Romance The Long Ride

Eight years ago...

The law office of Patters & Petters, the day was a cold late December morning as Callum MacRoe sat across from his former girlfriend as little Shari yawned in her baby carrier. Callum smiled down at his little bundle of joy. They might have allowed their hormones to take over and not protect themselves from getting pregnant, yet Callum wasn't about to allow his own child to get aborted as Vanessa's plan was when she learned she was pregnant. He might have been sixteen at the time. Callum wasn't about to let a life be snuffed out because she or her parents didn't want the child. Which to him was fine, he would raise his daughter on his own.

"Cal," Gisselle -- his mother -- whispered softly into his ear as she placed a hand on his arm drawing her son's gaze away from his daughter. Smiling lovingly at her son as little Shari's hand wrapped around Callum's index finger in her sleep.

"Sign the paper Vanessa," Callum said, in a monotone voice. "Then you can go do whatever the hell you want. Obviously, you and your parents don't care about the life we brought into this world. I, however, do, so sign the papers and get out of our lives." Callum noted the scowl on Vanessa's mother's and father's faces as they sat across from them as he said that.

"But this says I give up my rights," Vanessa stammered.

"What, you were going to kill our child because you didn't want to raise her, so why do you care if you aren't her parent legally?" Callum asked, with a cocked eyebrow.

"But Cal, she's going to be so much work for you..."

"You leave the care of my grandchild to us. You lost your say in the matter when the three of you tried to brow beat my son into agreeing to the abortion," Antonio -- Cal's father -- sneered at Vanessa's parents who dropped their gaze unable to meet Antonio's fiery glare. Callum couldn't help but feel the right corner of his lips lifting at his father's words.

"I really wish we didn't have to do this Cal," Vanessa said, trying to pour on the charm that she had used to get what she wanted for so long.

"Save it Vanessa, you didn't want Shari," noting the frown on Vanessa's face at the name he gave his daughter, "maybe you should have thought about going on the pill. I know I should have rubbered up but we both are at fault here. This isn't Shari's fault in our lack of common sense. You have no interest in being Shari's mother. Well, I am going to be her father. So go do whatever you want and just get out of our lives," Callum said, looking over at the arbitrator who sat at the head of the table listening like always.

"If she signs this then you aren't getting any child support from us," Tobias -- Vanessa's father -- said stabbing his finger into the table.

"I know that, but when she signs, you and she will never see Shari ever again. So I'm okay not taking your money. We'll get by without you, won't we?" Callum asked, lightly tickling his daughter's stomach. A smile touched his face at Shari's gummy smile.

"You should worry about your own, we'll make sure my little grandbaby is taken care of," Gisselle said, in that stern motherly voice we all know they have. Of course, she knew raising Shari was going to be hard on her son. Yet Callum has stepped up, unlike men years older than he is, when they are faced with the same prospects of being a father. Neither she nor her husband were going to let Callum slack off on his responsibilities. While he was in school she would watch her grandchild, the moment Callum got home Shari's welfare was his and his alone to look after. He was the parent not them, yet that didn't mean they wouldn't be there to help and to guide their son.

"Fine," Tobias grumbled. "Sign it Vanessa so we can get out of here."

Callum's nose wiggled as something sour filled the air. "Can you handle this while I go..."

"Let me honey," Gisselle said, gently placing her hand on her son's shoulder as she picked up the diaper bag. Cooing sweetly at her little granddaughter as she left the room to go deal with Shari's dirty diaper.

"I'd really like to still be friends Cal," Vanessa said, sliding the papers over to him after signing away her parental rights.

"Uh-huh, I'm going to be a tad too busy to hang out with you... ever," Callum said, "and that's something I'm looking forward to. Like my daughter's first steps, her first word, all the things you're never going to know," he said, placing his own signature, sliding it over to his father to have his guardian sign off on it before handing it to the arbitrator to have it notarized.

"You'll both be sent a copy within a week. I'm sorry that your families couldn't come together to support this precious child, yet it's good to know that Callum will be a good father to her," the woman said, ending the meeting between the two of them.

Eight years later...

