One Night Stand

Chapter 8

After a long growling day at the party I eventually got Abigail settled for the night. I quickly got settled myself in front of the TV with a small glass of wine, just as I was getting into the movie that was on my phone rang. I panicked when I saw who was calling, Dale. I did give him my number, he made sure to save it in his phone and he took a business card as well.

‘Hello'  I answer trying my hardest not to sound too nervous.

‘hey, just wanted to check you got back ok and to ask if I could come over tomorrow to spend time with you and Abi’ he says, or rather mumbles and stutters. Sounds like he is nervous.

‘We got back fine. She has just went to bed for the night. Tomorrow is fine, if you want to come over.’ I reply, shocked he is wanting to come over after just finding out today he is a father.

‘That’s good. I’m sure she must be tired after her partying.’ He chuckles.

The conversation flowed a bit better once he got rid of his nerves. It was like talking to him in the club all over again. His cheeky flirty banter, dropping s****l innuendos here and there. Nothing too over the top and it was nice. I just hope he doesn’t break Abigail’s heart.

‘So tomorrow? About noon?’ he asks

‘Yeah that’s fine. I’ll rustle up something for lunch.’

‘its a date then. I best get going, got some phone calls to make to my parents. I’ll see you tomorrow. Night Bree' he ends the call.

He’s calling his parents. s**t. Well, that has to be a good sign. Right? Means he is serious about being there for Abigail. Even though he kept calling her Abi, which I wasn’t going to do. I’m not a lover of abbreviated names but I like Abi, she suits it.

After finishing my wine, I decided to head to bed. Since I have Dale coming over I need to tidy up a little bit in the morning and organise something for lunch.

Just as I climbed into bed I got a text from Dale asking for a photo of Abi and my address.

I send a quick reply with my address and send another text attaching a few photos of Abi, one a few days old and one from today.

He instantly replied saying thank you and that his parents would like to meet her when they return from their trip in the next few weeks. To say I was shocked at that, I mean I have dreamt of this moment you know. Him being a father and Abi meeting her other grandparents. I just don’t know if it’s moving too fast.   I suppose I will just have to go with the flow and see where it takes us.

Waking up the following morning I quickly got Abi changed and fed, while she was playing in her jumper I got the house tidied up and cleaned for Dale coming over.

I called Joanna in between everything to tell her what was happening. I had also called Monica. Who freaked out and was screaming down the phone. She was happy but warned me to be cautious.

I’m sure Dale won’t do anything stupid, I mean he has already been threatened by my sister and that scared the s**t out of him. I remember the look on his face when she spoke to him at her party.

Just as I was finishing up the grilled chicken pasta the doorbell went.  When I opened the door to find Dale standing with a huge bouquet of flowers and a bright pink gift bag and a nervous smile.

“sorry I’m early, I just couldn’t wait any longer" he chuckles after I invited him in.

“That’s alright, Abi is napping right now.” I say to him as I lead him through to the lounge.

“This is a different house" he states as he looks around.

“Yeah.  I moved in here when I was about 4 months pregnant. I was renting the last house and it was being sold, so, yeah I bought this one” I tell him as I sit awkwardly.

He gives me the flowers saying they are for me and the gift bag is for Abi. I sneak a peek inside and see a cute little cuddly elephant and a pale pink tracksuit and a pair of white trainers. They are so tiny.

“I hope they are the right size. I wasn’t sure but my mum said they should fit" he mumbles.

“They are perfect. It’s so cute" I say holding it up.” Thank you".

The conversation starts to flow a bit better as I manage to get rid of my nerves. We sat and drank coffee while listening to music in the background.  Dale was asking hundreds of questions about my pregnancy and the birth, again. He seemed really down when I talked about everything that happened.

I explained about my struggles and coming to terms with being a single mum and my depression. I swear the guilty look on his face will haunt me for the rest of the day if not my life.

“I’m not blaming you Dale. It was just one of those things. What ifs and buts won’t change what happened. You are here now, so we can move forward" I tell him. Maybe I’m being soft, but I can’t see him blame himself like this. It was just one of those situations that I know he regrets but he is trying and that’s all I can ask for.  He nods his head just as Abi starts to cry through the baby monitor.

We both head up to her room. Dale taking everything in as we walk in to see her lying on her front, her little face red with tears.

I pick her up and she instantly smiles and giggles. When I did I got a whiff of her dirty nappy and head over to change her. Dale by my side the whole time. He doesn't seem fazed by the smell or anything, its not the worst nappy she has produced that’s for sure.

Once she is all clean and happy I hand her to Dale as we head down stairs. Dale talking away to her and she is just looking at him. Taking in everything he is saying to her, I’m not entirely sure what she understands just yet, but she is so focussed on what he is saying it is a cute sight that is for sure. I just hope that it lasts for her sake more than mine.

