Daddy's Little Surprise

Andy opened the back door of his vehicle and the street lamp light illuminated Evangeline's face, her eyelids were wide open and she looked at Andy with happiness. He unsecured her from her car seat and lifted her up, putting her on his waist while he shut the door with his hip. The driveway was lit by the golden colored street lamp and he didn't see Shelli's piece of junk that she considered to be a vehicle parked in his driveway. Her vehicle was a two door dark green Chevrolet, the tail lights were busted and the bumper was bent from an obvious wreck. She apparently didn't have the money to fix it, he knew she's been unemployed since he met Juliet.

Andy carried Evangeline into the house, kicking the door shut with his foot he sat her on her feet in front of him. He knew her bedtime was coming up very soon and the last thing he wanted to do was mess up her bedtime schedule since Ariel worked hard to get her on that particular schedule.

"Evangeline, will you go get your bag out of the guest bedroom, please?"

Without a yes or no, Evangeline darted up the stairs, using the railings for support. Andy knew he could've went up there with her and put her in her pajamas there but he needed to talk to Juliet real quick without Evangeline around them. He wandered into the living room to find Juliet snuggled up on the couch watching something that didn't fascinate him, but when he sat down at her feet she flicked off the TV and looked at him in silence. Waiting for him to speak first and he did, getting right to the point immediately.

"I don't want her here when I am and definitely not when my daughter is here," he said then looked at her. "she is fucking crazy, all she does is put negative thoughts into your head and I'm left to clear them up each time!"

"Andy, she's a good friend." Juliet insisted, Andy chuckled sarcastically.

"I'm sorry but if a good friend disappears for a year with no explanation and didn't call to let her so-called best friend know she's okay, all of my friends must be horrible because they've never done that to me."

"She had no way of contacting me Andy, she told me that."

"Yeah, whatever. You believe anything that lying bitch says, Juliet." he spat through his teeth with wrath, Juliet's eyes widened and she felt very offended.

"I don't appreciate your attitude Andy, that's completely unfair to say that about her when she's looked after me for many years, way before I even knew you."

"Daddy?" Evangeline interrupted, Andy's concentration was broke from this conversation and he turned his head to see Evangeline approaching the couch while dragging her bag behind her by the strap and she looked like she was deep in thought about something.

"Yes?"

"Mommy gives me a bath then I go to bed." she told him, she dropped her bag then looked up at Andy with a small smile.

"Oh, uh.." he began but paused. Andy wasn't fully comfortable with the thought about giving his daughter a bath yet, he wasn't sure if he could do it now and he definitely didn't want to make Evangeline uncomfortable either because he was a boy and used to getting a bath by women. Juliet eyed Andy, waiting for him to respond but then she finally understood why he didn't answer.

"I'll do it," she offered. "if you want me to, Evangeline?"

Andy looked at Juliet with shock, he was speechless because he never thought Juliet would offer to bathe his daughter for him.

"Are you sure you want to do that for her?"

Juliet nodded.

"Yes I am sure, I can do it. Don't worry."

Juliet got up from the couch and took Evangeline's little hand and led her to the staircase while Andy sat on the couch, hearing nothing but silence now. Upstairs, Evangeline stood in front of the big white master bathroom bathtub while Juliet looked under the bathroom sink for bubble bath soap. She had a basket filled with different bubble bath scents; vanilla, strawberry, lavender, Japanese cherry blossom, sweat pea, french lavender & honey and velvet sugar. Juliet chose lavender. She stood up and marched towards the bathroom where she put the plug in the drain and turned on the faucet then stuck her hand under the water while she chose the temperature for Evangeline and while she done this, Evangeline stood back and watched. She was shy around Juliet, she wasn't her mother but she was with her father all the time and being only four she didn't completely understand the term relationship yet.

Juliet unscrewed the lid on the bottle and tilted it to allow the purple goo to run out into the water to create a bubbly bath and Evangeline hurried to the side of the tub to watch the bubbles while Juliet grabbed a big white towel from under the sink.