The sun beat down on Callum's shoulders as he worked to install a set of Cobra Classic Deluxe slash cut pipes on his client's Harley Davidson Softail motorcycle. The sound of the ratchet sounded in the air as his radio blared. After high school Callum enrolled in an automotive and motorcycle mechanic course so he could provide for his little girl. His parents were a god send to him. He knew without them he'd be so lost and at his wits end when Shari started to walk on his seventeenth birthday, and without his father's advice and money they wouldn't be living in the small two bedroom home of theirs. That didn't mean Callum didn't have to make the house payments or the insurance and everything else that went along with running a household. Was it hard, oh yes! He wasn't going to lie about that. It was why he started his own shop beside his house; so he could always be home should something happen to Shari and to be there when it was time... His head shot up as he heard the sound of the alarm.

A warm smile appeared on his face as he cleaned the grease from his hands as he walked into the shop. Using his elbow to shut the alarm off knowing his daughter would be stepping off the bus in ten minutes. He had timed the bus route to ensure that he would always be there to greet his daughter. Rolling the bike into the right bay of the two bay garage he and his father had built before he opened his own shop. Placing his tools on the bench and rolling down the door so his client's bike and his tools wouldn't get stolen while he was waiting for his daughter. His keys jingled as he locked up before sliding them to his pocket.

Humming a tune as he walked down the sidewalk towards the bus stop. Callum almost stopped in his tracks as he saw the cluster of mothers standing and waiting for their own children. Not that they weren't pleasant people, they just tried to set him up on dates, namely with themselves or one of their friends. Not that he was opposed to dating anyone, yet Shari came first before anything else in his life. He just couldn't bring a woman into her life only to have them walk out of it.

"Did you see him today..."

"Shh!"

Callum ignored it; they were always talking about him. He would have thought that all would have died down when he turned each of them down. Yet it seemed to him that was like chum in the waters and they were hungry! "Hey Callum," Mary-Lou said sweetly, as she waved to him.

"Afternoon Mary," Callum said curtly, nodding to her. Being the oldest mother there she had a few pounds on her. Not that there was anything wrong with the way she looked to Callum's eyes. She was one of the few women that outright didn't flirt with him when he waited for Shari's bus. Being happily married to Herb, Mary was a breath of fresh air in a pack of horny mothers.

"Cal," a bubbly brunette cooed as her 36B breasts bounced as she shimmied over to his side, "my car, it's doing to that thing again," she said, coming within inches of his left side all so he would smell the perfume she wore just for him.

"Oh?! I thought I fixed that," Callum said, knowing it was a ploy to get into his garage. He might not have dated anyone since Shari had been born that didn't mean he hasn't had sex in all that time. He was just wise enough to wear a glove.

"Would you mind taking another look?" she asked, batting her baby blues at him.

"Sure, bring it by... say at eleven tomorrow. I'll have a bay open for you," Callum said, knowing she would be bent over the hood of her car by eleven o'two.

"Thank you Cal, you're a life saver," she said, lightly touching his left shoulder.

"Not a problem Amanda."

"Cal... my brakes are making this weird sound," her hips swayed as she sauntered up to him, "every time I press on the breaks I hear this," leaning in her lips brushing along Callum's right ear, "fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me so hard I can't walk for days," Shana purred, as her vanilla lotion filled his nose.

"That's..." Clearing his throat, feeling himself starting to harden, "a very odd sound," Callum said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"I know," Shana cooed, her chocolate lips tugged gently on his ear. "Do you think you can help me?" she asked, as she lightly squeezed his ass as she brushed her 32DD breasts against his right arm.

"I can fit you in at one," glancing over at Amanda who was undressing him with her eyes, "will that work for you?"

"Oh, it certainly will suga'," Shana purred as the rest of the gang clustered around them.

"Cal, where's Shari's mother?"

"Yeah, why haven't we seen her around?" Callum's head was on a swivel as questions were belted against him.

"How would I know where she is?! I haven't seen her since Shari was two," Callum said, feeling like he was about to be eaten.

"What?! What kind of mother doesn't stick around for her own child?!"

"Well, we were sixteen..."

"That's no excuse Cal," Amanda said, thrusting his arm between her breasts. "A mother should always be with her child."

"So if she's never seen her daughter, does that mean you raised Shari on your own?"

"Pretty much, with my parents help," Callum admitted. A chill of fear crept up his spine at their combined 'Awe' and the way their eyes quivered at him.

