Daddy's Girl
Chapter 3, Part 2
RaeAnne stared unseeing as the road blurred before her, anger still boiled her insides. Maybe she should just go back to Illinois and leave Grayson to fend for himself. Dad and Mom would be around to help should he need it, and she'd be back on holidays to see Eva. Her heart thudded against her chest, and reminded her of the promise to her sister. However, currently her anger won out, as it always did.
She had no idea how she'd made it to her parents home so quickly, but all the better! Stepping out of the car, she side stepped her parents mutt Hoover, named so because he ate everything in sight. "No time for games today, Hoov, I'm movin' on." She let the screen door slam behind her, and she stomped up every step. Grabbing up the phone, she dialed her friend Angela's number. "Hey, Ang."
"Rae? How are things?" Angela's concerned voice was welcome.
Sighing, Rae started to pack her clothes into her suitcase again, "I'm coming back."
"Already? What's going on? How are your parents?" Angela seemed as confused as she was.
"I'm not needed around here, apparently. My parents are both in shock, so their continuing with their schedules. Too busy to entertain their youngest daughter, I suppose. And, it seems Grayson is going along with things. He needs no help, so I'm not needed. I'm coming back. Case closed, no discussion needed."
Angela sighed, and Rae could picture her crossing her arms, leaning against the counter in her kitchen. "Well, I can't tell you what to do, but I do know that all you're going to do if you come back here, is think about them. Just remember I told you that, you know I'll be glad to have you back."
Nodding, as if Ang could see her, Rae zipped her suitcase, never one to travel light she grabbed up the next suitcase. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Hopefully by tomorrow morning, at the latest. I'm up for one of our famous movie nights, care to call the gals and get it set up?" A smile tore at her face at the thought of the movie night.
"Sure thing, hon, you just make sure you're really ready to leave." with that, Ang hung up leaving her to listen to the complete silence that was her parents home.
Another sigh, and she finished packing the second suitcase ready to tackle the third and final one when Hoover bounded up the stairs jumping into the open case. "What are you doing, you goof?" she asked, ruffling his fur.
He barked and flashed her a doggy grin, as if to say 'you know exactly what I'm doing.'
Shaking her head, she chuckled, "Funny how a dog is the only one who cares if I stay or go anymore." Sitting on the bed, she picked up the small dog and set him in her lap, burying her face in his fur. Tears fell one after the other, and before she could stop it the torrent of emotions she'd been bottling up began to re-surface.
Slowly, a grogginess that came with tears and the lack of sleep descended upon her, and she welcomed the darkness that descended when she closed her eyes.
"Daddy's Girl"
Chapter 3, Part 1
Grayson stared at the plate Raeanne had set before him, he didn't want to eat, and he told her so. She stopped dead in her tracks, and turned back toward him. Her mouth was wide open as if he'd said something surprising. "What?" he asked, pushing the plate to the center of the table. In truth, the entire thought of food just made his stomach twist and turn.
"I came over here, cleaned your kitchen, played with your daughter, helped you organize the nursery, and cooked you food, and you have the nerve to say you wouldn't eat it?" her green eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets.
"Did I ask you to do any of that?" he asked, standing to his feet realizing his disadvantage in the situation.
"No, but.." she shook her head back and forth while slowly rocking his daughter in one arm.
"No buts, Raeanne, I didn't ask you to come over and do all of that. You just sort of come through like a tornado, blow through, do your damage and leave as quickly as you came." he felt bad the second the words were out of his mouth, she'd had a hard time too. His wife was his sister, but still she had to know he didn't exactly enjoy coddling.
"Is that how it is?" she questioned her eyes never coming up from the baby's sweet face, then she handed him the baby. "If that is how it is, I suppose I should be getting out of here before they name and place a category on me." Stomping to the door, Rae grabbed her coat and shoved her arms into its soft looking leather.
"Rae, don't leave..I shouldn't have.." his voice trailed off as he walked toward her.