"Are you ready?" she asked Evangeline and she received a nod as a yes.

She helped Evangeline get undress then helped her into the tub by lifting her up, once she was in the tub she sat down and was covered with bubbles from the chest down and a jubilant smile came across her face as she cupped her little hands to scoop up the bubbles.

"I'll be right back Evangeline, can you behave while I'm gone?" Juliet said, Evangeline looked up with a look in her blue eyes that reminded Juliet of Andy. It was the same look Andy had when he was jubilant and Juliet felt her heart sink, she really wanted a son or daughter with her boyfriend.

"Yes."

"Good, I'll be right back." Juliet promised then hurried out of the bathroom and out into the hallway. She jogged down the stairs towards the kitchen where she found Andy searching through the cabinets for food with a cigarette hanging between his lips, he heard her footsteps and turned his head to investigate them and as he did his eyebrows pulled together.

"Done already?"

"No, I need something to wet her hair. Do we have a plastic cup or something?" Juliet said as she opened the cabinet that held the glasses.

Andy hummed in thought, taking his cigarette between his fingers to help Juliet look and he noticed she was in a hurry to find something that would work.

"Hey, do we still have the cups from her birthday party?"

"If we do I don't remember where I put them and I don't have time to search because she's up there by herself in the tub."

"Go ahead, I'll look and if I find one I will bring it to you." Andy told her, Juliet didn't disagree with that plan.

When she returned to the bathroom she was surprised to see that Evangeline was already covered in bubbles and she was giggling, Juliet shook her head side to side as a small grin appeared across her face.

"Are you having fun?"

Evangeline looked up at Juliet and nodded yet she didn't speak, she continued to giggle and play while Juliet grabbed a brown wash cloth from under the sink. She sat down cross legged in front of the tub and began scrubbing Evangeline clean while she waited for Andy to show up with a plastic cup. Juliet was in thought during this, she wished that she had her own child to give a bath nightly, to tuck in bed and kiss and tell them that she loves them. But she was worried that now since Andy had a daughter he wouldn't want any children with her now, she wished she didn't worry about that but she couldn't help it, no matter what she told herself. Her lips frowned and she didn't speak, even Shelli made a good point earlier. Juliet didn't know what the relationship was between Ariel and Andy, was it really a one night stand or did he thought it was a good enough lie to hide what the truth really was? Besides, she wondered how a fan even had sex with him in the first place, it sounded more like fan fiction than reality to her but would she dare interrogate Andy to his face? Most likely not.

Andy wandered up the stairs, towards the master bedroom where he approached the bathroom with a plastic cup from Evangeline's birthday party in his right grasp. As he approached the bathroom he noticed the door was wide open and he saw Juliet sitting on the floor in front of the tub while Evangeline sat in the tub surrounded by white bubbles. A smile came across his face immediately when he saw Evangeline smiling jubilantly, her eyes were sparking and they were bright.

"Found a cup." Andy said aloud as he walked into the bathroom.

Juliet turned and took the cup from him, muttering a thank you then going back to cleaning Evangeline. She expected Andy to walk away but he didn't, instead he sat down on the toilet seat. He sat there until it was time for Evangeline to be taken out of the bath tub and that's when he walked out of the bathroom so Juliet could get her out.

Juliet dressed Evangeline into her pajamas which was a Little Mermaid long sleeve nightgown then she helped her brush her pearl white baby teeth, she felt like a mother right now to Evangeline and she honestly didn't want this feeling to end. But she knew tomorrow this feeling would end when Evangeline's biological mother showed up to take her away and she despised to know that information. Juliet turned off the faucet then helped Evangeline off the stool she stood on to reach the sink.

"We better go find Andy so you can tell him goodnight." Juliet told her and once she looked down to look at Evangeline, she was gone. She twirled around in confusion but she was no longer in the bathroom, it was as if she had disappeared into thin air but she was skipping down the steps to find Andy.