"Then you best get that beautiful girl a mother. There are some things a father, no matter how good he is, just can't do," Amanda cooed into his ear. "I'm available if you're interested," she whispered earning her the burning glares of every single mother there.

"Ladies, ladies," Callum said, wondering how he could get out of this mess. "I appreciate the concern but I just can't bring a woman into my life. I have to think of Shari first and foremost." The moment he said those words it was like something came over them. Something that made Callum wonder if the sound of the bus hadn't announced its arrival he had a suspicion he would have been mauled right then and there.

"Daddy!" Shari squealed in joy as she bounded off the bus. Her backpack bumping against her back as she hopped onto the sidewalk.

"Hey baby," Callum said, hugging his daughter tight as her arms wrapped around his neck. Taking a dry swallow as he noted every woman's look as he knelt before his daughter. "Did you have a good day?" he asked, his thumb brushed lightly along his daughter's right cheek.

"Mmmhmm," Shari hummed as she nodded.

"Did you learn lots of new things?!" Callum asked, smiling at Shari as she nodded again. Smiling as he rose to his feet. He had kept Shari back a year due to the advice of his mother given her birth late in the year. So she was older than the typical third grader. "Let's go home," he said, holding out his hand to her. "Say goodbye to your friends Shari."

"You have to too?!" Shari said, with child-like innocence as she looked up at her father. Who had a broad smile stretched across her face as her dark blonde hair, something she had inherited from her mother, was lightly lifted by the gentle breeze.

"You ladies have a pleasant evening, we'll see you bright and early in the morning, won't we?" Callum asked, gazing down at Shari. Brushing his thumb along her knuckles as Shari nodded and waved to her friends.

"Oh, we'll certainly be here in the morning," Amanda said, with a sultry undertone before leading her son across the road. Swaying her ass just for Callum knowing she's going to love cumming on that cock of his.

"Now you don't keep your dad up too late sweet pea," Shana said sweetly, bopping Shari's little nose causing her to giggle.

"Daddy?!"

"Hmm?" Looking down at her as they walked towards their home.

"Why don't I have a mommy?"

"Shari, what on earth brought that on?" Callum asked, bringing his daughter to a stop. Kneeling down to look his daughter in the face as he lifted her chin. "What have I always said Shari?"

"Look the person in the eye when you talk to them," Shari said, repeating his words.

"So then, what brought this about?" Callum asked, knowing what might have caused his daughter to bring up the subject.

"Well..." Grinding the toe of her right shoe into the concrete, "everyone else has moms why don't I?" Shari asked, Callum could see the waterworks were about to begin.

"Honey, your mom... she didn't want to be with us," Callum said, unable to bring himself to tell his daughter that her mother wanted to abort her before she knew the child they brought into this world.

"But..." Her little fingers tapped together, "I want a mommy!" Shari screamed out causing the mothers that were still in earshot to stop and turn and look at him. Unbeknownst to him they were each wearing seductive smiles knowing they now had a way in.

"Shari it takes time for someone to be that," Callum said, wondering how he could make his eight-year-old daughter understand.

"But..."

"Shari, I have to like the person; you have to like the person before we even consider prospects for that to happen. It's a long drawn out affair not something that happens overnight."

"What about Mama though, she doesn't have to wait does she?" Callum set his jaw; he hadn't thought about Vanessa in years. He only kept a few pictures he had of her for Shari's sake in case she began to ask about her. After high school he never heard a word from her again.

"Me and your mother is not something I'm going to discuss with you," Callum said sternly, as he rose. "Not until you're older and can understand everything that happened between me and her."

"But..."

"No buts Shari," Callum snapped. He didn't mean too; it just came out.

"Okay," Shari sighed in defeat.

"Go put your bag in your room, we're going over to Nana's for dinner," Callum said, smirking when Shari dashed off to her room once they walked into their home. She always loved going over to his parent's home. Granted they spoiled her rotten, Callum now understood the groans he heard from his parents when his own grandparents would get him something they didn't want him to have.

"Daddy?" Shari spoke as she buckled herself in.

"What is it Shari?" Callum asked, as he started his truck.

"Can we look for Mama? Maybe she changed her mind?!" Callum heard the hopefulness in his daughter's voice. He didn't have the heart to tell his little girl that her mom was probably halfway across the country with her own family for all he knew.

