EIGHT

Faith brought her sandwiches the following morning and she thanked her profusely.

She dressed up in jeans and a cotton sweater and wore her flip flops. She packed her hair into a ponytail and folded it into a bun and then left Steve's guest house to the main house to say goodbye to Tory hoping that Steve would have left for work.

As she walked to the main building, she admired her surroundings. It was a big one indeed. The house had a pool at the back and a table for four with a straw like shade on the side. There were flowers around and then a garden. It was small but beautiful. The rest spaces were vast and then she noticed a garage too.

"Looking for something ma'am?"

She looked up to see the man who had shown her the guesthouse last night.

She shook her head and then nodded. "I'm... I was just hoping I could....see my daughter before I leave." She stuttered, suddenly feeling a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I will ask Faith to bring her out. Follow me to the porch and wait there."

Jody nodded and obeyed.

She wrapped her arm around herself and wondered how she would be able to get to work from here. She sighed inwardly. A cab was something she could not afford right now. Maybe if she asked around...

"Mommy!"

Jody turned at Tory's voice and smiled. She knelt and gathered her daughter into her arms. "Princess you look beautiful this morning."

"Thanks. Can you read me a story tonight?" Tory asked when she pulled away.

Today was Saturday. How was she supposed to tell Vincent that she couldn't see him? Besides she missed her son.

"Not possible, princess. I'm going out tonight. How about Monday night?"

Tory's smile faded. "So then I can't see you tomorrow?"

"No princess. Mommy has some place to go."

"Take me. We can go to the mall. I got some money."

"How about we do that on Monday instead?"

"Please, mommy."

The door opened then and Faith came out. "It's time for her breakfast. Steve said to come get her."

"Sure. Bye now princess." She smoothed her blonde hair and kissed her cheeks.

"Okay. Buy me something, please?"

Ugh.... How could she get out of this one now?

"Sorry princess. Mommy can't afford the things you like. Now be a good girl for Faith, okay? Take all of your medicine." She kissed her cheeks again and stood up.

"I love you, Mommy. Please don't forget to come see me for a little bit when you get back."

Her eyes teared up and she turned away. "I will." She said before she walked away.

How was she going to show her daughter how much she loved her with her hands tied?

* * *

Summer seemed to be approaching early enough. He seemed to be having too much problems that he was surprised he even noticed the weather.

Legs at ease, chin tipped, arms folded across his chest, you would think he was in the middle of another world war but Steve just stood silent at the window in his office and stared blindly at the traffic that was slowly building up. Blocks away he could see a couple kissing passionately.

He swallowed.

He would be stupid to let history repeat itself. He decided grimly.

A knock sounded on his door and he sighed inwardly.

Just great!

He needed the distraction or he would soon be admitted to the closest mental institution. He returned to his desk and sat in his chair.

"Come in."

He heard the door open and saw David pop his blonde face in.

"Has the war ended? I brought peace."

Steve's lips twitched in what looked like a smile and his eyebrows lifted as his watched his friend and employee walk in and take the seat in front of him.

"So what's the deal?"

Steve leaned back into the plush leather that was his office seat. "What deal?" He asked dumbly

"Fine, I will spell it out, Steve." He sighed. "The one that had you barrelling in here like there was war going on wherever you were coming from."

Steve snorted and stood from his chair ignoring David's scrutinizing gaze.

David stood. "It has to be really bad for you to be running away from your problems instead of facing them head on like you always do."

"Whatever you might imagine the problem is, I definitely do not require a counsellor."

"Okay. How's Tory?"

"She was discharged yesterday. She needs a lot of bed rest though."

"That's good news....." David trailed off and then frowned. "Except you are not smiling."

Steve sighed. "Forget it. I will deal with it."

"This is about Tory, isn't it? My God, if you wanted to stay at home to take care of Tory personally, you could have. No one here would question you."

Steve couldn't help the bitterness that washed through the words he spoke next. "As if she would be happy to see me."

A heavy silence laid in the room like a sack of decayed corpse.

David was the first to break it. "Look, I know I'm not an expert at being a father because I have no children but I can assure you that there's no way Tory would be unhappy to see you."

Steve sighed. "David, you know how her mother and I are separated, right?"

"Yes. You told me."

Steve ran his hand through his hair and sighed again. "Well it turns out that Tory is depressed by her mother's absence. The doctor said and I quote 'For now you are going to allow her mother see her or you will lose Tory sooner than you think' That harlot is going to be living close to my daughter and there's nothing I can do about it."

"So then Tory's mother is back to your house?"

"She stays in the guest house. Tory no longer cares about me. She's so attached to her mother I'm scared she'd get sick from it."

David sighed. "Things are more complicated than I imagined."

"That's what I thought too." Steve agreed

"I know for sure that if I had a daughter I'd rather see her happy than depressed. So I think you should take the doctor's advice. Let Tory's mother stay close for as long as it would help your daughter's mental health."

"You think?"

"I know. Look a friend of mine told me the other day that children are extremely sensitive to their parent's relationship. I think you really have to patch things up with Tory's mother."

"Well, that is not going to happen!" Steve growled and turned to glare at him. "So then you'd just forget something like that? I mean, you'd just forget that your own wife couldn't even tell if the baby she having was yours or her lover's? Even God do not forgive some sins!"

"But that same so called harlot is the mother of the most important person in your life! Are you going to lose Tory because of her? Make Tory hate you for not allowing her to establish a relationship with her mother? Think about it. Unless you are not sure you raised Tory well, you shouldn't have to be scared that she'd follow in her mother's footsteps."

David went to the dispenser and poured a glass of water. He held it out to Steve. "Here. You need to calm down and think strategically like the true business man that you are."

Steve took the glass and took a gulp. "I promise that I was doing everything as a father and mother. I'd give her baths, wash her hair, take her to school, help her with assignments, feed her, I even took cooking classes so I could cook for her on Saturday evenings." He met David's speculating brown eyes. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Take it from me whose father died before I was born, a parent never replaces the other. I love my mother more than my life but she was not my father. It's not the same. If it was, then God wouldn't have had the need to create another sex."