"Don't, Grayson, don't apologize. At least you told the truth this time, instead of letting me hang around without saying a word. I'll be back when my parents come to see Eva. Other than that, I'm through with trying to help you out."
Frowning, he looked down at his now crying infant, "But, Rae, I don't.."
The door slammed effectively cutting him off, "I don't know anything to do with the baby!" he shouted anyhow. Eva's wails increased and became louder, her entire little face was red and scrunched. "Oh, Eva, we sure do have a lot to learn from each other." he said as he walked over to sit in the rocking chair Rae had placed by the window.
Eva grunted up at him, her green eyes boring holes in him as she cried.
"Yes, I know, I have more to learn from you than anything else." he said hoping his voice was soothing, he dried her tears from her tiny features. "I'm trying, Eva, I really am. That pesky aunt of your's though!"
Again she grunted, this time punctuating her statement with a kick to his chest.
"Alright, Alright, I'll leave RaeAnne out of this, but still..." grabbing up her bottle, he put it between her tiny lips watching as she ate. He sighed, couldn't even bad mouth the woman now that Lizzy was gone, Eva kept him in check. Grinning, he ran his fingers over her tiny arms, stoping at her long fingers. Tiny fingernails and peach colored skin contrasted his sun darkened skin and rough looking nails. What was he thinking pushing Rae out that way? He needed companionship, Eva needed a woman's care, and mostly he hated the way he'd yelled at the woman and saw that fire spark in her eyes. The McGinty woman never took anything, they always fought back, at least that was what he'd seen in their mother, in Lizzy and in RaeAnne.
"I sure hope you get that determination, Eva, because Lord knows I'm nothing special. I do need someone to keep me in line, though." he tugged the bottle from her mouth, turning her to his shoulder to burp. She chortled and kicked her feet, as if to say 'see I told you, Aunty Rae isn't so bad!'
Chuckling, he patted her back, "Okay, I won't doubt you again."
"Daddy's Girl"
Chapter 2, Part 2
Rae stood slack-jawed looking up at her sister's husband, "Why should we? I'll tell you why we should!" she exclaimed, tugging him down the stairs she helped him into his suit jacket while taking her niece and securing the swaddled newborn into her safety seat. "Number one, you're still family, family cares for family, Grayson. Two, you've got our new pride and joy, she's your daughter as well as a link to the McGinty's. Three, Lizzy loved you to bits, and we can't help but do the same. Don't you see, Gray, you can't get away from us?"
His grey eyes skimmed her over in utter disbelief of her words before he leaned down and scooped the safety seat's handle from her hands. "I'd never take your niece away from you, nor your parents only grandchild. However, I don't expect to be welcome in the family, be assured you'll have Eva around." With that said, he walked with military-like movements toward his car.
Tears pricked her eyes for the lost and lonely man before her, he'd lost his family, now his wife, and yet again he felt alone. Sighing, Rae moved her hand to her stomach, turning her eyes toward the darkening sky, I know you've always loved setting me into troublesome situations, Lizzy, but really..this is too much! With that said, she felt a bit better before she climbed into her own car and took off toward the church.
Hours later, she stood, cuddling little Eva in her arms watching as her parents tried to pry Grayson away from the grave site. Her eyes roved the fields to avoid the painful site of her sister's burial, yet her eyes caught the tiny marker a few miles away and her heart ached all the more. Why? Why did such things have to happen to her? First her baby, now her only sister! Looking down at her niece, she sighed, carrying on a silent conversation with the baby who wouldn't exactly understand her. "It'll be okay, Eva, your daddy, grandparents, and aunty love you so much."
Grayson's head cocked to the side as if listening to her talk to the tiny baby, and he stood to his feet finally. "Thank you all for being here." he said as his hands moved to his eyes briefly before he turned. Red-rimmed eyes, lacking sleep stared at her with the little one cozied up in her arms. "Can you carry her to the car for me, Raeanne?"