"We'll see..." Turning his head to look at his daughter as she huffed and crossed her arms.

"I know what that means," Shari said, in a pouty voice.

"It means we'll see."

"No, it means no," Shari said, looking away as Callum backed out of their driveway.

"Pumpkin!" Antonio exclaimed holding out his arms to his grandchild.

"Papa!" Shari squealed as she ran along the walkway.

"Mmm! You're getting so big!" Antonio said, as he picked her up and hugged her tightly to his chest. "What's wrong Shari?"

"Do you know where my Mama is?" Shari asked, looking into her grandfather's eyes.

"Not at this moment," Antonio said nervously, his eyes glanced over to his son.

"Sorry Dad, she's been asking ever since she got home," Callum said, as his black sole work boots softly thumped on the pavers. "Come here Shari," squatting down as his daughter drew near, "you really want to see your mother?" he asked, as he saw his daughter's stubbornness, something she had inherited from him, started to show. "Okay, I'll look for her but it may take a very long time honey. I haven't spoken to her since you were two," Callum said, when Shari nodded. Not missing the look his mother shot his father.

"Come on honey, let's go see if those cheese biscuits are done yet," Gisselle said, holding out her hand to Shari while her eyes urged her husband to broach the subject.

"Cal... we didn't know how to tell you this..." Antonio began to say once Shari and his wife were out of earshot.

"Tell me what?" Callum asked, knowing he wasn't going to like this.

"Vanessa came by a few weeks ago, and once a week since wondering if she could just talk to you. Your mother and I were still discussing on informing you or not."

"Okay... and did she tell you what she wanted?" Callum asked, he was sure she had moved out of state.

"She wants to see Shari but only if you're okay with it," Antonio said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "But she wants to talk to you first and foremost."

Callum looked into his parent's home as he heard his daughter's laughter. Would he be a good father if he kept her mother from her? Would he intentionally harm his child if he kept Shari away from her? Would she come to hate him for it if he did that?

"Did she leave a number?" Callum asked his father, who had an approving look in his eyes.

"Here, take your time," Antonio said, lightly patting Callum's left arm as he handed his son his smart phone with Vanessa's number on the screen. "I hope you aren't stealing my biscuits!" His joyous voice rang out as the front door closed behind him.

Sighing as he stared down at Vanessa's phone number, knowing that this was for Shari not about his feelings for her mother. His thumb hit the call button as he brought his father's phone to his ear. Hoping he was doing the right thing for Shari as he listened to the ring tone.

"Yes Mr. MacRoe, has Cal decided anything yet?" Callum could hear the slight tremble to Vanessa's voice.

"Hello Vanessa," Callum said, in a monotone voice. "I hear you wish to see my daughter."

"Oh Cal! Henry, Henry! Callum's on the line!" Callum arched an eyebrow wondering who this Henry was. "I'm so happy you called Cal. Yes, I would like to see Shari, but only if you're okay with it. If you aren't you won't hear from me again. I know I did something foolish signing away my rights -- I should have never done that... given what I've come to learn. But I know I don't have a right to ask this Cal. Could you see it in your heart to let me see our daughter?"

"If you asked me yesterday, I would have said no. Now..." Looking back towards his parent's home, "this is about Shari," Callum heard their breath in the speaker as they waited for his answer, "if you can agree to follow the rules I set out, then... yes you may see our daughter."

"Oh my god! Yes!" Vanessa and Henry called out. "Oh thank you Cal! I promise we'll follow everything you ask of us. I won't let you or Shari down, I swear!"

"We'll see."

"When can we see her?!" Vanessa asked, excitedly.

Callum rubbed the back of his head, as he asked himself that very question. "Obviously, you still know where my parents live, how long would it take you to get here?"

"Forty-five minutes." A male voice came over the line. "Hello, I'm Henry, I know this might be hard for the both of you. I swear Vanessa and I will do our best to make this as painless as possible," Henry said, speaking up when Vanessa was holding back her tears.

"Let me get her fed, and cleaned up, say eight o'clock?"

"That'll be perfect Cal!" Vanessa said, with a trembling voice.

"Shari likes unicorns, and you remember the side door?"

