Unraveling the Underboss

A Talk

{Sophie’s POV}

He walked across the room, flopping down into the chair with a sigh. “Please Sophie, I don’t want to do this the hard way. I don’t want to implode your lives, I just want a chance to be a father to my daughter.”

He was right.. about all of it.. I was selfish, I decided that I didn’t need or want him without even telling him about her. He’d have a relationship with her.. he’d be a father to her, instead of her never knowing him. I did this, and as much as I don’t want to do this now, as much as I didn’t want to share my daughter with someone I don’t know, I have to admit.. it was the right thing to do. I sighed, walking over and placing my hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry..” I spoke softly. “I was young.. and unsure of what to do.. it was a one night stand.. we weren’t together, I didn’t know you, I only knew your first name. I was afraid that you’d try to take her from me.. I’d always wanted children.. and I never thought I’d have them. So when I had Mavis, I just.. I wanted to keep her for myself. To not have to worry about someone I didn’t know showing up.” I kneeled down in front of him. “It was selfish, and I was wrong, and I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t make up for 5 years.. but it is true.”

He placed his hand over mine and smiled, a soft smile, a tender smile. “Thank you.. now I know you’ll have to talk to her.. to help her understand who I am, but I really want to meet my daughter.”

She nodded. “I’ll sit her down tonight, I’ll tell her tonight.. I’ll figure it out.. just promise me..” I choked back a sob, as tears begin to spill from my eyes. “Promise me that you won’t take my baby from me!”

He shook his head, looking down at me in front of him. “Sophie, I’m not going to take her from you, I just want to get to know her.. to be her father. I’m not going to take our daughter from you. I will say though, that I have a large family.. and I’m sure they’ll all want to meet her too, but I’ll give you time to warm up to that. Though, you have already met my sister in law, Maisie, your father’s doctor.”

She nodded, it looked like the wheels in her head were turning. “So that’s how you found out..” she whispered.

“Don’t blame her, she just came home talking about this little girl that looked a lot like me. She told me your name, and it clicked.” I sighed, standing up and walking to her side. “I’m the one that showed up here.. she even told me not to.”

She nodded, hugging herself with her arms. “Mavis is my world Max.. she’s my everything.. I was so mad.. and frustrated.. it’s my fault I got pregnant. I didn’t even think about the fact I’d been on different medications to aid with fertility. Then we..” she trailed off. “I wasn’t trying to trap you.. I didn’t even remember your name for a while.. I know that I should’ve told you about her.. but I was just so worried that you’d take her from me.”

I walked over, pulling her into a hug, and rubbing her back with gentle circles. “I’m not going to take her from you.. I just want to be in her life. I promise, I’m not going to take our daughter away from you, I would never do that. I understand that the way we met, and even the way she came about wasn’t planned, but it happened. We can’t change that now, I know that she’s my daughter, and we can’t change that either. I don’t want to change that, I want to be a part of my daughter’s life. So how about we set up a meeting, we’ll go tomorrow to a restaurant, sit down and we can tell her together. We’ll tell her I’ve been away, you can pin the blame on me.”

She shook her head. “No Max.. I’ll tell her tonight about you.. I’ll tell her that I moved away.. that it was my fault.. then we’ll meet for lunch tomorrow. That way you can start to get to know her.”

I nodded, a soft smile spreading across my lips. “You know you don’t have to shoulder all the blame yourself. It’s okay to use me as a scapegoat goat, I’m giving you an out here.”

She sighed. “That would be the easy way..” she agreed. “But it would also be a lie.. and I won’t lie about this to her. She deserves to know the truth, I know she won’t understand it really, but she needs to know that it was me, that I moved, that I didn’t tell you. She needs to be able to build a lasting and loving relationship with you, and I don’t think she’d do that if you start everything out by saying, ‘Hi, I’m your dad, and I’ve been absent all your life because I dipped!’”

I pulled back, releasing her from the hug, and holding my hands up in surrender. “Alright.. suit yourself, but if you change your mind, just know that I’m okay if you want to use me as an out.”

“Thank you..” she nodded. “I’ll tell her tonight.. just give me tonight, then tomorrow, be ready to be a real father. Don’t disappoint us Max, don’t make me regret agreeing to this.” She sighed, walking past me, unlocking the door, and leaving me alone.