Daddy's Little Surprise

Ariel’s eyes opened to the sound of her alarm clock on her phone, it was six thirty in the morning and the woman meeting her at the apartment wanted her there at nine thirty. She grabbed her phone and turned the alarm off, she wanted a shower more than anything before she woke Whitney and Evangeline. Once she was done with her shower she got dressed, wearing; a lacy white skirt, a flower tank top and a long cape-like wool sweater. She approached her hotel bed to see Evangeline was still asleep like an angel, cuddling her teddy bear tightly. Ariel smiled then shook her daughter slightly, waking her in the process. It wasn’t hard to wake Evangeline up, which was a relief during things like this.
“Wake up, sleepy head.” Ariel told her, Evangeline smiled then hid her face but Ariel pulled the blanket back and picked her up.
“Where we going, momma?” Evangeline asked, rubbing her tired eyes.
“You need a bath baby.” Ariel replied kissing her temple, as she warmed up the water.
Once the bath was over she dried Evangeline then helped her get dressed, she wanted to wear her favorite flower dress since Ariel was wearing a flower top and her pink sneakers. Ariel brushed and dried Evangeline’s hair then braided it back, which Evangeline seem to adore. As Ariel did her hair and makeup Evangeline was trying to wake Whitney by shaking her and jumping up and down on the bed, it was funny to see but she did succeed on waking Whitney.
They got in the elevator five minutes before nine, which wasn’t bad at all. They would have to walk to the house which was a several minute walk from the hotel, but Ariel had confidence they would make it. When the elevator reached the lobby and the doors slid open, Ariel’s jaw slightly dropped in shock, approaching the elevator was Andy and Juliet.
“Daddy!” Evangeline squealed excitedly, Andy smiled at her words. He would never get tired of hearing her call him daddy, it was the brightness of his day. He held out his arms and lowered down so she could run right into them, Evangeline didn’t hesitate to run into his arms and hug him tightly. It was very obvious she was a daddy’s girl. Andy looked somewhat older today, and as Ariel studied his face harder, she realized he was growing facial hair. And it was a weird look to see, especially on him. As for Juliet, her hair was growing out, Ariel guessed she wanted long hair again.
“Andy, what are you doing here?” Ariel asked with a smile, of course she was shocked to see him here. Andy lifted Evangeline and placed her on his hip, kissing the top of her head.
“Well I figured you needed a ride, unless you wanted to walk?”
“Yeah no I didn’t, thanks Andy.” Whitney said as she walked away from them and approached the lobby’s door, Ariel smiled and shook her head but she didn’t refuse a ride. When they arrived at the apartment it was a minute before nine thirty, the woman was standing on the sidewalk with a smile, wearing a knee-length black skirt and a long sleeve shirt.
"I'm Nancy, and you must be Ariel?"
"I am, nice to meet you."
Nancy smiled. "Well it's nice to meet you too, now before I show you the apartment, how many will be living with you?"
"Just my daughter and I."
"Very good, follow me. Now the neighborhood is great, very nice people and other children for your daughter to be around." Nancy told them as they walked up the steps to the front door.
"What about a backyard?" Andy asked suddenly, of course he was going to ask questions since his daughter might live in this apartment and she needed to be free, have fun, and be like a toddler. And for that she needed a backyard, but a secured backyard, just in case a mean dog came around and she was outside.
"I am glad you mentioned that, there is one and it is safely fenced. The only way you could enter the backyard is through a gate, or through the back door." Nancy replied as she unlocked the door and stepped into the house, the living room was nice and just like the pictures showed. Wood flooring, white walls, a white ceiling.
"Nice." Whitney said as she looked around the living room carefully looking for a crack or hole, Ariel was too, but everything seemed fine. There was a window beside the door that Ariel liked, Evangeline would be able to look out and see the world even if she couldn't go outside.
"What do you think?" Nancy asked Ariel, Ariel nodded with a smile and looked at her.
"I like it."
"Good, I'll show you the kitchen now." she said as she walked towards the kitchen, the dining room was combined with the kitchen. The floor was ceramic tile which went well with the white cabinets, there was a window above the sink that Ariel adored, the oven was beside the sink and the dark gray two door refrigerator was on the left side of the sink several feet away.
"Oh, I love this kitchen." Ariel said as she opened cabinets and drawers, looking at the space she had for things.