"The one that led to your father's den?" Vanessa asked, for clarification.

"Yeah, come to that door, I want to prepare her..." Blowing out a breath, knowing it was going to come out anyway, "she has been asking about you."

"She has?! What have you told her about me?" Vanessa asked, worryingly.

"Nothing, I was going to wait until she was older so she could understand what happened between us," Callum said, truthfully.

"Okay, I won't talk about that with her unless you're there. If she asks that is."

"Alright, I should head inside and see what chaos my father has wrangled Shari into," Callum said, looking back at the house.

"That sounds... amusing," Vanessa giggled, "thank you again for doing this Cal. We'll be there at eight."

"Text me before you get here," Callum said, texting Vanessa his number from his phone.

"I will."

Callum and his mother were keeping Shari entertained while his father snuck Vanessa and her husband into the den. He had a suspicion Vanessa would have jumped through however many hoops he had set up for this to happen as they texted over dinner. He prayed this was going to be good for Shari. He did hate not providing the things she needs to grow up healthy not just in body but in mind as well. Peering over the top of his mother's head as his father appeared in the doorway. Flipping the TV off, Shari's eyes instantly shot to him as his mother rose from her seat.

"Shari?"

"Yes Daddy?" Her voice had a very curious tone to it as she looked up at her father.

"You know how you wanted to see your mom?" Callum asked, lightly holding Shari's hand.

"Yeah," Shari said, going wide eyed.

"Your Mom... she wants to meet you, honey..."

"My Mommy wants to see me?!" Shari said, in a mixture of awe and on the verge of tears.

"Yes baby, do you want to meet her?" Callum asked, in a loving light.

"When!" Shari nearly shouted as she bounced in her seat.

"If you're up to it and if you can calm yourself silly," rising from his seat, "how about now?" Callum asked, holding out his hand to his daughter. A fatherly smile appeared on his face as Shari's fingers skimmed along the palm of his hand. "You ready?" Her curt nod was his answer.

That normal half a minute walk down the hall was the most nerve racking half a minute of his life as they neared the pocket doors that led to the den. Gently squeezing her hand before knocking on the door. The rollers whispered as they rolled on their hidden rail as Antonio and Gisselle pulled the doors open. Vanessa stood nervously beside the coffee table her dark blonde hair was held back. Her soft brown eyes quivered as they glanced from Callum then to Shari. Callum smirked at the sight of the old band t-shirt Vanessa wore eight years ago as she smoothed out her jeans as she knelt before Shari.

"Vanessa, let me introduce you to our daughter, Shari Eva MacRoe, Shari this is your mother Vanessa Jeda Chandler." Seconds passed as Vanessa and Shari stared silently at one another.

"Y-you're my Mommy?" Shari's voice broke the stalemate.

"Yes Shari." Vanessa's voice trembled as her brown eyes studied her daughter's face. "I'm your mother. I'm so very happy to meet-t-t... you," she said, catching herself from breaking down.

Shari's hand slipped from her father's. Vanessa's lower lip trembled as Shari's right hand caressed her left cheek.

"Mama."

"Yes baby," Vanessa said, on the verge of tears.

"Mama," Shari cried out falling into her mother. No one said a word during those five minutes they wept in each other's arms.

"You've grown so beautiful," Vanessa whispered her fingers brushed along her daughter's hair. "You named her after grandma, does Mom know this?" she asked, looking up at Callum.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask her about that."

"Would you mind if Henry and I speak with her? I'd really like to get to know our daughter, Cal," Vanessa said, with a pleading voice.

"Wouldn't have called you if you couldn't."

"Only if my Daddy stays," Shari said hastily, latching onto Callum's hand.

"Of course Shari," Vanessa nodded, "we wouldn't want to leave your dad out. After all he did do a remarkable job raising you," she said, lightly touching her daughter's arm as she reached out. Looking behind her as Henry quickly got out of his seat. Holding out her hand to him for the present they got for Shari. "Now Shari your dad told me you like unicorns," Vanessa said, feeling the corners of her lips lifting at the sight of her daughter's widening eyes as Henry handed her the bag that the store had placed the stuffed animal in. "I was hoping you could help me take care of this little guy with me. He's going to need our help don't you think?" Holding the bag out to her daughter who pounced on it without hesitation.

