Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“You’re still not twenty-one,” Gio said coolly, a bit more sharply than when he talked to us. “By the way, Matilde and her daughter will be coming to live with us. Since Tallon and Natalia won’t be coming to California, I expect you to watch out for Catarina.”
“I’m not going to be a babysitter,” Elio sneered, turning away.
I sighed, stepping forward as I slung my arm around his shoulder, pulling him toward me with a firm grip. My smile didn’t meet my eyes as I turned him around and pointed to one of the corners.
Sitting quietly in the corner was Caterina. She sat all alone, watching the party with glassy eyes like a pretty doll. She’d been there all evening, from the moment her mother had been swept away for a drink.
Even I had to admit that Caterina was a very unusual girl. She was a pretty thing, very smart and responsible, but she also seemed incredibly lonely. She didn’t have any friends, she rarely spoke or showed emotion, and she was obedient to the point of it being almost creepy.
I didn’t know if it was because of losing her father, but for the entire year they’d been living with us, she’d been incredibly distant.
“That is Caterina,” I told him quietly. “Her father was my best friend, and he was murdered. Her mother is a wreck. Despite our best efforts, she has been distant from everyone around her. I need your help to keep that little girl safe, alright?”
Elio swallowed, a glimmer of pity in his eyes before he sighed and nodded.
“Thank you.” I smiled.
I let him go and he rubbed his neck, giving me a glower before scurrying off.
“I swear he gets worse every year,” Gio sighed.
***
The next evening, I was alone with my wife in our room. I sat in the bed and stared at my phone, waiting for her to finish up in the bathroom. She’d been taking an unusually long time in there, but I didn’t think much of it, at least, until she came out hollering at me.
“Tallon!”
I stiffened, hearing the urgency in my wife’s voice, I jumped up and held her waist, looking over her body for any injuries as she collided with me, throwing her arms around my neck with a giggle.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I pulled back, anxiously.
She beamed, shining brighter than a star as she stood on her tiptoes and gently whispered the greatest news I’d ever heard into my ear.
“I’m pregnant.”
*Four Years Later*
*Elio*
I sat across from my parents, feeling a strange nervousness as my dad inspected the tax documents I’d brought. He had put me in charge of the business a while ago, but I wasn’t sure I would ever feel like I could live up to his expectations.
My mom smiled at me over her plate of spaghetti. She’d shown up with a bag of groceries and made the spaghetti just because she knew it was one of my favorites.
My parents traveled a lot, especially now that the houses were built, and Dad was enjoying being mostly retired. I had my own house now, and they’d given Matilde and Caterina a house next to mine and told me to keep watching out for the girl.
It was hard enough building up the company let alone play “dad” to a kid, but I kept remembering the way Tallon had talked about the death of his friend and how he’d promised to look out for Matilde and her daughter. It was a pain keeping an eye on the girl, but I felt like I owed it to Tallon.
Right then, I was enjoying my mom’s spaghetti in peace in a temporarily kid-free zone. I looked down at my plate and twirled a bite of noodles absently around my fork. I thought back to the many childhood meals when I’d done the exact same thing.
My dad cleared his throat and my eyes shot back to his face, looking for any sign of disapproval.
“This looks good, son,” he said. “You’ve done a great job gathering this information. I know it’s a pain in the ass.”
I took a sip of my wine and allowed myself to feel the sense of pride that only came from his approval. There was nobody who I wanted to impress more than my father, the legendary mafia Don turned businessman.
“How’s business been going in general?” my mom asked.
“We’ve managed to close on five deals in this past week alone,” I told her, not bothering to hide the note of pride in my voice.
My dad nodded in approval. “I knew you had what it takes for this. You’ve got your mother’s brains.” He smiled fondly at her.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh hush, Gio. You know you’re better at business than I am.”
I turned back to my meal as they fell into a comfortable banter that only came with decades of marriage. Although we had a large extended family, as an only child, I was used to playing third wheel to my parents.
I didn’t mind at all. It had always made me feel more secure to see how much they loved each other. I just hoped I’d be able to find something like that for myself someday.
The front door slammed harshly, and my shoulders immediately tensed up. That slam could only be Caterina, who was supposed to stay in my house while her mom was away.
She must have known she was in huge trouble… I had no idea where she’d been for the past several hours. Since her mom had started finding real success working her TV writing job and left Caterina in my care more frequently, I’d stepped up as more of a parent than her. Caterina was supposed to ask permission to go anywhere, not just venture out around LA on her own.
She stalked into the dining room and stood there looking at the three of us with her arms crossed obstinately over her chest.
In the past few months, she had grown a few inches. It had given her a clumsy lankiness that would have been endearing if she wasn’t so intent on being a thorn in my side every chance she got.
Even now, she knew she’d broken the rules by going out without telling me where she’d been, but she had the audacity to stand there looking pissed at me.
“Where have you been?” I asked tersely, trying to keep my voice even to avoid fighting with her in front of my parents.
She blushed slightly and a ridiculously guilty look took over her features, but she continued to glare at me. “None of your business,” she said.
I sighed, hoping to de-escalate the situation. “Look, it’s not that I don’t want you to be able to have fun. But I need to know where you are. I’m just worried about keeping you safe, that’s all.”
“Screw you! You don’t care about me!” she spat.
I saw my mom visibly flinch at the harsh language. It was embarrassing to be talked to like this by a teenager, especially one I was supposedly in charge of. It made me feel like I was doing a horrible job.
I just didn’t understand why Caterina seemed to have such a problem with me lately. When she had first come into my life, I’d been able to be more of a cool uncle figure to her. She’d been such a sweet and quiet little girl.
But ever since her mother had been away at work more, Caterina’s attitude had started to rear its ugly head, and I’d been forced to become far stricter with her.
I took a deep breath, working hard to stay calm. “I do care about you, Caterina. Your mom left me in charge of you for a reason. She trusts me to keep you safe, and I need you to help me out with that. You can’t be running around God-knows-where.”
She rolled her eyes, apparently intent on turning this conversation into a fight. I grimaced as I could see she was racking her brain for more insults to fling my way. She was obviously furious about the fact that her mom was busier than ever before, but I had nothing to do with that.
“I can go wherever I want and do whatever I want. You can’t stop me. You aren’t my dad!” She had practically worked herself up into a yell by the end of her little declaration.
My own dad raised his eyebrows at her words, probably wondering how the hell I’d managed to get stuck with such an insolent child to take care of. It just didn’t seem fair that I was only twenty-four and already being forced to deal with this shit.
I hated to even think it, but Caterina felt like a hopeless case. She obviously didn’t want to be under my care, and I doubted that anything I said or did would change that.
“I know I’m not your dad, Cat,” I said as patiently as I could. “I’m not trying to be your dad. I’m just trying to keep you safe. You’re young. You don’t even understand all the dangerous things out in the world. I know it’s annoying to be told what to do all the time, but it’s for your own good. Do you really think I never had rules I didn’t like? My parents are right here. Why don’t you ask them?” I gestured across the table and waited for her to say something.
“Ugh, whatever!” She stamped her foot like a toddler and stormed off to the living room.
