VI
Taylor was towel drying his hair after leaving the bathroom when he entered his bedroom. He sat down on his bed once his hair was dried before allowing himself to fall back onto the bed. And as he looked up at the ceiling, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to what his mother had said the night before.
"She's getting older, Taylor. And as much as you don't want to hear it, very soon she's going to start wondering where her mom is."
"But sweetheart, there's only so much you can do. You can teach her a lot of things but she will still need a mother figure in her life."
As much as he hated the thought of bringing Emily's mother back into their lives, after she had abandoned them, he couldn't deny that his mother had been right; sooner or later, Emily would need a mother figure. And as much as he surrounded her with his love, he knew that he couldn't continue to play the role of her mother forever.
He sat up and ran a hand through his hair as he stood up. But as he stood up, something caught his eye on the floor. He bent down and picked up a small box which now lay on his carpet. And as soon as he opened it, he found himself remembering the night that they had been abandoned by her.
After receiving the ring that he had spent several weeks picking out, he couldn't wait to finally propose to her after everything that they had been through. He walked into the living room of the apartment with a large smile on his face, holding the box with the ring behind him to surprise her. But as soon as he noticed that she wasn't in the living room, he called out to her. When there was no reply, he walked towards their bedroom, his smile still on his face as he assumed that she was sleeping.
However, as soon as he saw her with a suitcase beside her in their room as she packed, his smile faltered.
"Are you going somewhere?" he asked, walking closer to her. She turned to face him but immediately looked away.
"I'm going home," she replied nonchalantly.
"Home? Are you just visiting your mom? Is something wrong with her?" he asked.
There was a long moment of silence before she said, "No."
"So what do you mean then?"
"I mean that I'm leaving," she said before turning around to continue packing. He held onto her shoulder and turned her around to face him.
"Are you just going to leave? What about Emily?" he asked.
"I'm sorry Taylor but I can't do this anymore. This is just too much─"
"What do you mean? We're in this together and we're doing well─"
"I can't do this anymore! I have a life too!" she screamed. When he heard that, he could no longer contain his anger.
"Obviously, it's more important than your own daughter!" he countered.
"I didn't ask for any of this! If anything, it was your fault. You were the one who kissed me!" She poked his chest with every word she said, tears falling onto her face, until he grabbed onto her arm.
"You could've pushed me away or looked away─something; anything to stop it!" He felt her arm weaken before she pulled away.
"Look, I'm sorry but I can't do this anymore─I just can't."
And with that, she closed the suitcase and grabbed the handle before she walked out of the door, wheeling the bag behind her as the sound of their daughter crying now filled the silence.
Taylor threw the box into the garbage can in his room as he felt the anger that he had felt that day resurface. No matter how much he had thought about it, there was no legitimate reason why she should have left. But she made that decision. And for that, there was no way that he would ever allow her back into their life; for fear of that happening again.
The sound of his door opening caused him to turn to face the door as Emily bounced into the room, shouting,
"Daddy!"
She jumped onto him and he hugged her tightly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He closed his eyes and savored the moment until Emily pulled away slightly. He smiled as he noticed a red stain at the corner of her lips.
"You've been eating something," he said as he sat on the bed, still holding his daughter. Emily's lips turned into a large smile.
"Granny made pancakes and she put strawberries and whip cream on top!" she replied enthusiastically.
"Sounds like it was yummy."
"It was! But I'm done eating now. I wanna color with you now, daddy."
"Color?" he asked, to which she eagerly nodded her head. He couldn't help but to smile as he pinched her cheeks and she pulled away.
"Don't do that daddy, I'm not a baby anymore."
"I know," he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, "you're my little girl."
She frowned as he said the word little. He chuckled.
"Okay, my big girl," he corrected himself, to which she smiled. She jumped off his lap and landed on her feet before holding onto his hands and urging him to get off his bed. He allowed her to drag her out of the room until they reached the door when she let go of his hand and bent down in front of the garbage can.
"What's this daddy?" she asked as she picked up the box.
"Sweetheart, it's nothi--"
But before he could finish speaking, she opened it and took the ring out of the box.
"It's pretty," she said as she placed it on her pointer finger. She turned to face him with a large smile on her face.
"Can I keep it daddy? Please?" she asked, looking directly into his eyes as she pleaded. He bit his lower lip as he looked at her.
As much as he hated what that ring meant to him, he couldn't say no to his baby girl. And so as he looked back at her, he begrudgingly nodded his head as he said,
"Okay, you can keep it."
ns 15.158.61.20da2