Callum winced as his daughter released a high pitch squeal as Shari held the white with a purple mane unicorn in her hands.

"I love it! I love it! I. Love. It!" Shari cried out as she spun around.

"Shari what do you say?" Callum asked, in that fatherly voice.

"Thank you!" Shari said, throwing her arms around her mother and then rushing over to Henry who looked at Callum as Shari hugged his legs.

"You're very welcome Shari," Henry said warmly, lightly patting her back.

"Would you like to sit with us?" Vanessa asked, as she stood beside her daughter. Holding back her tears as Shari nodded vehemently. She couldn't believe this was going so well. She would have thought Cal would have told her to fuck off. Never to bother them again, she legally had no right to see her daughter, and she wasn't about to screw this up. Not after the last few months that have become her and Henry's life. That was why they had moved back to her hometown of Deadwood, South Dakota; so she could be close to the only child she would ever have.

Seconds turned into minutes and before long Vanessa, with Henry interjecting every so often, was chatting up a storm with her daughter. She held her daughter's hand all throughout their conversation. Noting how Cal left for a few minutes only to return with a beer in hand. Smiling at Cal when he handed one to Henry. She was very please the two of them were getting along so well. She didn't want Cal or Henry to be at odds with one another. Vanessa wanted, no, needed this to work out. She had once thought she had all the time in the world to start her own family when she met Henry. How that was taken away from her when one of her fertilized eggs got lodged within her Fallopian tube and the doctor that was supposed to repair it ended up making her barren. After coming to terms with that world crushing news and suing the pants off that doctor and the hospital. The money was nice it had helped them move back home, yet the one thing she wanted most in the world she could never have and she gave it away so long ago. How she worried as the weeks rolled by and no word came from Cal as they fixed up the home they had moved into in hopes that her daughter would come to call it home as well; or that was her hope anyway.

"Why didn't you want to be my Mama?" Shari asked, out of the blue as they sat on the couch. Vanessa's gaze quickly shot towards Callum who arched an eyebrow waiting for her to answer his daughter's question.

"Shari..." Taking her daughter's hands into hers, "when you were born, I was only eight years older than you are now. I wasn't ready to be a mom, I wasn't even ready to be an adult yet. But your dad, he was ready to be a father the moment I told him I was pregnant with you," Vanessa said, her thumbs brushed lightly against the back of Shari's hand. "I'm forever going to be grateful to him for that, because if he hadn't then you and I wouldn't be here and I'd be missing out of the most precious thing in the world," she said, not missing the look Callum shot her. She knew it was so unlike anything he would remember her saying about children -- namely their child. She never said anything bad about Shari, she would never do that, it was just the girl Callum once knew had her whole life ahead of her, the woman he is now faced with knows of the sorrow of never having any more children. Henry had held her numerous time when she cried herself to sleep.

"I want to try to be your mom now, I know I have a lot to make up for Shari, to you and your father, but I want to make it work. Will you give me that chance Shari?" Vanessa asked, with baited breath. Squeezing Henry's hand as Shari slid off the sofa and ran over to Cal. She watched intently as they whispered between one another.

"I don't know Shari." Her nerves were frayed as she watched how the two interacted. Wondering if she and Shari would ever be that close. She so hoped they would be.

"Please Daddy?!" Vanessa bit her lip knowing her mother was going to love her little girl as Shari did the cutest little stomp she ever saw.

"Do you really want her to?" Squeezing Henry's hand tightly as he rubbed her back with the other as they waited patiently. Biting the inside of her cheek as she watched her daughter nod to her father.

Then a thought shot across her mind, she couldn't believe she had forgotten about it. "Shari?!" Vanessa called out snapping off a few pictures of her gradual smile as it formed on her lips. "She's so... beautiful," she whispered to Henry as she leaned in to him.

"I know, just like her mother," Henry replied as he kissed her temple.

"Listen..." Callum rose from his seat, "it's getting late and Shari has school in the morning," holding up his hand when Vanessa began to speak, "Shari here was wondering if you would like to read her a bedtime story," Callum said, looking directly at Vanessa.

"I would love to Cal, if that's what you want Shari," Vanessa spoke as her eyes centered on her daughter.

