Loving Evelyn (Part 1)

4 - She Became His Whole World

"From the moment I saw you, I wanted you in my life."
~*~

After the phone call with the social worker, Samuel waited for his kids to come home from school before sitting them down. The conversation went about as well as to be expected. Angel walked off mid-explanation. Christian seemed to handle it surprisingly well, or at least as best as he could. He asked a lot of questions, but Samuel answered each and every one of them. Issac remained unusually silent throughout the entire thing. And Jacob, well Jacob had a lot to say.

That feeling of questioning whether he made the right decision once again tugged in the back of his mind, despite having agreed to having Evelyn move in. As he'd said before, he needed to just take it one day at a time, so he did.

The boys might get over it eventually, they just needed time; some more than others. But he was willing to give them that. 

Almost two weeks had passed since then and the day to meet his daughter finally arrived. Samuel couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous. Perhaps it had been when his youngest son, Jacob was delivered. He was always nervous when the time for his sons to be born came. 

This time was no different, except, instead of waiting for his kid to be born, this one was already five years old - walking and talking, and he had no idea until a little over two weeks ago that she even existed. She probably never knew he existed either. He had no idea what his one-night-stand may have told her about him. 

Although the nerves remained, he was excited to meet her. He missed so much in her life. He had a lot of catching up to do. There was so much he wanted to know, down to the smallest things, like what her favorite color was. Did she have a favorite game? Did she like horses? Samuel wanted to know what made her laugh and smile. He wanted to know what made her happy or sad. What were her favorite things to do and what did she want to be when she grew up?

Looking at his late wife's antique clock above the kitchen counter, he noticed that they should be here any minute now. 

Getting up from his seat on the island stool, he decided to take a last look at the room he'd prepared. Despite the somewhat dour atmosphere in the house, Samuel scrambled to get one of the upstairs bedrooms ready for his daughter. He knew nothing about raising a little girl, but he tried his best to decorate it with things she might like. 

Just as he finished doing a quick perusal of the room, he heard a voice holler from outside the bedroom window. Looking out the front window of the bedroom, he saw the car of Samantha Gowen parked in the drive. 

This was it. 

He made his way back down to the first floor and took a moment to collect himself at the front door before pushing it open. The sun, still high in the sky blinded him and he had to put a hand over his eyes so he could see. 

The first person he saw was Wyatt, how had been unloading leftover hay from the fields. He stood a few feet away from a woman - the social worker with a hand stretched out in greeting. Shifting from his spot on the porch to properly block the sun, his eye immediately zeroed in on the little girl standing behind Samantha. 

She was the cutest little girl he'd ever seen in a bright yellow dress with black leggings and brown colored sandals. There was a little stuffed rabbit clutched in her arms as she peeked out. 

Samuel stepped off the porch and slowly made his way towards the group, his eyes never leaving his daughter. The closer he got, the more he noticed. She had his same dark brown colored hair. Her eyes were blue, a color she most likely got from her mother, as well as a pal complexion. The rest of her facial features, however, were all Samuel's. If there was even the slightest doubt that Samuel had a daughter, one look at the little girl and back to him was all the proof anyone really needed. She was definitely his.