Lex and Lu(61)

“Exactly what I said. I’m not mincing words. How am I supposed to be a father to a child whose existence I didn’t even know about? She’s nine years old. I’m supposed to just barge into her life and start acting like her father? How do I do that?”

“I didn’t know how to do it either. But I’ve figured it out!” Lex continued to stand on the other side of the threshold, as if he couldn’t decide whether or not to come in her home. Lu noticed his reticence. “Are you coming in or not?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” he hurled at her.

“Let me make the decision for you,” she said as she attempted to shut the door.

“Well, you seem to be good at making decisions for me, don’t you?”



Horrified, Lu stopped. The push and pull of her emotions made her feel like a ping-pong ball being volleyed back and forth. She wanted to get away from him, but she knew she needed to do something so that they could be parents to Nina. If she let him or pushed him away now, any hope of an amicable association would be lost.

Pulling the door wider, Lu signaled him that she wanted him to enter. When he still stood in the doorway, she buckled, “Please come in, Lex.” When he entered, she murmured, “What are you, a fucking vampire that needs to be invited in?”

Despite himself, he smiled slightly, but as he was entering the apartment, she didn’t see it. Taking quick note of the surroundings, he could feel Lu’s influence all around him. They’d only been here for four months, but it seemed like a home. Lex walked over toward the kitchen and sat on a bar stool. Lu strolled into the kitchen, attempting to disguise her nervousness. She stood on the other side of the bar, leaning against the kitchen counter, facing him. As she looked at him, she was struck by his stillness, in his body and especially in his eyes. No sparkling mischief lurked in the beautiful green depths, and it made her sad.

“So, I am assuming Nina’s never really gotten into trouble before,” he said, seeking confirmation.

“No.”

“It was bloody brilliant, wasn’t it?” he asked with a sad smile.

She smiled back. “Yes, it was. Completely diabolical. What nine-year-old comes up with a plan like that?”

“One with your brains.”

“And your mischievous nature.”

“Ha. I couldn’t have come up with that. Where did she even think of that?”

“We won’t know until we talk to her.”

He nodded. Then, in a totally Lex move, he rubbed his hands over his face, got up from the chair and started to move.

“There are a couple of issues we need to discuss with her and I think we need to be on the same page before we have this conversation.”

“Makes sense.” He looked around, “Where is she?”

“In her room. I sent her there when we got home. Right before she told me she hated me and that she’d just go live with you.”

Nodding his head again in understanding, he asked, “Never had her say that to you before, huh?”

“True. Never had a father to compete with.”

Taken aback, Lex stopped moving. “Is that what we’re doing?”

Lu slowly shook her head. “No. We’re not. I’m not really sure what you are doing with her.”

He sighed. “Me either. I have no idea what to do. I am lost here, Lu. I don’t feel like I have any right to correct her or give her advice. She hasn’t done anything blatant, but there are things that I want to be able to say and I don’t feel comfortable saying it. I feel like her uncle, not her father.”

For some reason, the thought that Lex might struggle had never even entered her mind. He was Lex. Everything came easy for him. He could charm anyone. And she’d seen Nina after her visits. He’d charmed her too. So what was the problem?

“The best thing for you to do right now is to continue to spend time getting to know her. Once you’re more comfortable with each other, it will come naturally.”

“I hope you’re right, because after my last couple of visits with her, I’m thinking it’s too late to be her father.”

“Lex, it’s never too late.”

“If you were in my position, you might think otherwise.”

“This is the first time in your life that you’ve had to work at something,” Lu nipped at him, some parts sympathetic, some part pissed.

“Oh, yeah, I didn’t have to work at soccer,” he replied, frustration building.

“Exactly. Think about how much time you’ve spent playing soccer. And multiply it. You have to go through this process if you want to be her father.”

“Easy for you to say. You’ve been there since day one.”