"Mmmhmm," Shari hummed as she nodded causing her dark blonde hair to bounce.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Vanessa said, with a broad smile on her face as she looked at Shari and Callum.

"Go say bye to Nana and Papa," Callum uttered as he looked down at Shari. A warm half smile formed on his lips as his daughter took off running. He was not expecting the hug that Vanessa wrapped him in.

"Thank you so much! You don't know how much this means to us," Vanessa said, her voice was muffled by his chest.

"The moment you hurt my daughter..."

"Vanessa and I swear we only want what is best for her. We are not here to rock the boat as the saying goes. We would just like to be part of her life as much as you and she allows," Henry said, wrapping his arm around his wife.

"So you aren't after your rights?" Callum asked, skeptically.

"No Cal, you're her parent, you raised her when I ran off to go party, drink, and do whatever the hell I felt like at the time. You were right, I didn't want to be a mother then, but I do now, we aren't here to make trouble for you or Shari, we just want to be part of her life. I know it couldn't have been easy..."

"You have no idea."

"Maybe you can share the load some, when you're comfortable with us," Vanessa said, with hope in her eyes.

"For now let's see how supervised visitation goes, hmm?" Callum mused.

"Anything you want Cal," Vanessa nodded.

"Daddy!" Shari called out as she came racing into the room.

"You want to follow us?" Callum asked, as he hugged Shari against him to which Vanessa vehemently nodded.

Callum whistled as he noted the dark blue BMW in his parent's driveway that was parked behind his old Toyota truck as he held the passenger door open for Shari. "Life must have been good for her," Callum said to himself.

"We'll be right behind you Shari, okay," Vanessa said, through the open window as Callum walked around the front of his truck.

"Okay!" Shari said happily, as she smiled at her mother. "Thank you Daddy," she said, as Callum started up the engine.

"Shari you don't have to thank me baby, I just hope this will be good for you."

"It's not big, but its home," Callum said, ushering in his daughter, Vanessa, and Henry into their home. He intently watched how Vanessa's eyes roamed around noting while toys littered the floor in the living room, the house itself was neat and orderly.

"None sense Cal, this is the home you raised our baby in, it couldn't be more perfect," Vanessa said, her eyes roamed over all the pictures that lined the wall.

"That's when me and Daddy went to the zoo!" Shari exclaimed pointing to the picture.

"We go once a month when the weather allows," Callum added.

"Did you like it?" Vanessa asked, looking down at Shari.

"Mmmhmm," Shari nodded, "I like the butterfly house, the giraffes, the tigers!"

"Oh my," Henry whispered causing Callum to chuckle.

"Shari, it's time to get ready for bed," Callum said, he could see how Shari's puppy dog eyes were wearing Vanessa down. She was going to have to learn how to be firm with their daughter or Shari would just run right over her. "Why don't you show your mom where your room is, and all your friends..."

"Not Bernard," Shari huffed as she crossed her arms. Which caused Vanessa and Henry to look over at him for clarification.

"Definitely not Bernard," Callum agreed, whispering to them that he would tell them later.

"Kay!" Shari latched onto Vanessa's hand and dragged her towards her room.

"So who's Bernard?!" Henry asked, as Callum shut the front door.

"Oh, just one of her stuff animals my mother got for her a few years ago. Shari heard the name Bernard and it just stuck," Callum said, shrugging his shoulders. "Can I get you something while you wait? It might take a while," he said, hearing the chatter coming from his daughter's room.

"Water'll be fine," Henry said, politely. He knew the moment he saw the house, whatever extra Callum made went back into his household; from keeping the house in order, food on the table, bills paid, to whatever Shari needed, and only seeing to himself last. "So I take it you're not seeing anyone?" he asked, as Callum handed him his glass.

"No, not at the moment. Hard to date when you're a single parent," Callum said, offering Henry a seat on the couch while they waited.

"So... can I call you Cal?" Henry asked, Callum nodded in response. "What do you do for a living?"

"Own my own shop, it lets me be home in case something happens."

"Like a wood or automotive shop?"

"Car and motorcycle garage," Callum stated.

"You know Vanessa's mom?"

"Yeah, what about her?" Callum asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You should have heard her cry when Vanessa called her on the ride over and told her Shari's full name."

"Well, they would have known that, yet they didn't want anything to do with us..."

