A/N: This was an anonymous request. Hopefully this is what you had in mind!
Halloween. The day when ghouls and goblins come out to play and little girls dress up as queens and mermaids. The Valetik family went all out for Delilahâs first big-girl Halloween. The first three years of the holiday involved the little girl toddling to peopleâs front door and stomping her feet in excitement. She stood there with a pumpkin bucket in one hand and Mr. Bunny clutched in the other. Now Delilah was four years old and she was more than ready to exert her newfound independence.
Seeing how Delilah was older now, Monica assumed it was okay to decorate the office with the true meaning of Halloween: blood, gore, and ghosts. Sheâd ignored how sensitive the littlest Valetik was to all things dark and dreary. Delilah was a peculiar little thing. She protected the smallest of bugs that made their way into the office, yet refused to pet a fake spider out of fear that it might hurt her. Delilah was the type of girl that fought for independence yet hid behind her fatherâs leg when a noise was too loud or someone didnât share the toys. Sheâs four and a half, she can handle it. These were the words that Monica had used to convince Sam that transforming the conference room into a haunted house was a good idea. With the help of Berto and Syd, theyâd decorated every room and hallway with hairy spiders, witches, and shaking skeletons.
The second Delilah had laid eyes on the final product of Monicaâs meticulous planning and decorating, she ran up to the hanging witch, tugged on its hem and forced it onto the ground. âToo scary!â She quickly let out a wail and barricaded herself in her fatherâs office. She refused to leave the comfort of his leather couch. Every time someone tried to coax Delilah out of the office she would look at them with puffy eyes and hiccup softly before begging them not to take her back outside. Seeing the child so distraught pulled on Monicaâs heart strains and she ordered Berto to take everything down.
Eddie walked into the room and scooped his sweet girl into his arms. âI think itâs safe to come out now.â
Delilah shook her head, âMonsters outside, daddy.â
âTheyâre all gone. I promise.â He ran his fingers through her pin-straight tresses before giving her a kiss on the cheek. âLets go. Mama has a surprise for you.â
âOkay.â Her voice sounded hesitant, but she maneuvered her body so it was facing her father. With arms outstretched she clung onto his neck and confirmed his previous statement, âNo more monsters?â
âThe only monster left is you.â He tickled her tummy before picking her up and carrying her outside.
âIâm not a monster.â She giggled at his comment, âSee!â Delilah placed both hands on her fatherâs cheeks, forcing him to look at her clearly. âItâs just me, Delilah!â
The office now looked more like a pottery barn catalogue and less like a spooky haunted house.
She pressed her hands against her fatherâs chest signaling for him to put her down. Delilah ran directly to the pumpkins that were resting by the front door. âD-E-L-I-L-A-H. Delilah, thatâs me!â She pointed to herself and couldnât help but laugh at how smart she was. Plopping down on the floor she scooted her bottom closer to the felt covered pumpkins. Each one had a series of letters etched into them.
Delilah crossed her legs and picked up a small orange pumpkin. âS-A-â She scrunched her eyebrows together trying to rattle her brain for the name of the letter that looked like an upside down W.
Sam knelt down beside her daughter and kissed her hair. âMâ
Delilah looked up at her mother and smiled. Taking her index finger, she traced the letter and repeated what her mama had said. âM.â She looked over at her mother once more asking her for help with the rest of the word.
âA-N-T-H-A. Do you know what those letters spell out?â The little girl shook her head no. âThat spells your mommyâs name.â
She gave her mom a confused look, âBut mamaâs name is mommy. Mommy starts withâŚW?â
Sam laughed, âMamaâs name is sometimes mommy but all the time itâs Samantha.â
She scrunched her nose in disapproval, âMamaâs name is mommy.â
âAll right you two, thatâs enough arguing for one day.â Eddie gave his daughter a smile and took her into his arms. âSomeone needs to get ready for trick-or-treating.â
âYay!â Delilah raised her arms up in excitement and began imagining the outfit her mama had gotten her. âPrincess?â She searched her fatherâs eyes for a clue. âMermaid?â
âNope.â Sam cupped her daughters face and gave her a long kiss on the cheek. âLadybug.â The actress slid an antennae headband onto her daughters head and bopped them with her fingertip causing them to shake. âYouâre the cutest ladybug ever.â
âAnd mama is going to be the mommy ladybug.â She pulled a red lipstick from her back pocket and coated her lips one more time. âMake a fishy face.â The girl did as she was told and scrunched her lips and nose. âLook at my pretty bug.â Sam pointed at her daddyâs cheek motioning for her to give him one of her famous kisses.