Andy sat on the couch smoking a Marlboro while he skipped through channels repeatedly until Evangeline appeared beside him with a fresh big smile, he smiled then laid the remote down beside him and reached forward to lift her up and put her on his lap.

"Are you ready for bed?"

"Yeah!" Evangeline replied then buried her face into Andy's shirt. He chuckled then kissed the top of her forehead.

"Want me to tuck you in or do you want Juliet to?"

"You, daddy." she replied and Andy was relieved to hear that honestly. He grabbed her gently then lifted up from the couch and began carrying her to the staircase, she continued to hide her face into his chest and just by this it told him she was already sleepy. He took each step with caution, keeping his grip on his daughter just in case she began to slide.

He carried her down the hallway into the guest bedroom where he laid her under the covers and began tucking her while she gazed up at him with a sleepy smile.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?" Andy replied with a soft voice, he looked down at her in wonder.

"I want teddy."

"Is teddy in your bag?" he interrogated, she nodded immediately and he smiled. "I will get teddy then, we don't want him to sleep alone do we?"

"No, he doesn't like it." Evangeline replied then watched Andy walk across the room to her bag. He unzipped the top and grabbed the brown teddy bear, her smile grew bigger once Andy tucked him in beside her then he took a gentle seat beside her.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Can you sing, daddy?" she asked.

Andy smiled then nodded, thinking of a song he glared at the wall for a moment and once the lyrics entered his mind, he began singing very softly yet beautifully.

"I ruled the world, with these hands I shook the heavens to the ground. I laid the gods to rest, I held the key to the kingdom. Lions guarding castle walls, hail the king of death," while Andy sang without being interrupted, Juliet stood right outside the door with a smile upon her face. She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed and eyes closed, she has always loved this song and hearing Andy sing it made her heart flutter and made the weight on her shoulders lift. Something about this song and his voice made all of her worries go away and she could only imagine how Evangeline felt. "then I lost it all, dead and broken. My back's against the wall, cut me open. I'm just trying to breathe, just trying to figure it out, because I built these walls to watch them crumbling down. I said, then I lost it all, and who can save me now? I stood above, another war, another jewel upon the crown. I was the fear of men. But I was blind, I couldn't see the world there right in front of me but now I can. Cause I lost it all, dead and broken. My back's against the wall, cut me open. I'm just trying to breathe, just trying to figure it out because I built these walls to watch them crumbling down. I said, then I lost it all, who can save me now?"
Andy's voice faded out slowly yet softly as he gazed upon his sleeping daughter who had just fallen asleep in a matter of minutes. He grinned then leaned down and kissed her forehead like the feeling of a feather, he pushed himself up from the bed then flicked off the lamp on the nightstand. He felt like he could pat himself on the back for getting her to fall asleep that fast but he didn't, instead he tiptoed out of the bedroom and slowly closed the door, careful not to make any noise.

"That was beautiful, baby." Juliet whispered beside him, Andy jumped quickly.

"Fuck's sake, you scared the shit out of me!" Andy exclaimed in a harsh whisper, she placed her hand on his shoulder and tried not to laugh.

"Sorry," she whispered. "you're a great dad, I'm sorry about Shelli."

Andy looked into her eyes then leaned forward and kissed her lips gently before muttering;

"Don't worry about it babe, it's over and done with. Now, let's get to sleep, she will wake me up early in the morning."

Notes

I know it took me forever to update but hopefully this chapter was worth the wait? I know it wasn't much, but please leave your opinions below! I had terrible writer's block with this chapter, I finally finished it five days ago and I haven't started writing chapter twenty one yet and I don't know when I will because I believe I have caught a cold. Also, another thing. Every year my family throws a Halloween party, this year I am a lot more involved and I am very busy planning this party that is in thirty nine days. So please understand that I will be busy, I always am this time of year. Thank you all for your support, until the next chapter!