He Saved Me

Chp 39

Mia's POV
I went straight from tired to grumpy. I was in no mood to sit through hours of school. My head was hurting and I wanted to go back into bed. "Mia, are you done in there?" Daddy called out from outside the bathroom door. "Your tutor is almost here, hurry up," he rushed me. I hate how much he micromanaged me on school days. From the second I wake up, to the second I walk through the room in the house that's supposed to be the classroom. He had to have a say in everything. I hear him knocking again.
"I'm coming!!" I yelled with attitude. I wash my hands and unlock my door. As expected, Daddy's standing there with his arms crossed.
"Finally!" he exclaimed. "Let's go, I need to do something about that hair," he said while running a hand through my curls. It's times like this that I'll admit I miss Grace. He had asked her to come back for like a day, but decided he could handle it on his own while he's off from work. Grace wouldn't fuss too much about my clothes or hair. Especially when I'm home.
But Daddy wanted us to get the real school experience. Having to wake up early and getting presentable was a part of it according to him. I don't know why he would want for us to experience the most dreadful part of going to school. I sat there getting more annoyed by the minute. Let's just say my scalp is tender. Daddy on the other hand, doesn't exactly have a tender hand when it comes to doing my hair. "Ow!" I exclaimed.
"Sit still Mia," he scolded. How can I sit still if he's pulling me in all sorts of directions by my hair. After lots of resisting and complaining, he finally finished. My hair was in a half up-half down do. He braided the part that he tied up. I examined myself in the mirror, as he put all the hair products back in the bathroom. I must say, I was pretty impressed. Daddy was surprisingly good at doing hair, the aggressiveness aside.
"Where did you learn how to do girls' hair?" I asked curiously. He chuckled as he placed one hand on the top of my head. We both looked in the mirror.
"You do know that I have 3 sisters right?" he smiled. "I watched them fussing around with their hair growing up. When your Auntie Janet came along, Grandma always had her hands full. So us older kids had to help out from time to time. So I'd do Auntie Janet's hair just like I do yours," he answered. "Now let's go, I'm sure your tutor is here by now." We went into the "classroom", and Daddy predicted right. My tutor was setting up for today's lessons. Daddy kissed my cheek and we said our goodbyes for now.

Michael's POV
     Getting Mia ready in the morning is no less than a nightmare. She hates early mornings. She has a hard time following directions as it is, but it's worse in the morning. Her rebellious streak comes out. It's like she purposely does the opposite of everything I tell her to do. Prince said his goodbyes as he went to class. With almost all my children away in class, I had more than enough time to worry about my wild child.
I didn't want to go to her room just yet. I wanted her to calm down and really think about using her words wisely. But I also had to come up with what to say. My sex life isn't exactly a topic I ever thought I would be having a conversation about... with my daughter. I sat down and decided to watch some cartoons for the time being. It took my mind off of all this stress. I wanted to calm my nerves as well. I heard my phone vibrate and took it out to check. It was a text from Lisa Marie.
Lisa Marie: Thank you for last night Mike. I'm sorry for intruding the way I did. I was all out of sorts, you know how I can get. I hope it all turned out well with the kids. I hope we can pick up where we left off soon. Lmk when you're free. Lots of love xoxo
Michael: Np love. I'm happy you're home safe & sound. Please try to cut down on the drinking girll. You know what that does to you. And yes I will for sure, maybe in the LA apartment instead this time lol. Can't risk my children finding out again. Talk to you soon.
It was nice to have an adult conversation with Lisa for once. Normally we're always bickering. Things come up from the past and we end up fighting over and over again. We both hurt each other, and life just got the best of us. But this was nice. It was refreshing for once. I felt a surge of positivity, that things might just be going good for once. I shook the thoughts of Lisa Marie and I out of my head, and thought about Paris.
It's been close to 4 hours since I sent her to her room. She must be getting bored or hungry. I think it's time I go check on her. I went to her door and knocked. No answer. I knocked again and heard a harsh "WHAT?" Clearly she wasn't over it yet. I took a deep breath and went in anyway. I guess I was going to tackle this head on. I slowly opened the door, and poked my head in.
"Can I come in?" I ask nicely.
"I thought you don't need my permission for anything," Paris says while rolling her eyes. The attitude on this girl...
"You're right, I don't," I say with a cheesy grin. I walk into her room and make myself comfortable. She looked away from me with her arms crossed. "Are you ready to talk decently? Or do you need to stay in this 'time out' longer?" I ask. She shot me a glare. I knew I was rubbing my authority in her face at this point. But sometimes, you just gotta show your kids who's the boss. "I'm waiting for an answer Paris," I said.
"Stop treating me like I'm Mia Dad!" she yelled out. "I'm a grown, I have a right to speak up when it comes to your life. Who did you even bring in here? We were sleeping upstairs! Did you not even think about that?" she continued.
"Paris, I don't care how old you are. You can't speak to your elders like that!" I yelled. I don't mind her being possessive to tell you the truth. It's the disrespect and attitude that I can't stand. She looked down at her hands, and soon I saw a tear escape her eyes. "Paris?" I called out gently. More tears started coming down her cheeks.
"Are you in love with her?" she asked.
"With who?" I replied.
"With whoever you were with last night... are you going to marry her?" she said through her sobs.
"Paris... what? No. It wasn't anything like that. If only you would let me explain to you, you'd understand," I said in a nicer tone. "I'm not marrying anybody. And if I were to, I definitely wouldn't do it without telling you guys first. Contrary to your beliefs, I actually don't have a specialty in getting married in secrecy," I chuckled.
"Well you did it twice before," she pointed out.
"You're right, but I didn't have you guys back then," I said while poking the tip of her nose. Paris continued to scowl, no matter how hard I tried to lighten the situation. I took a deep breath and reached out to caress her cheek. "Babygirl, you know I love you right? Even if I were to fall in love again some day, I would never sacrifice my love for you. You are the queen of my heart," I reassured her.
"I love you too Daddy... but I just don't want a new mom. I already have a mom! Why can't you get back with her?" she said abruptly. This was going in a whole different direction than I expected. My face dropped. I've been trying to avoid this conversation with Paris since the very beginning. She has her own fairytale of my relationship with Debbie in her head, of course with the helping hand of Debbie herself. Ugh!
"Baby, you know that can't happen right?" I said in almost a whisper.
"Why not?" she cried. I pulled her into my arms, and held her as she cried. I never thought about the void she must've felt. To know you have a mother, but she's not in your life... voluntarily. I always thought I could be enough for her. But I guess I was wrong. She snuggled into me, as I placed kissed on the top of her head.
"Paris, Debbie and I were never in love. We loved each other, but only as friends," I revealed. Her head shot up as she stared at me in confusion.
     "What are you talking about?? Yes you were! You got married... Debbie said you guys were in love..." she cried in disbelief. This is exactly why I wanted to avoid telling her this altogether. I'm about to crush her little heart right now...