She nodded silenty, looking into his eyes before turning and walking toward the cars. Her heart longed to stay longer, to leave the others behind and simply sit at her sister's side for a time. Then maybe she'd walk over toward Evan's grave and leave a flower or two along with her thoughts. What was it about a cemetary that got people thinking? Maybe the sheer thought of life and death coaxed things out of a being, she wasn't exactly sure.
"Thanks Raeanne." he whispered, as she buckled the baby into the seat.
She nodded once more, then glanced back toward the site, "Listen, Grayson, I need some time alone. Can you let Dad and Mom know I'll be along in a bit?"
He reguarded her with solemn eyes before nodding his approval, "I'll let them know, don't be so long though, it is rather chilly."
With surprise, she turned and walked back over the wet grass to her sister's grave site. "I know you can't hear me anymore, Lizzy, it is rather one-sided and sad down here, however I know the good Lord is listening. You were more than just a sister to me. You were my help, my best friend, my chatty-cathy, my big sister, my guardian, oh so much I can't even explain!" she dashed away the tears that poured down her cheeks now. "You were there when I thought no one would help, would give me a comforting word, or support me. You were it. I'm here now, I'll do my best to support Grayson and help with Eva. I know you'd want me to, so that's what I'll do. I know there is nothing to repay your kidness, however it is a tiny contribution. I'm going over to see Evan now, oh I know the two of you are having such a time of things up there! Strolling along the streets of gold, in heavenly realms, oh what a happy place! Look at me with such foolish tears! How you've always longed to be in the arms of the Father." Wiping her eyes again she stood, pressing her fingers to her lips to silence a sob. Though she knew it was without cause to cry, she still did, grief should be dealt with now instead of bottled up. Lizzy had taught her that. Sighing, she walked on the wet grass away from the main fair of cemetary plots to the little headstone she visited weekly. Her own little one, nestled away in the arms of the father, as the headstone stated so eloquently.
She settled in beside the headstone, pressing a kiss to the marble, then wiping the dust away from it. Laying a tiny rose to the ground before it, she looked toward the sky where rain now fell. With a resolved sigh, she wondered if she should leave yet. However, she hadn't. She couldn't leave just yet. Not so soon. It was all too soon.
"Daddy's Girl"
Chapter 2, Part 1Grayson sat in the house he and Lizzy had bought three years before Eva was born, now it was just he and Eva in the big house. His mind strolled back to the day they'd first seen this house.
"Oh my, it's beautiful, Gray! This is it!" her pretty green eyes were round as saucers and filled with tears.
"What is it?" he'd grinned at his wife, so in love he could barely contain himself.
"This, all of this!" she'd caressed the ancient cherry wood bannister as if it were gold. "It's perfect!" She'd exclaimed that five different times after seeing each of the downstairs rooms, the four bedrooms, and two bathrooms. The room she'd deigned a playroom from the start, one for his office, and one for their library. She'd clung to his arm only while walking up the creaky steps, smiling the entire way, her smile lighting up the room as always. Sun light peeping through the blinds highlighting her copper-colored hair.
They'd made an offer to the gracious real estate agent, and she'd kissed him as if her life depended on it.
"Grayson Douglas Daniels, I love you so much. I can't wait to start a family with you." her words echoed in the emptiness of the living room.
His memories faded out as he looked down at their sleeping daughter in his arms, "I love you too, Elizabeth Dawn Daniels, more than you'll ever know. I don't want a family without you, but now I've got one." he pressed a kiss to Eva's forehead.
Looking around the room he saw all of the decorating and hard word Lizzy had put into making their home beautiful. He remembered coming home from the office to see her, pregnant as ever, standing on a ladder pressing the pretty pastel wall paper to the walls. Or arranging a vase full of fake flowers that picked up the accent colors she'd used in the room. Getting up, he walked up to the nursery they'd decorated in the last month of her pregnancy. Pastel pink on the walls, with girly trim of ballet shoes and princess accessories. A victorian crib with lace and pink silk, his eyes were drawn around the room, and tears pricked his eyes as he saw the picture on the dresser. A picture Lizzy had insisted upon, a picture of her pregnant taken just a week before she'd been put on bed rest. Before everything in his life had spiraled out of control.
