What She's Doing Now (Sequel to The Great Pretenders)

Daughters

By John Mayer

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers be good to your daughters too.

Matt didn't know how Charlie was going to react to seeing him on her doorstep. The last time he'd seen her in person, he had royally fucked up by telling the press she was no one special. Lucy had whisked her away before he had a chance to apologize. He hoped she'd be happy to see him and happy to meet River. He was picking her up to give her a ride to the birthday party because Lucy's flight from Houston was delayed, since Zoey hadn't wanted to be anywhere near Brian on the private plane.

He knocked on the door and River pat his hand against the door imitating his father. He smiled at his son who fell forward when the door was pulled open by Amy Bass.

She instinctively reached down to catch the little boy and place him back on his feet. "Hey there cutie, don't fall," she said in a gentle motherly tone and it earned her a grin from the toddler. She looked up and smirked at Matt "Matthew Sanders."

And just like that Matt was 18 years old again. "Hi Mrs. Bass, it's good to see you again," he said as he watched River walked into the house.

She chuckled "Come on in. Charlie isn't ready yet."

Matt eased his way through the door and followed River.

"You're going to have your hands full with that one," Amy remarked as they made their way to the living room. "He's fearless."

"He's a handful now. I can only imagine when he gets older," Matt nodded in agreement.

"Probably no worse than you were," she cracked "so you'll know all the tricks."

Matt didn't know whether to be offended or not "At least that will be in my favor."

"Matt, I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" he asked confused as River walked over and raised his arms to be picked up.

The older woman nodded her head "Yes, I should have made Lucy tell you about Charlie much sooner..."

"Can anyone make Lucy do anything?" he asked.

"I could have tried....harder."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I know now. And maybe...maybe Lucy and I needed some time to grow up...I know I did," he offered.

"Lucy did a lot of growing up really fast," she declared with a frown"And she gave up a lot of things...experiences, chances. Things she could have accomplished....not that she would trade Charlie for any of that but still as her mother...."

Matt felt embarrassed again that Lucy doing it all on her own was for his own good and not hers. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have been there. I would have you know. I would have been there for her...through everything."

"I'm sure you think you would have," she replied. "It's different to say that now."

"I would have," he insisted. "I loved her. She's the one...who didn't love me." Still doesn't, he thought to himself.

"What are you talking about?" Amy shook her head in disbelief "She did love you. Do you know how hard it was for her to get over you? It took years. I still don't think she ever fully let you go, especially with Charlie looking so much like you. She's never dated anyone for more than a month...if even that."

Matt wanted to tell her that he'd had a hard time too but the fact that he'd married and had another kid probably wouldn't make her believe it. So he nodded and held his tongue.

"Thing is," she continued "With Charlie knowing you're her dad, I know that you'll be back in their lives. I'm worried about what that means for Lucy."

Matt finally understood where she was going with the conversation. She wanted to make sure Lucy didn't get hurt. He didn't want that either but now that his father had all but commanded him to make his marriage work, he didn't know how he could avoid hurting Lucy or Val.

"I understand," he said hoarsely "I promise to do my best to make sure Lucy doesn't get hurt. I care a lot about her."

Her blue eyes looked at him intently and she was silent for a minute or so before she nodded "Why don't you let me get that adorable boy a snack while you go upstairs and see what's keeping Charlie?"

================

Matt could hear the guitar strumming before he even made it to the door. For a second, he thought Kate might be in the room with his daughter but he could see from the partially open door that it was Charlie playing. And as he got even closer, he could her soft, lilting voice.

And it's all here in black and white and red
For all the times those words were never said

He was drawn to the emotion of her voice. Whoever she was singing these sad words too was going to get it for breaking her heart.

I bleed my heart out on this paper for you
So you can see what I can't say
I'm dying here

He wondered briefly why she'd played off being just back up vocals. She'd been pretty secretive. At the time, he'd thought she was afraid that he'd be upset if she didn't sing well enough but he understood her better now. She knew exactly how good she was but she didn't want that to be one of the main things he saw in her.

'Cause I can't say what I want to
I bleed my heart out just for you
I bleed my heart out just for you

She hit the last chord and sat still for a minute finally lifting her her hazel eyes to look up into his. Had she known he was there the whole time? "So what did you think?" she asked in small voice.

He cleared his throat "Charlie..that was...that was amazing."

"Really?" she asked.

"Really, really," he nodded.

"You're not just saying that because you think I'm still mad at you," she asked narrowing her eyes at him with a slight smirk.

His eyebrows crashed together as he moved to sit next to her on the bed "Of course not. You have an amazing voice, but I'd love you even if you couldn't sing a note."

Her hazel eyes, so much like his, widened. "You love me?"

He wrapped his arm around her and drew her close "Of course do. I'm so sorry I made a total ass of myself in that stupid interview. It was really dumb. I promise I'll make it up to you. I love you, Charlie."

Her cheek fell against his shoulder. "I love you too...dad."

It was the first time she'd ever said those words and Matt couldn't believe how awesome it was to hear them. After a few seconds, he felt tears on his shirt "Hey now, those words aren't supposed to make you sad."

She sobbed a bit but tried to laugh "It's not just that. It's everything. Just the way things change. Like a month ago things were one way, and now, everything is different. Things I didn't realize were happening or happened...it's just crazy. You know?"

"Yeah," he admitted "trust me, I know."

She pulled away from his embrace still holding her guitar as a shield. Could she talk to him? Did she trust him enough.  He looked tired, like he hadn't gotten enough sleep. Maybe it wasn't a good time to talk about girl problems. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath "We should probably get going."

He nodded and stood reaching his hand out to her to pull her off the bed. She placed her guitar to the side and took it. "We should probably get downstairs before River tears up the downstairs."

She stopped dead in her tracks "River is downstairs?"

He felt anxious immediately.  Maybe she didn't want him there, or maybe she didn't want to meet the little boy that way. "Um yeah, I had to get him out of the house for a few hours and I wanted to pick you up...I hope you don't mind."

A grin spread across her face. "Of course I don't mind. I can't wait to meet him," she said as they walked out of the room.

Good, he thought. At least something was working out for him today.