My Wish

Chapter 3

After short ride down the street Stacey and Joe arrived at a local Italian restaurant. The ride to the restaurant was quiet. Stacey was extremely nervous as Joe tried to make small talk about Florida and the weather. After being seated the waiter took their drink orders and both begin to look over the menu.

"So is this where you bring all the moms of kids who get a wish?" She asked in a joking tone. Joe smiled and chuckled.

"Yeah it comes highly recommended by John Cena" Joe jokingly replied. "Actually, this is my first Make a Wish. I was shocked when I heard what the wish was. You have a pretty special little girl. Who gives up a chance to meet Mickey Mouse so her mom can have dinner with some wrestler and then see a show?" Stacey smiled.

"Yeah she's an awesome little kid. But don't get too big of an ego; Mickey was definitely on the list. He probably would have won too if she wouldn't have gotten to go meet him a few years ago."

"Man, and here I thought I was something special" Joe remarked. Stacey giggled and smiled.

"Thank you again for doing this Joe, I couldn't believe when she said her wish was to see me happy. I try so hard to make sure she doesn't see me worry or get upset but I guess I am not as good at hiding it as I thought." Stacey told him sadly. Joe reached out and put his hand over hers.

"It's not a problem at all and I'm honored she picked me. I have a little girl her age so when I heard she wanted me to be a part of this I couldn't say no."

"Wow, well your daughter is lucky to have such a wonderful dad, Joe." Stacey told him.

"Thank you, Kennedy is lucky to have a great mom too" he told her.

The sweet moment was interrupted by the waiter who was now there to get their orders. The conversation continued to flow through the meal as the two learned they shared a few common interests as well as stories about their daughters. Joe had to admit he was having a great time and he definitely could see them doing this again if she was interested. He noticed she had no ring on a certain finger but he knew that didn't mean much. He himself never married the mother of his child, but Stacey had not mentioned anyone either so he couldn't be sure without coming out and asking.

"So does Kennedy's dad know about her wish? I don't want to get you in trouble at home." Joe asked. As soon as the word dad came out of his mouth he noticed Stacey stiffen a little.

"Kennedy's father isn't a part of her life" Stacey told him.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I couldn't imagine not being around for my daughter growing up."

"Don't be. It was his choice from the beginning."

"Care to talk about it?"

"There isn't much to talk about. We got together in college; we were together a few months before he broke up with me for someone else. About a month or so later he starts coming around again saying he missed me and he was sorry. Like a fool I took him back. A about a week later we went out to celebrate his birthday, after we came back to my room, thing lead to another and Kennedy was created. A few weeks later I missed my period, I thought it was stress from school but then it didn't come again and I knew something was up. So I took a test and it instantly turned positive. I went to tell him and his first response was to ask me when I was getting an abortion. When I told him I didn't think I wanted to do that and he lost it; accused me of trying to trap him and ruin his life. I tried to reason with him but he was adamant that if I chose to keep the baby, we were done and he wasn't going to be a part of the baby's life."

"You're kidding right?" Joe questioned.

"No I wish I was."

"What an asshole." Joe said with definite anger in his voice. Stacey put her hand over his across the table.