He walked to the picture, tracing the soft edges of Lizzy's face with his free hand. Looking down at Eva, he smiled through tears, "You look just like your Mama, do you know that?" Whether from gas or if it was just a sign to him, he didn't know, but Eva smiled back at him. Sighing he snuggled her to his cheek, "Oh baby girl, you'll never know how much she loved you. She wanted everything for you, so much so that she ended up gone from us forever. I'll never let you forget, that you're a Mama's girl first and then a Daddy's girl." Pressing another kiss to her soft cheek, he turned to walk out the door to the nursery.
"That was beautiful." he heard her soft voice before he saw her, and then he held back a sigh of disbelief.
RaeAnne McGinty stood there, her hands wiping away tears, her black dress flowing around her ankles.
"You ready for today?" he asked, ignoring her obvious nosiness.
She shook her head back and forth, "No, I don't think being ready is possible."
"Me either." he said, nervously straightening Eva's tiny black dress before running a hand through his hair.
"You might as well lean on us, Grayson, it's going to be a long journey for all of us." she extended a hand.
He ignored her hand, slipping past her, "I appreciate it, RaeAnne, but as far as I'm concerned it's Eva and I against the world. However, I do hope that your family will remain a part of Eva's life, she needs to know Lizzy's family."
She slid her hand into his empty one anyhow, "We won't back away, Grayson, you can depend on us."
Closing his eyes against the oncoming grief, he shook his head, "No one else has stuck around. Why should you all?"
"Daddy's Girl"
Chapter 1, Part 2
Raeanne McGinty crossed her arms over her chest and looked through the nursery window as Grayson Daniels reluctantly handed her niece to her mother. The man simply wouldn't get past his mule-headed ways. Why wouldn't he allow them some time with Eva? After all, Lizzy was her sister, which made Eva her niece. Made Eva her parents first grandchild, well living grandchild. Automatically, Rae's hands moved to her stomach, sighing she began to blink her eyes rapidly to hold back threatening tears. No one knew about it of course, no one except Lizzy, and now Lizzy had moved on without her.
Take care of my Evan, Lizzy, her mind called as she put a hand to the door knob.
Her mother had finally coaxed Grayson to allow her to hold Eva, and Janice McGinty cuddled her new granddaughter to her bosom as tears ran down her cheeks. Her lips moved as if in prayer over the darling little girl. Her father, usually so strong and the image of manliness now cowered over near the room where they'd last seen Elizabeth.
No matter what either of her parents said she knew that Lizzy was their favorite. Lizzy was the achiever, the homebody, the girly girl with all of the answers. Married right out of college to a handsome business man, Lizzy had been their star. With a voice like an angel, and a heart of pure gold their sweetheart girl had remained close to home and promised many grandchildren.
Where Raeanne had been the opposite of her star of a sister, with a combination of a stubborn and wild streak she'd never stuck close to home. In high school she'd joined every club to get herself out of the house. College she'd attended as far away as possible, and as soon as she'd set her foot outside her parents house she'd stopped following God. Dabbling in drugs and alchohol and more men than she cared to talk about, Rae was a much different girl. Thankfully, the sisters had seen past their differences and distances and stuck by each other through the tough times.
Memories flooded Rae's mind, she focused in on the scene when she'd viewed the positive pregnancy test in the second year of college.
Tears running down her face, Rae had reached for the phone and called Lizzy first thing. 'I'm in so much trouble, Liz, I don't know what to do. I don't even know who this baby's father is! I've got to do something.'
Liz hadn't berated her, nor had she gasped and immediately spoke. Sighing softly, Lizzy had said 'What are we gonna' do about it, Rae Rae?'
Within hours the two had a plan, Lizzy had sent money once a month to help with prenatal care, and housing. Raeanne had went to her prenatal visits every month, faithfully following the rules the doctor had provided. It wasn't enough though. She wasn't enough. She never was though, should have been used to it by then. Evan Michael McGinty was born three months before his due date, a still born.
