Ryder's P.O.V:
I place my coffee cup in the sink and look at the clock. I curse under my breath when I realise i'm already half an hour later. I grab my coat from the counter top and quickly turn around, only to fall flat on my face when I trip over a doll house.
"Haves!" I shout as I stand up. I groan painful as I hold onto my nose and kick the doll house to the side. "Haven!" I call her by her full name.
"Whaaaa!" I hear her shout back. Letting out a sigh, I walk towards the living room and let out a sigh.
"We don't say 'what', Haven. We say 'yes' or 'yes daddy." I say when my eyes fall onto my 18 month old daughter. "You got that?" I sigh as I grab her things from around the room.
"Wha!" She slaps her hands ontop of her knees. I roll my eyes as I straighten up. I walk around the room and start to pick up her belongings from the floor. I grab my coat and pull it on before I walk towards Haven.
"Let's get your shoes on, baby." I mumble as I walk towards her. I take her tiny feet in my hand and pull her Jordan on over her Nike socks. I pick her up and switch the tv off before I walk towards the doors. "You gonna be good to Gigi?" I ask. We tried to get Haven to call mom gran but she found it hard so we cut the word down to the letter G. Instead of G, she starts to call mom Gigi.
"Gigi!" Haven says in excitement as I pull her hood over her head. I walk out of my apartment and lock the door before I turn to make my way towards the door. My neighbor Melanie comes out the same time and smiles at me in a flirty way she always does, making me clear my throat as I look away awkwardly.
"Hey Ryder!" Melanie says quickly when I walk past her.
"Morning." I mumble.
"How about we go for a coffee?" I let out a sigh when she catches up to me.
"I have to get to work." I reply back simply. I walk towards the elevator and stop when Melanie jumps infront of it.
"Taking the elevator down?" She asks.
"No...Actually." I hesitate. "I'm going to take the stairs." I add as I take a step back. "I'll see you around, Melanie!" I shout quickly and walks towards the staircase.
"Gigi." I hear Haven say as I walk down the staircase.
"Where Gigi, hmm?" I talk to my daughter as we slowly make our way down the stairs.
Mom's always looks after Haven for me. Whenever i'm at work, mom picks Haven up and take her to her house and after work I go to pick her up. Mom's like her second mom sometimes. Of course, my wife Chicago looks after her too but we're going through a divorce so she's hardly there anymore.
I don't blame her for not being there to look after my daughter Haven. Me and Chicago have been together for 4 years and married for 3. Almost two years ago, I cheated on Chicago and slept with one of Chicago's work friends who ended up getting pregnant with Haven.
It was on and off between me and Chicago after that. There were days when she would look after Haven on her own and then there were days where she would go crazy and not understand why I cheated on her.
I couldn't give her an answer everytime she asked me. I was depressed and I was slowly losing my shit and although Haven was the reason my marriage ended, for once in a very long time I felt safe. I felt like I had a real reason to live on this earth.
When she was born, my depression was gone and my anger towards the world dissappeared. I couldn't understand why any father would leave his child behind. I couldn't understand why da-Marshall did it to us. It feels godamn amazing to be a dad.
