Café con leche

Chapter 5

"Maddie, honey" David says as they walk into the living room. Madison looks up from her book. "Come here" he says kneeling down. His arms wide open. His daughter gets up and runs into his arms. "Gabriella and I need to talk to you" He lifts her up and walks over to the couch.

He sits down Madison on his lap and Gabriella next to him. "You know that I love you right?" Madison nods. "I love you too daddy, sooo much" The little girl opens her arms as much as possible. "I will always be there for you no matter what and I will never love anyone more than you" Madison nods along to her father's words not really understanding where he's going. She looks up to Gabriella and notices that she seems nervous. "What I want to tell you is that I like Gabriella, a lot" "I like her too daddy". David laughs. "I don't like her like that sweetie. I like her like Grandpa likes Grandma. You know? She's my girlfriend" Madison keeps looking from her dad to Gabriella. "Does that mean you're my mommy now?" Madison asks. She leans into her dad's chest as he puts his arms around her little body, hugging her tightly. Gabriella blushes. "Well, I'm gonna be like a mommy. I gonna pick you up from kindergarten. I'm gonna do breakfast or dinner for you. I'm gonna play with you and I'm gonna cuddle you and sing you to sleep. I don't want to replace your mother". "I never had a mommy" Madison responds. Before anyone else could react to that she continues: "Can I have ice cream?". David feels relieved. He's happy the conversation went this way. "Sure honey". He sets her down and Madison runs into the kitchen. He leans forward and kisses his girlfriend: "That went pretty good" Gabriella nods. "Kiss me" she whispers. He puts his lips back onto hers. He can feel her smile into the kiss. She puts her arms around this neck and he holds on to her waist. They enjoy their moment until they are interrupted. "DAAAADDY" Madison screams from the kitchen. "Coming" he says. He gives Gabriella another kiss before he gets up to get his daughter some ice cream.

A couple minutes later Madison comes running back. David holds a big bowl with chocolate ice cream. There are sprinkles, strawberries and whipped cream in it too. The little girls jumps up and down trying to reach the bowl in her fathers hands. "Sit down first". Madison climbs onto the couch and sits down in Gabriella's lap who puts her arms around his boyfriend's daughter. David hands her the bowl and sits down next to his girls. "Mhh, that looks so good. I love chocolate" Gabriella says. "Do you want some?" Madison asks, holding the spoon in front of her face.  She opens her mouth so Madison can feed her some of the ice cream. "Thanks Maddie". David admires how the girls interact. This is everything he's ever wanted. A family. To raise children with someone he loves. It still sounds weird for him. He met her a couple of weeks ago and he's so deeply in love already. He simply can feel a connection between them. Something that tells him 'she's it'. He wants to tell her but he doesn't know how or when. He doesn't want to scare her away by being too forward but he also wants her to know how he feels about her. He is ripped out of his thoughts by Gabriella's giggle. Madison is waving her little hand in front of his eyes. He must have been starting. "That's rude, daddy".  He shakes his head "It's romantic. You'll understand when you're older". Gabriella blushes. She loves how David's eyes are always on her. How he studies her face and stops realizing what's happening around him. He makes her feel special.

•••

"It's pretty late. I think I should go". "No you can't go" Madison cries out letting go of her bowl. It falls on the floor and shaders into pieces. "Sorry, sorry" she turns around holding onto Gabriella and crying hysterically. She's shaking. "It's ok honey" David says running his hand through his daughter's hair. He helps his girlfriend to get up and leads her to the front door. Madison is clinging onto Gabriella. "Maddie I need to go" she softly says while running her hand up and down the girl's back. Madison shakes her head. Her father takes her out of his desperat girlfriend's arms and into his. "Noooo" she cries holding onto Gabriella's hand. David rocks her from side to side until she stops crying. "I'll come back tomorrow" Gabriella says. "Do you promise" the little girl sniffs. "Pinky promise" she opens the door and turns around one last time "Bye Maddie". The little girl waves leaning her head against David's chest. He puts his arms around Gabriella waist. They are standing very close. Only Madison's body between them. "Bye Babe" David says. "Bye". He stares into her eyes not wanting to let her go either. "You have to kiss her daddy" his daughter says. "Yeah, you have to kiss me, daddy". He leans forward, putting his lips on hers. His grip on her waist tightens. "I'll see you tomorrow" she whispers and kisses him one more time before she leaves the apartment.

David walks back to the living room. He sets down Madison on the couch and cleans up the mess the broken bowl caused. "I'm sorry daddy. I didn't want to do that". "I know sweetheart. It's ok" He throws what's left of the bowl and the little bit of ice cream into the trash can. He then sits down on the couch, pulling his daughter into his lap. "Maddie sweetie, why are you always so sad when someone has to leave?" he asks whipping the tears out off her face. "I don't know. I don't like when people leave". "You know that I love you. When I leave, I will always come back. I will never leave you behind. Gabriella will come back too. You don't need to be scared". Madison leans into her father's chest. He wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head. "My mommy never came back". Hearing this breaks David's heart. Madison is so young. She shouldn't worry about things like that. "I know that your mommy loves you but she made a mistake. I'm not your mother though, I will always be there for you. I'll never leave you. Ok?" Madison nods and closes her eyes. She's tired. Not only because it's past her bedtime but also because the crying made her even more tired. She drifts off to sleep in the matter of  minutes. She feels save in her father's arms. "I love you Maddie" he whispers.