A gut-wrenching sob threatened to tear out of her right there in the middle of the hall way, however at that moment her trip down memory lane was interrupted by Grayson.
"Wastin' space standing there." he muttered.
She could only nod her head in agreement, maybe she was a waste of space.
"Daddy's Girl"
Chapter 1, Part 1
The wind whipped around Grayson Daniels' head sending snowflakes down to cover him, although it wasn't enough in his mind. He'd rather an entire snow drift come and cover him, burying him, hopefully right along side his wife. Lizzy was the most precious woman he'd ever met in his life, as he recalled their first meeting he knew right then they were pre-destined to be together forever. Now, as images replayed in his mind of just last night, he couldn't believe it. She was gone. Tears he thought he'd cried out last night came again, freezing like tiny icicles to his eyelashes as he sought the comfort of the hospital where his infant daughter now lay. His in-laws had shooed him out of the nursery at three in the morning where he'd been sitting along side the tiny baby talking in hushed tones about her mommy. The mommy his little girl would never know.
The hospital's loud atmosphere was lost on Grayson, all of it background noise as he went through the motions of pressing the elevator button and getting aboard pressing the button for the third floor where maternity was located. Half expecting the rowdiness of Lizzy's room to be heard in the hall way, he exited the elevator and headed straight for the nursery avoiding room 337 as if his life depended on it. Maybe it did, he thought as he stood next to the glass. A groan rose from his throat at the sight of Lizzy's flighty sister, Raeanne holding his daughter. He was sure the thump of the nursery door against the wall was heard throughout the maternity ward, as he marched toward his sister-in-law and daughter. His anger dwindled however as he got closer and tears were pouring down Raeanne's cheeks.
She looked so much like Lizzy, with her auburn hair caressing a graceful neck, smooth peaches and cream complection. Her green eyes, even deeper with the sorrow they held, rosebud shaped red lips completed the look. He found himself battling tears as he simply looked at her holding his little girl.
Looking up at him, she extended his daughter toward him, "I'm so sorry, Grayson." she whispered, her voice soft like Lizzy's.
"I am too, Raeanne, more than you'd ever know." he pressed a gentle kiss to the baby's soft forehead wiping his own eyes.
"She wanted to call her Eva." the words seemed more like Raeanne's now, and Grayson felt his muscles tightening against the upcoming argument that was most likely right around the corner.
"I know." he conceded cuddling the baby's tiny body closer to him.
"You going to name her Eva Hope, just like Liz intended." pinning him with a glare she reached over for the baby.
"I was thinking about naming her after her mother." he murmered ignoring her extended hands.
"Elizabeth would've dreaded that." her green eyes were hard as stone, her sorrowful demeanor had already morphed into that of a hardened criminal. Which is what he'd viewed her as for as many years he'd known the woman.
"Fine, Eva it is." he muttered, without wanting to admit it he already had decided to name her that.
"Good, I'm just going to get some coffee." standing, Raeanne pushed her chair back against the wall and snapped him a salute. She stalked out of the newborn nursery, the door slamming behind her. Babies awakened around him, including his little bundle of joy in his arms.
"Thanks for offering, and for waking the children." he muttered at her retreating form. Snuggling the baby to him, he did his best to smile down at her. "Hi Eva, I know this is kind of not what either of us wanted but now it's just us. I love you more than I can express to you, I'm unsure you even understand me. Just you and I against the world, a true daddy's girl for all time." Bending over, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and began to rock back and forth humming a song Elizabeth had always hummed. Tears ran down his cheeks as he saw what his darling wife was missing. Eva cuddled her tiny body tighter to his, her pink lips widening in a yawn that seemed larger than her entire face. He found himself smiling and tickling her little chin, humming a bit louder until the noise around them died down and he heard Elizabeth's family clomping up the hall way toward them. All peace flitted away like a fly chased by a swatter, and he wished for the thousanth time since Elizabeth's death that he'd taken little Eva and flown off.