"Perfect for a small family." Whitney told Ariel as she gave her a wink, Ariel shook her head as she knew what that wink meant; Andy, Ariel and Evangeline. But that would never happen.
"And the laundry room is over here," Nancy said as she opened a white door close to where the table would sit, the laundry room was perfect size and already had a washer and dryer.
"Evangeline, what do you think so far?" Ariel asked, she turned her head to see Evangeline had her arms wrapped around Andy's neck while he had his left arm around her small legs to carry her securely to his side.
"I want to see my room, momma."
The kitchen was filled with laughs except Juilet's, she just smiled, she looked like this was misery and torture, though Ariel was positive Andy didn't drag her along if she didn't want to be here. He wasn't that way.
"She's adorable, how old is she?"
"Three." Ariel and Andy replied at once, Ariel smiled awkwardly.
"She'll be four in three weeks." Ariel continued.
"I'm going to guess, you're her father?" Nancy spoke to Andy, he nodded proudly. "I can tell, she looks just like you."
"We think so too." Whitney said in agreement.
"Well, Evangeline, I will show you your room." Nancy said with a smile as she left the kitchen, the others followed.
"Thank you." Evangeline said politely, Ariel smiled because she knew she taught her daughter well. They headed down a hallway then made a right into a room, the floor was wooden also, the walls white along with the ceiling. There was a window and a closet.
"There is a bathroom next door too." Nancy said when Andy sat Evangeline down on her feet to explore.
"If possible Nancy, what if I wanted to paint the walls or decorate it for her?" Ariel asked curiously, even though she loved the apartment there was too much white.
"Oh help yourself, it's perfectly fine."
"Evangeline, what do you think?" Andy asked her, she smiled brightly up at him.
"I want it to be my room, daddy."
"Well, let momma continue looking and we'll see what she says." Andy told her, while Juliet and Andy stayed with Evangeline in her room Ariel and Whitney looked through the master bedroom. The master bedroom was bigger, with a bigger bathroom and closet.
"Well, what do you think?" Nancy asked with a hopeful smile, Ariel thought for a second but Evangeline had already answered Nancy's question earlier.
"I'll take it."
Nancy smiled big. "Great, I'll be right back." once Nancy left, Whitney hugged Ariel with a smile.
"I'm happy for you, girly."
"Thanks girly, let's go tell my daughter," Ariel told her, they made her way to Evangeline's new bedroom to see she was dancing with Andy. "aw, I hate to interrupt your dance. But I'm getting the apartment."
"Yay!" Evangeline cheered, she ran towards Ariel and hugged her legs happily. Ariel knew this was the right decision. She signed some papers, agreed on time of rent, then told Nancy bye. Now, she just had to get moving.
~
"Daddy, I don't want you to go." Evangeline cried in the lobby of the hotel, she was hanging onto him like her life depended on it.
"Aw, sweetheart I'll be back soon. I promise."
"No daddy!" Evangeline cried, Ariel frowned but got an idea.
"Andy, if you want. You can take her for the night."
Andy looked at her, shock was his expression. He was happy, shocked and afraid. Happy because he'll spend time with his daughter, shocked because she said that, and scared because he didn't know if he could do it on his own. He's never taken care of a toddler before, never babysat. Nothing.
"Really?"
"Yes really, I trust you. Plus, we need to work out days for you to take her." Ariel said, Andy smiled.
"Evangeline, do you want to go with me?"
She nodded with her face hidden in his black skinny jeans, Ariel smiled.
"Come on, I'll get you set."
When they were in the hotel room Juliet waited in the car, Ariel packed clothes, pajamas, Evangeline's toothbrush and hair brush and her teddy bear. Once the bag was set and ready, she kissed her little girl's cheek, then let Andy take her to her first sleepover at her father's place.

Notes

Hello readers! I am very sorry it's been forever since I've updated, for the holidays I was on a writing/editing break since I was busy with family, and Adrian. But I am getting back to work, I have a lot to do, more writing and editing. And now that I got a laptop, I can edit during the night if Adrian isn't busy nor tired. Also remember, he works five days a week, and he's working very hard and I don't want to pressure him with updating. So we usually only update during the weekend, but this morning I got up early and we were able to edit this chapter. Leave comments, and opinions, and how do you think Andy will handle taking care of Evangeline for one night? He may be a father, but the father rule is still fresh to him. It may be interesting. I haven't wrote the next chapter yet, so just keep your patients with me. Thanks guys! Happy holidays!