Chapter Nine
Justin
I woke up in a great mood on Sunday, but as the day dragged on, I grew more nervous. The minutes ticked away, counting down the time until Anna would be coming over to meet Margie. I didn’t know how Margie was going to react. She had never met a woman who wasn’t a family member or a close friend before. And she definitely never met one I was dating. Or at the very least, pretending to date.
Though to be fair, I hadn’t really dated anyone since my wife died, so it wasn’t like I’d been keeping anything from Margie. I had been trying to hide how I really felt from both Margie and myself. Mostly because I didn’t know what Margie would think. Would she be mad at me for dating someone? Or would she be happy for me because she didn’t really understand much about that yet?
I had to admit, I was excited for Anna to show up. I had not seen or talked to her since we fucked on the massage chair, but I thought about it and her non-stop. I just hoped she was thinking about me, too. And that I’d done a good job, that it was good for her. Anna was the first girl I’d slept with in quite a long time.
I was doing some last-minute cleaning when Margie approached me. She had a funny look on her face, and I knew she was about to ask me something. She was a very curious girl. I always encouraged her to ask questions because it was a great way for her to expand her young mind.
“Daddy, why are you cleaning so much on Sunday?” she said the word “Sunday” like it was meant to be the lazy day of the week and that cleaning shouldn’t even be discussed on a day like that.
“Because my special friend is coming over to meet you, and I want the house to look extra nice for her,” I said.
“Daddy, is she your girlfriend?” she asked in the blunt way only children can.
I was taken off guard. I had no idea she even knew that word. She was only four. I laughed to brush off the awkward silence that was hovering over us. I studied her face for any signs that she might be upset. When I was satisfied that she didn’t look upset, I answered her question with, “You shouldn’t know anything about that yet. Where did you learn that word?”
I went back to drying the dishes and putting them away. It was amazing how much work I had put into the house today. I never cleaned this much, and I didn’t really know what that meant for me.
“Cause, there’s a boy at school that said he wants to date me. He wants me to be his girlfriend,” she said matter-of-factly. I almost dropped the glass I was holding.
I laughed uncomfortably and put the cup away before I actually broke it. This time, I laughed because I wasn’t really sure what to say. I didn’t think this kind of thing would happen until at least fifth grade, if not later.
“You need to stay away from boys. Boys are something you shouldn’t be worrying about right now. Or ever. They are bad news. Believe me.”
“But what if a boy wants to be my friend?” she asked in a serious tone.
“That’s okay. If he just wants to be your friend, but you shouldn’t let any boy be your boyfriend right now.”
“But what if he’s cute?” she asked.
I stopped what I was doing. I wasn’t really sure how to process this information. She was already thinking boys were cute? But I had to admit that I did have a “girlfriend” in pre-k. But that was different because I was a little boy, and everyone knows how horrible males are at dating. At least when it came to being a teenager and going through puberty. I would hope the little boys weren’t bad at this age, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.
I never even thought about it much until I found out I was having a daughter. That’s when I began to think about all the girls I messed with and hurt when I was younger, and suddenly, I wanted to take it all back. I did not want to ever hear about anything happening to my daughter like what my friends and I had once done to girls. I knew first-hand how awful males could be, especially teenage ones.
I wrapped my arms around my daughter and gave her a big hug. She felt so little in my arms. I was in shock that we were already having this conversation.
“Even if the boys are cute, you still shouldn’t be their girlfriend. You’re too young to be worrying about this kind of thing. You need to focus on your Barbie’s and ABC’S. Boys are bad news. Believe me; I know because I am one.”
“Okay, Daddy,” she said. After giving me a tight hug, she skipped off to her room to pick up the toys that were scattered on her floor.
An hour later, the doorbell rang. I was more nervous than I thought I would be, which I found a little weird because I hadn’t felt like this in a long time. I opened the door to see Anna standing on my doorstep. She was stunningly beautiful. Her dark hair was curled around her face, and her makeup was minimal. She didn’t come off as trying too hard, and I found that so sexy. She was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. It was casual, and I was glad that she wasn’t trying too hard to impress me.
“Hello, come in,” I said and moved away from the door to let her inside.
“Hi,” she said. She sounded a bit nervous, and for a moment I forgot about our Friday morning romp. But just that little thought caused my dick to twitch.
“Margie, honey, Anna’s here,” I called out to her. I saw as she poked her head out of her room and slowly made her way down the hall. She was being shy; I could tell even from that far away. This was normal for her. She didn’t really warm up to people unless she felt she could trust them. I looked at Anna and motioned toward the couch.
“Have a seat,” I said.
“Thank you,” she said and sat down on the couch.
Margie was at my side, and I decided to get down on her level would probably make her more comfortable. I knelt in front of her.
“Margie, I want you to meet my special friend, Anna.” I looked at Anna. “Anna, this is Margie, my daughter.”
Anna stuck her hand out, and Margie eyed it suspiciously. Anna moved her hand back to her side and shifted awkwardly.
