"Daddy's Girl"

Chapter 2, Part 1

Grayson 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?"