CHAPTER 21
Diana
One week later
The past week had been pure bliss.
We’d made Boston our base while we traveled to New York City and also Philadelphia. By day Brianna got the kind of education she could never get just by being in a classroom.
And by night a different kind of school was in session. I got schooled in the many different kinds of ways a man can please a woman, not only physically, but emotionally and mentally as well.
Joshua touched places deep within me. Places I didn’t even know existed.
After a long day of exploring Brianna would pass out with Joshua carrying her off to bed. We’d lock her door and then explore each other physically all night long.
On the road Joshua splurged for some of the nicest hotels I’d ever seen, let alone been in. I insisted we didn’t need something so extravagant, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He said he’d worked hard his entire life. Now it was time to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
But one thing I certainly wasn’t going to enjoy was confronting my dad.
The plane touched down at LAX, and as we made the ride back home the joy of the last week turned into the anxiety of dealing with the reality of the situation.
Joshua had promised me he’d handle everything. That didn’t mean it was going to be easy, but at least it was nice to know he was going to be the man and confront my dad about everything. Of course I’d have to speak with him as well, but it was nice to know he wasn’t throwing me right into the fire, head first.
The driver pulled up to Joshua’s house.
“Go time,” Joshua said.
He must have seen the worry on my face. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this,” he said as he let Brianna and I into the house and then walked over to my house. The house I’d lived in my entire life, but I knew I wouldn’t be spending much more time there anymore.
I tried to play games with Brianna to pass the time, but my mind was definitely next-door.
“What’s wrong, Diana?” she said on a couple occasions.
The tender sound of her voice showed me just how observant she was, and just how much she cared.
And the amount and ways I’d come to care about her were infinite. She’d grown on me since we first met, and the only person I liked spending time with more was Joshua. Even better was when the three of us spent time together.
Sometimes things just work out, and when one door closes another one opens. I was already falling for Joshua and Brianna before I got my lab results back. I fell for them so hard I ran away. I wanted to protect them, from me.
When Joshua showed me none of that mattered it changed my entire way of thinking. Knowing now that I already have the best child ever in my life made the lab results a distant memory. It also didn’t hurt that Joshua was open to adopt. I could have my cake and eat it too.
But those things were well into the future. I still hadn’t heard anything in regards to how the meeting between Joshua and dad was going.
Seconds were turning into minutes, and minutes into an entire hour. I needed to keep busy and showing Brianna how to make my favorite double chocolate layer cake seemed like a fresh alternative to playing more games.
One person who certainly wasn’t playing games was my dad. He was no-nonsense and I can only image what must be going on next door.
Just as I began looking for the ingredients for the cake, and realizing Joshua had less than a third of them, he came in through the front door.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hey,” I say. His emotions aren’t giving away anything. He’s not making this any easier right now.
“Where’s Brianna?”
“She ran upstairs.”
“Can you go next door with me?” Joshua asks.
“You spoke with my dad?”
“Yeah, but I think it’s better if we all speak now.”
“Is everything okay?”
Joshua moves closer and wraps me up in a hug. “Hey there, Little Bear. Big Bear has everything under control. Everything will be fine.”
“Will be fine?”
“Is fine. We just need to sit together first.”
Brianna enters the room, and Joshua extends his hand to her to come join us.
“Want to go over to Uncle Dave’s house?” he asks.
“Okay,” she says.
We release our hug and with Brianna holding two fingers of his one hand, and me holding the other hand, we walk towards the door.
It’s time to see my father again, and let him know that although I’ll always be daddy’s little girl, it’s time this book called my life begins a new chapter.