“It’s very nice to finally meet you, Margie. I’ve heard so much about you,” Anna said.
Margie buried her face in my shoulder.
“She’s can be shy at first,” I explained.
Anna nodded her head.
“That’s okay,” she said. Then she turned to Margie and added, “When I was little, I was very shy too. I hated meeting new people. But you know what I did to help me feel better?”
Margie shook her head no.
“What did you do?” she asked.
“I would make sure to watch my daddy’s face, and if he didn’t seem bothered by the person and he seemed happy they were there, that told me the new person was okay, and I would start to warm up to them.”
I smiled at her response and wondered if that was true. I watched as Margie looked from me to Anna and back. I gave her a nod and a big smile.
“Anna’s a very nice lady. She’s the one that always makes Daddy feel better after my fights.”
Margie was no longer holding on to me as tightly, and within a few minutes, she moved to sit on the couch beside Anna. Though she didn’t sit close to her, I still thought it was progress.
It took another few minutes before Margie actually spoke to Anna. She watched with curious eyes, never looking away from her for long.
“How do you get your hair like that?” Margie asked Anna suddenly.
“I curled it with a curling iron. Maybe I can curl your hair sometime?”
Margie nodded her head. “I think I would like that. It won’t hurt, will it?”
Anna shook her head. “No, no. Not as long as you’re careful. And I would be super careful with you,” she said.
Margie seemed to think about this for a moment and then nodded her head. She looked like she had more questions, but she waited a minute before asking anything else.
“What job do you have?” Margie asked after a few minutes of silence.
“I’m a massage therapist,” Anna answered. “I massage people’s muscles and make their bodies feel better.”
“So, you help people?” she asked.
Anna nodded her head. “Yes, I love to help people,” she said. I couldn’t help the smile that was forming on my lips. The amount of questions Margie was asking Anna told me that she was starting to trust her. I didn’t blame her; Anna had something about her that made people feel comfortable. I remembered how nervous I was to get my first massage from her, but she made me feel relaxed and comfortable right away.
“Why do you like to spend time with my daddy?” Margie asked next, and I hoped Anna didn’t get scared off by her asking so many questions.
“Your daddy is a great guy,” she said. Those six words seemed to please Margie.
“Do you want to see my favorite Barbie dolls?” Margie asked next.
“Of course, I do,” Anna said. And then Margie was gone, racing toward her room to get her special Barbie dolls to show Anna.
Over the next twenty minutes, they talked about everything Barbie. Anna told Margie about the collection she had growing up and that she would even let her see some of the ones she still had. That made Margie more excited than she had been in a while. It was amazing to watch them together. They got along great, and they even were laughing a lot, which was a big thing for Margie. I could tell she was already smitten with Anna, and I had to admit that I felt the same way.
“I’m going to start dinner. Do you want to help?” I asked Margie.
“Not unless Anna wants to help too,” she said in protest.
Anna looked at Margie. “Let’s do it,” she said. The excitement in her voice made Margie’s eyes light up like a Christmas tree.
“Thank you,” I whispered as we followed Margie into the kitchen.
“You’re welcome. She is absolutely adorable. Thank you for introducing me to her,” she said. Then to Margie, she asked in a louder voice, “What are we making?”
“Spaghetti with homemade meatballs,” she announced proudly.
“I hope that’s alright,” I said to her.
“It is,” she assured me.
We spent the next hour making the meatballs out of raw hamburger meat and my special seasoning mix. We cooked them, then the noodles and the sauce. The kitchen was messy very quickly, but it was okay. We were all laughing and really enjoying ourselves.
When the food was done, Anna offered to set the table for us, and I reluctantly let her. We sat down to eat, and I couldn’t help but feel at peace. It felt wonderful to have the three of us together like this.
The conversation at dinner was lively. Margie asked Anna a million more questions.
“Do you like spaghetti?” she asked.
“It’s my favorite. Especially this spaghetti,” Anna said.
“My dad makes the best food,” Margie said and took a big bite of a meatball.
Anna smiled endearingly at Margie. Then she smiled at me and said, “He really does.”
“Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without your help, though. Both of you.” I watched a smile appear on Anna’s face, one that I knew was mirrored on my face as well.
I loved how perfect this moment felt. Having dinner with both Margie and Anna felt right. It was comfortable and fun, exactly the way it should be.
“Will you eat here a lot?” Margie asked.
Anna laughed and looked at me.
“We would love to have you over more often if you wanted to do that,” I said.
“I would love to eat dinner with you guys again.”
I had not told Margie about meeting Anna’s parents quite yet. I wasn’t sure how to introduce the idea of that to her. I was planning to tell her in a couple days. I figured that would allow her time to adjust to meeting Anna before I brought up the idea of meeting even more people.
I loved how Anna had made sure Margie was comfortable with her. I made a mental note to ask her about the story she told Margie from when she was little.