"That was wrong of us Cal," Vanessa said, as she gently closed the door after she had helped her daughter into her pajamas, introduced to all her friends minus Bernard, something she rightly didn't understand as Shari was speaking so rapidly as she showed off her room to Vanessa. Watching how her daughter gazed at her as she read a chapter from the book her father was reading to her. She had snapped a few photos of her room so she could pick up some things that would make the room waiting for Shari, at her house, for when she visits to feel less alien to her. Walking lightly over to her husband, sliding down into the seat to Henry's right and within reaching distance of Callum. "I know I'm asking a lot here Cal. Tell me to shove it if I'm being too pushy on you or Shari, but Mom and Dad would like to meet her?"

"I thought they moved down to where it was warmer?" Callum asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"They did, but we came back here... I'm not going to lie to you Cal. We were going to leave you to live your lives not knowing about me or Henry. But something happened to me, to us," Vanessa said, holding tightly to her husband's hand. "Something which has caused me never to have children, ever again. I was so heartbroken at the news. No matter what Henry tried and he tried a lot. I love him all the more for it. It just wouldn't break me out of it. How can you get over the fact that you can no longer have children when you're at the age of twenty-four?" she asked, looking at Callum.

"We were trying for a baby, and one of my eggs got caught within my Fallopian tube, and the incompetent doctor removed the wrong one and they had to go back in and take the other one out which left me barren," Vanessa said, wiping away her tears. "When that happened I reexamined my life. It was almost as if I didn't recognize the woman before the operation from the one that left that table a broke woman. Then we moved back here once the lawsuit was closed out, hoping against hope that you and Shari were still within the area."

"And you visited my parent's home once a week just to get me to talk to you, is that right?" Callum asked, listening to it all before making a judgment on everything Vanessa had said.

"Mmmhmm." Looking over as Henry leaned to his left as he reached into his back pocket and handing her the check he was holding. "I know this won't make up for the past eight years of being an absent parent," Vanessa said, holding out the check for forty-eight thousand dollars of back child support. "But I hope this will show you I want to help take care of Shari, we'll get you this month's child support by the end of the week," she said, firmly.

"Why're you doing this? You don't have any..."

"She's my only daughter, the only baby I'll ever have Cal. How could I think of raising a child with Henry if I can't take care of the one you and I have together. I'm hoping that you'll let me into her life Cal, I really do want to make up for everything," Vanessa said, not bringing up the fact that she had noticed how his home lacked any pictures of women that weren't related to him or Shari. So she knew Callum had been putting his life on hold to raise the daughter that she so foolishly gave up. "I know it will take time for us to earn your trust with Shari's safety Cal. I realize that, so whatever you set in place I'll do. All I ask is that you let us see her when you and she aren't busy."

"I have to think of Shari's safety first..."

"And we so get that Cal," Henry said, inching forward in his seat. "I know we are only here because of your good graces and we certainly don't want to upset that. You don't know me, you lost touch with Vanessa so we're strangers to you who've come into your lives. I swear to you, we only want what's best for Shari. We are not here to butt into your or Shari's lives. We're just hoping, maybe you'll let us peek in every once in a while, until you and Shari are comfortable with us."

"You probably didn't want to contact me, did you?" Vanessa asked, to which Callum nodded. "Why did you?"

"I've told you, for Shari, her welfare comes before my own feelings towards you. Shari's had it rough here lately," Callum said, softly.

"Tell me Cal," Vanessa said, reaching out her hand lightly covering his.

"I can see it in her eyes every time one of her friends gets something new that she really likes but we can't afford it. Plus the kids are at that age now where they're picking on her since she's only has me. I know they don't mean anything by it, but Shari doesn't know that."

"Oh Cal," Vanessa cooed, "I'm so sorry, I know how tough it must have been raising Shari on your own."

"It was, but," looking over at his daughter's bedroom, "I wouldn't change it for the world."

"I'm sorry I missed those years with the two of you Cal. I promise I won't be missing anymore," Vanessa said, firmly.

"You really are going to stick this out aren't you?" Callum asked, seeing the truth in her eyes.

"Oh yes, we are not going to be leaving my baby ever again, unless you allow us to take Shari on trips with us, but I know that's down the road for us," Vanessa said, smiling lovingly at her husband.​