I'm A Father

Chapter 23

Jack's POV

I knocked on Mandy's door. She didn't answer the first time I knocked, so I knocked more. After hitting the door four times, someone answer the door. It was Mandy. "What do you want Jack?" I'm could tell she was crying after I left. I didn't say nothing. I just walked up to her and gave her a tight hug. At first she hesitated, but then she let loss and hugged me tighter. We held each other in a hug for about thirty seconds. I let go of her. I looked over at Tanner. He was staring at us. I walked over to him. He was sitting on the couch. I got on my knees and looked at him in his eyes. I then put my hand on his cheek. "Daddy's home." I said soft. He didn't say nothing. He just hugged me. I hugged him back. "I knew you were my daddy." He said in my ear which made my heart melt. I looked over at Mandy and she was wiping the tears from her eyes.

I got up and walked over to her. I put my hand on her check. "I'm willing to work this family thing out. I want my son to have a good daddy. I want you and I to be a thing. I know we just met and haven't really talk that much, but I want to be with you guys." I told her. "Jack. I was hoping you would have said that earlier before you walked out." She said then laughed a little. "Can I stay so we can talk more?" I asked her. "Of course." She said. "Come with me to get some clothes. I'll get clothes, so we can all go do something tomorrow." I said. "Okay." She said.

I held Mandy's hand while Tanner held Mandy's hand. We walked to my apartment. We arrived to my apartment. "Wait. Are you serious? You live right across the hall?" She said shocked. "Haha. Yeah. Crazy. Isn't it?" I said. I unlocked the door. As we got inside, Tanner looked around the room. Mandy stayed in the living room with Tanner, while I got my clothes. I packed just a tee shirt and shorts. I'll just sleep in my boxers tonight. I already had my tennis shoes on. I walked to the bathroom. I grabbed my toothbrush, toothpaste, body wash, and shampoo. I figure she'll let me use her towels. I walked out to the living room. "All done." Mandy smiled at me.

We arrived back at her apartment. "Can you bath Tanner, while I wash the dishes?" She asked me kindly. "Yeah." I said then smiled. She smiled back. Tanner grabbed my hand and took me back to the bathroom. "Do you want me to undress you or can you undress your self?" I asked him. "What's undress?" He asked. Maybe I should say simpler words. I took his shirt, shorts, and underwear off him. "Daddy. I want a bubble bath." He said. I started the water. I then put bubbles in them. The bath filled half way with bubbles and water. I picked up Tanner and put him in there. As I put him in there, he started to play with his boat and army action figures. "You want to play for a little bit, while I go talk to mommy?" I asked him. "Yeah!" He said excited. I smiled.

I walked out to the kitchen where Mandy was. As she was washing dishes, I got behind her and wrapped my arms around her. "How's Tanner?" She asked. "Having fun." I said. I then laid my head on her shoulder. "To be honest Jack. I thought you were going to leave us and be gone forever. I never expected this." She said. "I'm going to be honest with you. I wasn't sure about all of this, but then I realized that I don't want my son to grow up with a dad like yours. I want to work things out." I said. I could tell she was smiling. "Well I'm glad you made that decision."

I walked back to the bathroom. "Ready to wash your body and hair?" "Yes." He said. I put a palm full of shampoo in my hand. I rubbed my hands together then rubbed my hands on Tanner's head. I was gently. After scrubbing his hair, I washed it out with water. I then squirted some SpongeBob body wash for kids, on a rag. I scrubbed his body from the belly up. "Stand up Tanner so I could get your bottom." I told him politely. He stood up. I scrubbed his legs, bottom, and his little thing. If he turns out like daddy he will have a big thing. I laughed to myself thinking about this. "What's funny daddy?" He asked. "Nothing." I said. I washed all the soap of him. I then got him out. I got a towel and wiped him off. I then wrapped the towel around him.

We walked to his room. Tanner walked over to the drawer with his night stuff in it. He picked out Cars pj set. It matched his bedspread. Wait! Oh my god! That's the little boy we say walking out of Bed Bath & Beyond, carrying a Cars bedspread. Wow. That's when I said, I wasn't planning to have kids anytime soon, but I do have a kid. What's Jack and Sammy going to think about this? What about my parents!? Wait, I don't care what they think, because I love Tanner and I'm going to be here for him. "Daddy?" Tanner said while waving his hand in front of my face. I snipped out of it. "Sorry Tanner." I said. I put his underwear on him. Then I put his Cars shirt on him and his long pj bottoms. "Before I go to bed. Mommy always reads me a book." He said. "Okay, but before you go to bed, let's go brush your teeth.

I took him to the bathroom. He held my hand the whole time we walked to the bathroom. He let go of my hand and looked up at me. "You missed my third birthday daddy. Where were you?" He asked. Awl. This broke my heart. What am I suppose to say? "Well Tanner. I-I was sick. Sorry baby." I said. "That's okay! You'll be here for my fourth birthday. Right?" He said still looking in my eyes. "Of course!" I said with a smile. He brushed his teeth and we headed back to the room.

I pulled the covers down, Tanner crawled in bed, and I then pulled the covers over him. "What do you want me to read?" I asked him. "Make a story up." He said. I did what I was told to do.

A long time ago, there was a prince and a princess. The prince fell in love with the princess. They were together for a long time, until the dragon took her. The prince fought to find her. It was almost a year. He was about to give up on finding the princess, but something inside him told him not to. Another month later, he found the princess trapped in a tower, but before he could get the princess, he would have to fight the dragon. The dragon and him fought. The prince won! The prince raced up to the tower to get to his princess. When he got up there, he saw the princess holding a little boy. He knew in fact that little boy was his. They were altogether now. They lived happily ever after.

I looked down at Tanner and saw that he was asleep. I leaned over and kiss his forehead. "I love you." I whispered. I couldn't wait to try this family thing. It may hard to spend time altogether when school starts, but we will work it out. I heard the floor creep. I looked behind me and saw the love of my life.