The next day, which was Taylor’s friend’s birthday, dawned bright and early. The presents for Taylor’s friend, which Ryan had arranged for to be delivered to the hotel that morning arrived, all boxed and wrapped in pretty pink gift wrappers. Taylor had insisted that the gifts be wrapped in pink wrappers because pink was Emma’s favorite color. Taylor was still asleep when they were delivered, so Ryan had them stuffed in the trunk of the car that he had rented, hardly able to believe that he was actually pulling all this off. He guessed having more money than you knew what to do with was not bad at all. Finally, he had to wake Taylor up to have breakfast and take her bath, if not, she would probably have slept till noon, and he didn’t want her to be late for her friend’s party.“Good morning, dad. Are we going to grandpa’s house today?” She asked as soon as she woke up.“Yes, honey. Come on, we have to bathe and dress you up so we won’t be late. They’re waiting for us. I’ll call for bre

Ryan arrived promptly at the venue of the birthday party to pick his daughter up at the time Dan had told him to come back. Now that the party was over, it was time for them to head home, as he had an important meeting to attend the following day. The place was not as packed as it had been earlier, and even as Ryan climbed out of the rental car, more parents arrived to pick up their wards. He spied Taylor and her crew, who immediately ran over to greet him. Sandra, Alex’s mother, saw him and came over to engage him in conversation, which he was actually enjoying. Ryan had been in enough relationships and had been around enough women to realize that Sandra was interested in him, so he casually mentioned the fact that he was in a relationship. Her brother also came over to inform him that he was going to get Emma’s mom so she could say hi, much to Ryan’s relief. He did not want to appear rude, but he was ready to leave already. Not long after Dan left, Ryan and Sandra heard him callin

For days after what he had come to term ‘the revelation,’ Ryan could still not believe what he had discovered. He had left in shock the day he found out what Becca was hiding from him, so he hadn’t collected her contact number, but that was no problem at all. He knew how to reach Dan, and if Becca prevailed upon Dan to try any funny business, Ryan would go to the ends of the earth to find his daughter. He had needed this time to plan what his next course of action would be because one thing was sure. He had missed out on this much of Emma’s life, but now that he knew about her existence, he wanted to reclaim and make up for the time he had lost. Finally, he made up his mind on what to do. It was a no-brainer actually. He could not uproot Emma from her life, obviously, but he could move to where she lived with Becca, after all, he could live in whatever city he wanted on the planet. It was a win-win for both he and Taylor because Ryan knew that she would give anything to go to the sa

“What on earth were you thinking?” Becca thundered at her daughter in anger. “Thinking about what?” Emma replied casually, dumping her school bag on the floor, a move that Becca had warned her against doing several times to no avail. “Why on earth would you get in the car with a stranger and even go get ice cream with him?” “But Mr. Ryan is not a stranger! He came to my birthday party.” “I know. That doesn’t justify you getting in the car with him instead of getting on the bus.” “Relax, mom,” Emma said, ignoring her mother and moving away to her room, clearly not getting what all the fuss was about. “Emma Harris. You come back here this minute. You don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you. That’s very rude and I didn’t raise you to be rude.” Becca said sternly, her tone brooking no argument. Emma sighed and trailed back into the room, her small mouth set in a pout. “Listen to me very carefully. You will go nowhere with Mr. Ryan unless I ask you to do so, or else you will

The days passed rapidly, with Becca beginning to relax as regards her daughter and ex-husband. Emma adored her father, and the feeling was clearly mutual. Ryan doted on his daughter and hung on her every word, but was careful not to spoil her rotten, something that would have been easy to do considering that he had only just recently come into her life. As for Becca, she was thankful that she did not see much of Ryan, who dutifully dropped off Emma every day after school if he was around, which he almost always was. He tried his best to be friendly and communicate with her, but Becca wanted nothing to do with him. The passage of time had only made him more handsome, and that was a clear indication that she should stay the hell away from him. She knew how weak she was where Ryan was concerned, and she would be damned if she made a fool of herself over him again. Also, he was trying very hard to be nice to her and be her friend again, which either meant that he had changed, or that he