Once down stairs I made up Abigail’s bottle and got settled to feed her when Dale offered to do it. He looked a little apprehensive as he sat at the table holding Abigail. Once she was comfy she took the bottle no problem and held his finger as she fed. She is such a cuddly baby when she is feeding. She could sit up to take her bottle, but she loves cuddles, definitely my daughter. I love cuddles as well, nothing beats a warm embrace especially from a man with big strong arms, a bit like Dale.

“so, how did your parents take the news?”  I had to ask. Not knowing was making me a little crazy. Having his family involved in Abigail’s life is important. They are her family and she should be surrounded by both sides.

“Surprisingly well. My parents know all about you, well what I knew about you and how we met. Not my finest moment.”  He again sounds sad. I can see the guilt written all over his face.

“Dale seriously you need to stop feeling guilty. Yes you left that night, but you had a reason for doing so. I cursed you at the time and even hated you but now I understand why you did. With time, we can get past that. Abigail needs her father in her life. “ I tell him as I sit at the table beside him.

Dale lifts Abigail up and rubs her back gently before she sits on his lap. He cuddles her to his chest and plays with her tiny curls at the nape of her neck.

“I really appreciate you giving me this chance Bree. I suppose you are right, the ifs and buts are just that. We can’t change the past, but we can plan a future. And I want to be there in the future, as Abi’s dad and we can see where things go with us. “ he says as he places Abi in her playpen in the corner if the kitchen.

We soon sat down to eat ourselves and talked about everything and anything, mostly things about Abigail but I didn’t mind that. It just proved to me that he was willing to try to form a bond with his daughter. He started talking about setting up a savings account for her and how he can be more involved in caring for her as well.

“I’m not wanting to be just a weekend dad, Bree. I’m a 9 to 5 worker, I can be here at nights to help bath her and get her to bed. I’m not expecting you to just hand her over. It’s been just the two of you for this long but now it is the three of us. It will take time to adjust” he says so sincerely.

Can he be any more perfect. I feel like I am in a dream. I mean, he has accepted her without even thinking about DNA or proof that she is his.  Most guys would have ran a mile finding out they had a baby to a one night stand, but he has listened to everything I have told him no questions asked and is proving himself by thinking of a future. Things are looking promising, and Abigail is going to have her father in the picture and that’s all I have wanted for her.

“this all sounds perfect. Almost too perfect and this is just me being stupid but how can you just accept Abigail as yours without asking for proof. I know you are her father, but other people might not be so understanding.” I tell him.

“I have no idea to be honest. I guess I just don’t see you as that type of woman. I believed you when you told me I am her dad and looking at her I can see some of me in her but maybe you are right. Maybe a DNA test will make these thoughts of yours disappear.”

We sat in silence after that for a good few minutes. I can see him thinking hard about what I said and what he said. But it makes no sense to me how he just accepted my word. We hardly knew each other, yes we have a child, but we don’t know each other that well. I mean he could have kids all over the place for all I know.

“Do you want to get a DNA test?”. I ask to break the silence.  He nods his head.

“Yeah, we can do one as soon as possible. If I’m honest my parents mentioned getting one but I knew you were telling me the truth so I figured we wouldn’t need one, but it will help ease my parents worries. Can I ask a question? “ I nod telling him to continue. “is her father listed on her birth certificate” he asked as her took my hand in his.

Shaking my head, I knew that question would come up. I couldn’t exactly put just his first name on the birth certificate and his occupation as unknown. It just didn’t feel right. If we had not found each other or bumped into one another and Abigail grew up asking questions I would have told her all I knew about him as soon as she was old enough to understand. I had written in a diary every week when I was pregnant telling her about how I was feeling and what I thought her dad would be doing.

I had even written in it last night after I got back from Joanna’s. Telling her, in my diary, how we found him at her aunties birthday. I will continue to write in it to make sure she knows I tried my best just in case Dale gets fed up and leaves or if he has a family with someone else.

After our heart to heart I felt my heart lighter than it had been in a while, though I still had some issues I would need to work on. We soon got back to having a lighter conversation when he started to tell me all about his family and his best friend Owen. We moved through to the lounge as Abigail had fallen asleep in her play pen, she had managed to wrap herself up in her favourite blanket and was sleeping peacefully. Dale was reluctant to leave her, but I knew we would hear her from the lounge.

“she loves her sleep. A lazy little madam, not looking forward to dealing with her when she is a teenager” I chuckled just as the door goes. I’m not expecting anyone else today and it’s unusual for me to get visitors without them calling first to see if I am home and to make sure Abi is up for visitors.

I head to the door, leaving Dale in the lounge looking through Abigail’s baby album, that I had pulled out for him to look at. Totally shocked and to be honest a little scared my parents are here.

“mum, dad, what are you guys doing here?” I ask as I try to hide the fact I have a man in my house who just happens to be my daughters father.

“Joanna told us you had news and we couldn’t wait to find out what it was so here we are”  my mum says looking a little worried.

Well this is not how I wanted to tell them, but I suppose it needs to be done either way. I just hope Dale can cope with the unpleasant looks and words my parents will no doubt throw at him.