Little Miss Secret

Finally A Family?

"Don't look at me like that, Harper." I whined. Harper was giving me a pouty face with tears glistening in her eyes. Boy, did she know how to get her way. 

"Pwease. Pwease mama. Doggy like dis one." She held up her stuffed animal dog to my face. 

"Harper, we can't get a dog while we live in this apartment, sweetheart. I'm sorry! I promise you when we move to a house of our own we can get a dog. Okay?" 

"No! Want one now!" She stamped her foot. 

"Harper Rose don't make me put you in timeout. We are going to go see Amanda and Daddy today and I want you on your best behavior. Do you understand?" 

"Yessss." She whined, throwing herself on the couch. 

For the next hour I cleaned up my house. I am always amazed at the mess just one toddler can make in a couple days. I couldn't imagine having more than one kid. I don't even know what I would have done if I had had twins! 

I got Harper and I dressed to go to Amanda and Seth's. After Harper threw about 5 temper tantrums about getting dressed and leaving behind her toys she finally gave in. 

We arrive at their house 10 minutes later and I went up and knocked while I carried a grumpy and snotty toddler on my side. I get the feeling she isn't feeling the greatest. 

The door swung open and I was greeted by a smiley Amanda. That was not the reaction I was expecting from her. 

"Oh, Violet! Harper! Please come on in." I walked in and we headed to the living  room while Amanda got Harper some water in her sippy cup.

"Tanks." Harper said when Amanda handed her the cup. 

"You're are so welcome, munchkin." Amanda pinched Harper's cheek. Harper whined and pushed her hand away. 

"Don't worry about it. She's just in a bad mood." I laughed. "And you seem to be in a good mood considering what just happened to you."

"Well, you can give yourself ownership for my happiness. You really got to me by talking to me. I realized that Camille just wasn't meant to come into this world. Of course I still miss her and of course I wish she was with me, but I have to make the best out of this situation. I can't let it drag me down into a bad mental state. I have to move on with my life."

"I'm so happy you feel that way!" I exclaimed. "Where's Seth? I'm sure Harper wants to see him."

"Oh, uh. Didn't he tell you?"

"Tell me what..?"

"I- uh I broke up with him. I just needed a fresh start and you really helped me realize that."

I almost choked on air when she said that. They were so utterly in love. You could tell by the way they looked at each other. They couldn't have fallen out of love that quickly. And is this my doing? The things I said to Amanda were supposed to make her get back up on her feet, not break up with her boyfriend.

"Amanda, I hope you know that that's not what I meant by moving on. I meant you have to get past the fact that this was meant to be and Cami wasn't meant to be here, not break up with Seth." 

"No, no, no. Please don't blame yourself, Violet. That's not what i'm trying to say. I'm just saying that you helped open my eyes and realized that Seth isn't the one for me."

"What makes you think he's not the one for you?"

"Because he's still in love with you my dear." She leaned forward and patted my knee.

"What!?" I scoffed, "He told you that?"

She laughed. "Seth. Telling me how he felt? Of course not! You know Seth is a locked book, but I can just tell by the way he looks at you. He still loves you. He told me he regrets leaving you."

"He- he did?" 

"Yes! He's in love with you!" 

I lowered my head and looked at my lap. He may still be in love with me, but i'm not sure if i'm in love with him or if I ever was. I love him as the father of my child and longtime friend, but I am not in love with him. I don't think.

"W-where's he staying?"

"I'm not sure where it is, but i'll send you the address. He sent it to me." She pulled out her phone and typed something. My phone dinged and I pulled it out. I opened her text and the address appeared. 

"3333 Chesnut Ave. Th- that's the address of Seth and I's old house." 

"Oh ya! He always told me how he needed to get around to putting the house on the market. I guess he won't have to do that anymore." 

"I- I have to go. I need to talk to Seth."

"Of course! Go on Violet! Have a blast."

I picked up Harper and she tried to push away from me. I muttered into her ear about behaving and we were about to walk out the door. 

"Violet-" Amanda's voice sounded weaker than normal.

"Yes?" I turned around. 

"Can we still be friends? Can I still see Harper?" 

I was frozen by her words because I honestly didn't know. If Seth didn't want Harper seeing Amanda, I have  to respect his wishes. 

"Ask Seth." I muttered out my answer and swiftly walked to my car.

After what felt like hours, but was only 20 minutes, we pulled up to the house where Seth and I had grown and destroyed our relationship. Seth's car was in the driveway. My stomach did back flips as I walked up to the door and hit the doorbell button. The door unlatched and Seth stood with sadness covering his face. 

"Violet? Wh- what on earth our you doing here?" He seemed taken aback. 

"Amanda. She told me that you would be here."

"Oh." 

"I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen." 

He shook his head no. "It's not your fault, Violet. I should've known. She always talked about wanting kids, but now I think that's all she wanted from our relationship. I don't think she wanted me." 

"Don't say that, Seth." I patted his shoulder. 

"Dada!" Harper whined reaching her arms out to him. He took her from me and cuddled her. 

"Hi monkey! Please come in, Violet."

We all made our way to the living room. Everything that I had to leave behind was still here. I had no idea Seth owned the house. I just kind of left it. I sat on a recliner since I had taken the couch to my apartment, and Seth sat on the ground with Harper. 

"I have a idea!" His eyes lit up as he spoke like a little boy on Christmas morning. I wondered why.

"What?" I laughed at his childish ways. 

"This is a 3 bedroom house. Well, technically 2, but we could turn the old office into a bedroom."

"We?" I questioned. 

"Not like that! Just hear me out! You can take the master, and i'll take the guest bedroom at the front of the house. Harper can sleep in the room across from yours so she'll be close to you."

I thought about it. It honestly was the perfect solution. I could get Harper out of our apartment and we could all be together. We could finally co parent like I had always dreamed of. But I was still scared. I was afraid that this house would bring up feelings from the past. It would uncover scars and make them hurt again. 

"Violet," He took my hand in his. "Please." His voice was almost at a whisper.

"I-I don't know, Seth." 

"Violet, please. Please don't take away the only thing that matters to me anymore. Please don't take away Harper. I want to help raise her and I want to be her father. That's not something you see everyday. So, please Violet, let's become the family you always wanted."