Co-parenting

Chapter 8

"Look at her tiny little fingers and her tiny little toes"
Veronica's whispers.

She sits on her couch with Valerie in her arms. Archie sits next to her. He loves looking at his little daughter. He loves how she looks exactly like Veronica but with his eyes. Archie also loves gazing at Veronica. Normally she would yell at him but she's too caught up in her daughter's eyes to even notice.

Valerie is only 24 hours old but Veronica already considers her the love of her life. She's a quiet little baby, not crying much. She calms down quickly as soon as she sees her mom or her dad.

"When are you going back to Riverdale?"

"I don't know" Archie says "to be honest I want to stay as long as possible"

Veronica turns to Archie. One of her eyebrows is raised. "Why?"

"Because I want to spend as much time with my new born daughter as possible"

"Archie I don't want you here"

"She's my daughter Ronnie"

"So? She's an infant. She won't remember if you were here for her first days or not"

"But I will. I know you hate me but I want to be here and help you"

"My parents are helping me"

"Veronica!"

She feels Valerie wiggle in her arms. The little girl gets fuzzy and starts crying.

"No baby, it's okay. Don't cry, don't cry" Veronica whispers. She gets up and slowly rocks Valerie in her arms. Archie stays seated and stares at her. Fighting with Veronica doesn't make any sense right now. One because they just made their daughter cry and two Hiram is in the other room and he's really scared of him.

Just in that moment he walks into the living room. "Everything okay in here"

"Yes daddy. It's all good"

"Mhm" he mumbles. His eyes then travel to Archie. He sees how he stares at Veronica and he sees the look in his eyes. He hates it. The only reason he's tolerating Archie is because of Valerie but he always makes sure he doesn't get to close to Veronica.

"You can leave Archie. We got this" Hiram says.

Archie sighs heavily "Yes Sir"
He gets up, walks over to Veronica and places a soft kiss on his daughter's head. "Bye princess, daddy loves you"

"I'll call you" Veronica whispers.

She feels sorry for him. She wanted him to leave too but now that he's actually leaving she doesn't want him to. She still hates him but she can see how hurt he is in his eyes. All he wants is to spend time with his daughter.
He walks towards the door with hanging shoulders and leaves.

"Was that necessary?"

"Yes! You didn't see the way he looked at you. I will not let him get close to you again. He hurt you and I will protect you and Valerie"

"Daddy you don't need to worry. I hate Archie, trust me but he's Valerie's father and he will forever be a part of out lives whether you like it or not"

"Fine, just make sure he doesn't use you again"

"Yes daddy" Veronica sighs. She looks down to Valerie who's asleep again. The sight of her little baby makes her smile. She caresses her cheek and then kisses her nose. "Like you may have noticed, mommy and daddy don't really get along but we will try our best for you because we both love you very very much"

"Mija give her to me. You know what your mom said 'sleep when the baby sleeps'"

Veronica giggles and lays Valerie into Hiram's arms. "I love you my sweet little baby. Betty will be here in an hour. Wake me up!"

"Yes mija" Hiram laughs

•••

"She's so beautiful V" Betty smiles.

"I know. Thank you"

"What's her name?"

"Valerie Victoria Lodge"

"Lodge?" Betty questions and raises an eyebrow.

"Yes! Like I would name her Andrews after what he did. No way! My baby, my last name"

"I understand. I'm still sorry" Betty says while running her fingers over Valerie's little head.

"I know. There is something I want to ask you or better something she wants to ask you"

Veronica giggles and carefully takes her daughter's hand into hers. She wiggles it lightly into Betty's direction. "Do you want to be my godmother?"

"Oh my god V, are you serious?"

"Mhm"

Betty squeals and wraps her arms around Veronica. A few tears run down her cheek while she nods.
"Yes! Thank you"

"Of course" Veronica smiles "you're my best friend and I love you"

"I love you too V"

"Do you want to hold her?"

"Yes"

Veronica lays the little girl into her friend's arms. Valerie looks up to Betty with her big hazel brown eyes. Veronica smiles and strokes her baby's belly. Her heart melts when Valerie grabs her fingers. She's has done it a few times already but it's adorable every single time.
Veronica reaches for her phone and snaps a picture of her little girl.

'Her little girl' She bites the inside of her lip. Valerie is not just her little girl. She sighs before she sends the picture to Archie and adds a text:

'Sorry about earlier. You were right, she's your daughter too. Wanna come over tomorrow?'

'I'd love to Ronnie. My mom is in New York tomorrow. She wants to meet Valerie. Can she come too?'

'Of course'

A little smile grows on her face. She still hates him and she will never be able to forgive him but something about him creates a warm feeling around her heart.
She puts her phone away and looks back to her daughter, into her beautiful hazel brown eyes.