Baby Daddy

12 - Our Daughter

"I am so sorry." I whispered and watched his head turn back to me slowly. He looked beyond pissed and I completely understood.
"No, you're not." He growled, coming closer. I took a step back in fear. Would he hit me back?

"Please Elijah." I said when my back hit the kitchen counter.
"Please what? Don't hit me?" He asked and came to a stop only inches away from me. I could feel his hot breath on my forehead and looked away from him.

"Look at me." He demanded and I did. He looked more hurt than angry and I felt myself shake.
"You hate me, that's why you slapped me. You want me out of your life, I know. Slap me again, but I won't leave." He growled and I gulped.

"Elijah-"
"Do it, Nora." He placed his forehead on mine, panting hard in anger and I closed my eyes. It's been a while since I was that close to him and I felt my knees weaken. I wanted to enjoy this moment, but I knew I couldn't.

"I'm not a bad mother." I shoved him away from me and he blinked, before going back to glaring at me.
"You let her-"

"I didn't let her, Elijah. She was throwing a fit, which she never does. I didn't know what to do and was about to sooth her, when you came. You are turning our lives around and don't even realize it. I'm not a bad mother, I'm doing this all for her!" I told him. I felt myself break down and soon my butt hit the floor.

"Nora-" I felt his presence in front of me, but didn't look, since I had my hands on my face.
"Leave. I don't want you here. Leave me, please!" I felt the palms on my hands get wet and cursed myself for crying.

"I won't-"
"Everything was fine before you came into our life. It's not like I wanted this all to happen. You were the one who-"
"Who found out almost three years after his daughter's birth, that he was a father. It is new for me too, but I'm at least trying. I want to be a part of her life. I want to be-"

"It is not all about what you want! I was happy before. We were happy before. You were happy too! Why ruining all of that?" I finally looked at him and he was closer than I thought. He was on his knees in front of me, his face only inches away.

"She's my daughter. One day when she asks who her father is, I can proudly say it's me. I'm looking forward to that. That exact moment, Nora. This is new for the both of us. But I want to be in her life. And nothing you say will change my mind." He said softly, locking eyes with me.

"I get it, okay? But you just happen to choose the worst times to come around." I said and he smiled sadly, touching my cheek.
"Are you okay?" His look made my heart melt and I had to look away.

"Yes, please look after Emma. See if she's okay." I said and he nodded, hesitantly standing up again. He looked at me, before walking out of the kitchen. I heard him chuckle once I stood up and decided to see what's so funny.

When I stepped into the dining room and saw what was so funny, my face softened and I took a step closer to Emma. She was asleep, her head was in the food and Elijah was taking a picture.
"Look at that, Nora." He said with a smile.

"This is my child." He placed his phone back in his pockets and came to stand next to me.
"This is our child." He said and I smiled back at him. We both soon realized what we were doing and looked away awkwardly.

"I'll wake her up." I said and he nodded.
"I'll go get some towels." I ignored him and focused on waking my daughter up.

"Emma." I rubbed her back and she stirred, before chocking and waking herself up. She must feel pretty nasty right now. Her face was full of sticky cheese and she rubbed her eyes. She said something, but I didn't understand.

"I'll bath her, could you clean up the mess?" I asked Elijah when he came back in the room with a towel in his hand. He handed me the towel and I wiped Emma's face.
"Sure." He said and I handed him the towel back.

"Come on, baby." I picked her up and she yawned, before lying her head on my shoulder. I walked into the bathroom and quickly bathed her. Elijah came in the middle of the bath and handed me my ringing phone.
He took over and cleaned Emma while I stepped out of the room.

"Hello?" I asked after seeing my mom's name.
"Hey dear, please don't be mad." I frowned at her words.
"Why should I be mad?" I asked and heard her sigh.

"When you asked me to look after Emma I was so excited because it almost never happens. But I forgot we had an event to go to. Your dad bought those tickets months ago. I am so sorry." She said and I frowned.

"And you only remembered now? Like an hour before I had to leave?" I asked angrily. Was she serious?
"Yes, your dad remembered actually." She said and I groaned.
"Fine mom. Whatever, thanks for telling me now." I said and angrily hung up. I sighed and leaned on the wall next to the bathroom door, closing my eyes.

"Hey, you okay?" I heard his smooth voice and quickly opened my eyes.
"Year, I'm fine." I said and walked past him to finish bathing Emma. Elijah handed me the towel and I dried her, before putting a pajama on her tiny body.

"You know if you don't have a babysitter, I'm here." He said when I picked Emma up and walked out of the bathroom.
"No, it's fine, I'll postpone it." I said. I was actually not in the mood for a date anyways.

"I was alone with her before. I got this." He tried to convince me as I stepped in her room and tucked her in bed. She was sleepy and I knew even though it was only past five, she would sleep through the whole night, which is what I wanted.

"I said it's fine, Elijah." I said softly kissing Emma and watching her close her eyes.
"I love you." I said and she smiled.
"Love you." I heard and kissed her again, before straightening my back.

Elijah was still standing at the door and watched me come back. I moved past him and closed Emma's door. He followed me into the living room, where I took my phone out to call Richard. But before I could call him, he called me.

"Hey." I said confused, sitting down on the couch.
"Hey, Nora. I just wanted to remind you that this is our third date, so I'm taking you somewhere special. Just know that today, I'm picking you up. So no meeting at the restaurant like always." I heard his excited voice say.

"Oh, about the date." I started and looked away from Elijah when he sat down next to me.
"Yes, I'm excited too. I won't say much, but just know that tonight is the perfect time to do what I was planning." I cursed under my breath.

"Yeah, you see-" He wouldn't freaking let me continue.
"Yes?" He was way too excited and I felt myself chicken out. I looked back at Elijah, who was not even looking at me, just playing with the hem of his shirt.

"I just wanted to ask what I should wear. Jeans or a dress?" I asked and Elijah looked at me. I knew he was listening. It's not like he's a stranger to me, I know my boss.
"A dress as always. Women always wear dresses at dates, Nora." He scoffed and I rolled my eyes.

"Alright. I'll see you in an hour." I said and hung up after saying good bye to Richard.
"You still wanna babysit?" I asked Elijah, who raised an eyebrow.