Chapter 21 #2
“He didn’t believe you were my dad!” Delfina said defiantly, folding her thin arms in front of her.
“He kept saying I was lying. I don’t like it when people say I’m lying when I’m not!
I didn’t actually hit him. He just fell over.
There wasn’t any blood or anything. It wasn’t my fault!
He was unsteady on his feet. I didn’t know he’d fall over if I gave him a tiny shove.
” She looked at him. “He’d make a terrible hockey player.
He has no balance whatsoever. You always say you need balance. ”
Austin suppressed a smile because surely, the principal didn’t find the situation funny, but…
God, Delfina was defending herself because she didn’t want to be called a liar.
The thought filled him with both pride and resentment because he was supposed to be the one protecting her from such accusations.
Shit, he should have held a press conference long ago.
He was just so damn happy with the whole situation right now; he didn’t want to lose this newfound balance with Lilly.
“Mr. Fox, your daughter was rolling around on the floor with him,” the principal replied stonily. “It was a fight. We have strict rules against violence here at the school.”
He sighed, put a hand on Delfina’s back, and in a serious tone, said to her, “She’s right, Del. Violence should never be the answer.”
“You’re always fighting on the ice,” she said, jutting out her lower lip.
“Yes, but I’m an adult and it’s part of my job,” he replied hesitantly, even though it was a lame argument. “I understand that being called a liar made you angry — still, violence is never the answer.”
“He said I wasn’t strong enough to have you as a dad. I just wanted to prove him wrong,” she whispered.
His throat tightened. “You don’t have to prove that to anyone,” he said seriously. “And I am your dad, no matter how strong you are.”
Delfina pressed her lips together and looked down at her hands as the principal cleared her throat loudly.
“Since this is Delfina’s first offense and no one was actually hurt, I’ll let her off with a warning this time. But for today, I have to suspend her from classes. David’s parents might want to speak with you; unfortunately, they’re unreachable right now, but I’d like to…give them your number.”
He nodded. “No problem. But give them the number for Delfina’s mom too. She’ll have a lot to say.”
“Of course. You can now leave.”
They said their goodbyes. Austin took Delfina’s schoolbag and ignored the secretary, who was still staring at him with his mouth open.
“Are you mad at me?” Delfina whispered uncertainly as soon as the door slammed shut behind them.
“No, I’m not angry,” he replied softly, gently rubbing her back.
“You shouldn’t have pushed David, but I understand you wanted to defend yourself.
Next time, you need to find a better solution, okay?
Sometimes it’s better to ignore people and walk away.
You know you’re not lying. His opinion isn’t that important. ”
“It seemed important to me,” she murmured, and before he could reply, Delfina let out a puff of air. “Mom’s going to be mad. She always tells me to think before I make a stupid decision. I didn’t think.”
“I’ll talk to her,” he promised. “I’ll explain what happened.”
She looked up at him hopefully. “Really?”
“Of course.” He smiled. “You really aren’t hurt?”
She shook her head. “David isn’t strong. I won. But I don’t like the principal. She was mean.”
He frowned. “Before I showed up?”
She nodded. “She…she asked why it doesn’t say online that you’re my dad,” she whispered.
“And then I said that you’re my new dad; that you hadn’t been for the last nine years.
And then she asked why and…” She paused and stopped.
Her eyebrows were furrowed and her shoulders were almost touching her ears.
“And I didn’t know why,” she finished. “Didn’t you ever want to meet me? ”
Austin’s eyes stung and a lump larger than Leon’s ego rose in his throat. He should have expected the indirect question. He should have prepared himself. But the thought that Delfina doubted for even a moment that he wanted to know every detail of her life weighed him down like lead in his lungs.
He stopped and crouched in front of her.
“Oh, Del, I really wanted to meet you. Meeting you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
No one could have stopped me from being with you.
No one could have kept me away from you.
But…” He swallowed… This was the moment when he could tell her it was Lilly’s fault.
That she was the one who had kept him away from her.
But he no longer knew if that was true. He didn’t want it to be the truth, just as he didn’t want to speak ill of Lilly.
She was a fantastic mother and the last ten years must have been incredibly hard for her.
She didn’t deserve to have him say a single bad word about her, so he said, “I would have come to visit you a hundred times over, but the letters where your mom told me about you got lost in the mail. I didn’t know that on the other side of the world, a wonderful, brave, intelligent girl was wondering why I wasn’t there.
But I’m here now and, no matter what other classmates say, I’m your dad, and I love you.
Okay? I’ll always be your dad, and I’ll always love you. That will never change.”
Delfina gnawed her lip, her eyes shining suspiciously as she fiddled with the hem of her t-shirt. “Okay,” she whispered. “But…could you drive me to school tomorrow? And tell everyone? That you’re my dad? Otherwise, everyone will still think I’m lying.”
Now his eyes were burning. “I’d love to drive you to school, but why don’t we talk to David right now? To make it clear once and for all that you’ve been telling the truth.”
Her eyes lit up. “You’d do that?”
“Of course. Where is he?”
“It’s recess. He’s outside. Probably by the jungle gym,” she said excitedly, hurrying ahead of him down the hall as if she didn’t want to miss David.
Austin followed with long strides as she ran into the schoolyard and headed straight for the jungle gym.
Most of the students weren’t really interested in Austin; only a few of the older ones looked up with interest. That changed, however, when they reached the left corner of the jungle gym, where some students Del’s age were playing.
Austin knew immediately who David was. There was only one boy whose white t-shirt was incredibly dirty – as if he’d been rolling around on the floor – and who was staring at him with his mouth open and eyes wide.
“Hey,” he said amicably, holding out his hand. “I’m Austin, Delfina’s dad. And you must be David?”
David didn’t move. His gaze flickered between Delfina and him; otherwise, he was in a state of complete shock. The other children around him also stared wide-eyed.
“See!” Delfina exclaimed triumphantly. “I told you so.”
“You should still apologize for hurting him,” Austin murmured seriously.
Delfina sighed heavily. “I’m sorry you fell over,” she added. “I was just angry because I didn’t lie.”
“I… I…” David stammered. “I’m sorry too. I didn’t know that Mr. Fox…” He trailed off, turning bright red.
“So that settles it, right?” Austin continued with a smile. “Delfina wasn’t lying, and you’re both sorry.”
David nodded frantically.
“Good,” Delfina announced. “Now we can go.” Then she raised her chin, turned, and strolled across the schoolyard toward the exit. Austin waved to the other kids and followed his daughter.
David was wrong. She was so damn strong. She took after her mother.
They walked together toward the parking lot, and he knew David wasn’t going to keep the fact that NHL player Austin Fox was Delfina Adams’ father a secret. Neither were the others. Delfina was no longer a secret.
“Del,” he said. “We might need to talk later about what it means when everyone knows you’re…”
Delfina turned to him and threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. “Thanks…Dad,” she whispered. “That was great.”
Austin’s mouth went dry as he returned the hug. Dad. God, the word could bring a grown man to his knees. It was a good thing Delfina kept him upright. “Anytime,” he murmured, his voice trembling. “Really, Del: Anytime.”