annie says with a skeptical look.
“Uh, yeah. Your dad doesn’t really follow directions, does he?”
Annie gives me a perfect Duh expression. “Ya think?”
The laugh that bursts out of me is so unexpected I startle Annie as much as I startle myself. But I can’t stop. I have to bend over, bracing myself on the bed, I’m laughing so hard. “I’m sorry. I’m…” I can’t even talk. Either I’m that much of a spectacle, or Annie finds her dad’s lack of restraint equally funny, because her tinkling laugh joins mine. We laugh together long enough that my sides start to ache. The sound is a balm to my soul as tension leaves my body.
“Okay.” I wipe the tears from my face. “Oh my gosh, I needed that. Alright, let’s see what the crazy man got.”
Together we straighten out all the packages. I had sent him photos of the different pads to get. One regular. One heavy. One overnight. One panty liner. All of the same popular brand. I didn’t think she’d need the heavy for her first period, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. One package of each would’ve been plenty. One of each would probably last her a couple months. Vincent bought two boxes of each. And then twice over in two other brands. Resulting in a totally absurd number of pads.
When Annie pulls out four multi-packs of underwear, we both lose it again.
Fifteen minutes later, Annie emerges from the bathroom.
“It feels weird.” Annie says while making a face.
“Yeah, they aren’t the most comfortable thing in the world. But they’re way better than they used to be. And you have more than enough to choose from so you can play around and find which ones you like best. When you feel ready to try tampons let me know and we can send your dad out to buy a truckload.”
Annie shakes her head. “I can’t believe him.”
This is the most relaxed she’s looked since she got here. She’s wearing a pair of my sleep pants that I accidently ordered several sizes too small and never got around to returning. They’re still too big for her, but they’ll work. And because I thought it’d be funny; I gave her my other FBI sweatshirt. It’s also too big, but it’s soft and perfect for lounging.
“So, would you like to help me make some hot chocolate? We could watch a movie if you don’t need to go home right away.”
“Yeah, that’d be okay. I mean, if my dad doesn’t mind.”
We walk side by side into the living room to find Vincent sitting on the couch, with my attention whore cat sprawled across his lap.
Hearing us approach, Vincent turns his head. Annie goes right to him, and immediately starts petting Captain. Vincent watches her closely, as if he’s checking for injuries. His eyebrows are pulled together, and his lips are pulled into a tight line. I’m not sure what he’s expecting to see, but she really is fine.
I see the moment he reads the front of her sweatshirt. His gaze halts, then the corner of his mouth tips up. Slowly he slides his eyes to me, making a point to look at my chest, which is also printed with the large yellow letters.
“Cute.” He mouths the word.
I have to remind myself that I’m still mad at him, so I only shrug.
“Dad.” Annie’s voice breaks our stare off. “Can we stay for a bit? Sasha said we could make cocoa and watch a movie.”
Vincent’s eyes widen and he looks back and forth between me and his daughter. “Sure. If Sasha’s okay with it, I don’t see why not.”
Turns out Annie is a hot chocolate making expert. Annie is a constant reminder of the hidden side of Vincent. The side I didn’t know about. The side that has hot chocolate mix in his cupboard. The side who taught Annie how to make s’mores over a gas lit stove. It’s a side of him, but it’s a part of the man as a whole. A man who buys his daughter pink shoes. A man who looks worried-sick because his little girl is becoming a woman.
I show Annie where everything is, but she masters the slow simmer of the milk, and whisking in the perfect amount of cocoa on her own. We both agree the perfect amount of chocolate is a spoonful more than what the directions say, ignoring Vincent’s gripes about not making it too sweet. He watches both of us carefully from his spot at the island. He’s a control freak for sure, but he’s able to sit back and recognize that Annie has the task handled.
“Do you have any marshmallows?” Annie asks hopefully.
The grin on her face when I pull out my bag of giant pink marshmallows hits me square in the chest. Somehow over the past hour I’ve started to fall a little bit in love with this girl.
It’s still hard for me to understand how such a sweet creature was raised by such a difficult man. But the more time I spend with Annie, the more I understand why Vincent is so protective of her. I’m not ready to forgive his shitty behavior, but his actions are starting to make sense. He’s solely responsible for her wellbeing, her happiness, her future. I don’t know the story behind Annie’s mother’s death, but I’m sure that had an effect on Vincent as well.
His words from the hallway swim back into my mind. I’m only good at breaking things.