The little girl beamed as she understood what her mother was asking her to do. âDaddy kiss.â She smushed her face against his cheek and placed a stream of kisses up and down his face.
Eddie gave his daughter a playful smile but made no move to wipe off the lipstick. Like mother like daughter. âAlright, too many kisses. Too much love.â He craned his head down slightly and placed a kiss on his wifeâs lips. âSheâs practically your twin.â
She wiped away the lipstick that smudged his bottom lip, âYou say that like itâs a bad thing.â
âKisses! I want kisses too, mama.â
Sam plopped a kiss on her daughters nose and took her from her fatherâs arms. âLets go put your dress on ladybug.â
âTrick-or-treat!â Delilah smiled and began skipping down the hallway. âTrick-or-treat. Trick-or-treat.â She singsonged the three little words the entire way to her fatherâs office.
This is another short one. Iâve been enjoying writing things that are a little bit less involved. Should I keep doing shorter stuff or go back to the longer ones?
These last few months had been hard. Rehab had forced the young actress to confront her demons and take responsibility for her actions. Make amends. There werenât many people left for her to make amends with. Forgiveness for herself and for others was a major part of recovery, but she couldnât forgive Dylan for his selfishness and she couldnât forgive herself for hers.
âMama!â She was awakened abruptly by the crashing down of a small child against the King size bed. âMama! Itâs time for breakfast!â
Samantha rolled onto her side, her head propped up on her elbow. âGood morning pretty girl.â Sarina was an amalgamation of her parents. Her ash colored tresses an exact match of Dylanâs locks and those golden hues that lit up with joy every morning a copy of Samanthaâs. I donât deserve you. She didnât. Samantha Swift didnât deserve to have a daughter that radiated joy from every pore of her body. How did I not fuck you up?
âI want pancakes.â Sarina plopped herself down on the bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.
âHmmmâŚ.I donât think we have time for pancakes today.â Sam pulled her cellphone from beneath the pillow and ran her finger across the screen. 7:55 A.M. School started in 35 minutes, not nearly enough time to prepare a hearty breakfast, get dressed, pack lunch and beat traffic. âWeâre going to have to settle for a bowl of cereal today.â
âHow about no school today?â The girl sat up in bed, a wide smile pulling on her lips. âI can stay here with you!â
âSorry, babe, but you have to go to school.â
âI donât want to!â Sarina slammed her little hands down against the mattress and gave her mother a glare. âI hate school!â
Sam rolled her head onto the pillow and stared up at the ceiling for a few moments before offering her daughter a response. âIâll pick you up early today, I promise.â Sarinaâs life had been turned upside down during the last three months. Sheâd been swept up from a life she loved and forced to live within the confines of court ordered activities and dates. Everything was dictated by a man who wore a black gown and had unloving eyes.
âNo!â Sarina hated this new life. Every week she spent her time in a different bed, a different home, with a different set of rules. Time at her fatherâs house involved staying up late, eating cookies from the pantry and pretending to be sick in order to not attend school. Dylan didnât pay it much mind. He dismissed the childâs behavior and justified his carelessness by claiming that preschool wasnât that important anyways.
âYouâre going. Now get yourself dressed while I start getting your lunch ready.â
âNo! No! No!â
They were at a standoff. Neither wanted to budge. So much for having a happy little girl.
Sam shook her head and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. âI want you to be the smartest girl possible. I want you to make friends and learn new things. I know you miss your old school, but I promise youâre going to love this one even more. You just need to give it a chance.â She ran her fingers through her daughters pin-straight hair. âWeâll go get ice cream after school, okay?â
Sarina shook her head, âI want to go see Monica.â She enjoyed spending time with Monica. The woman with crimped hair and bright makeup had been teaching her how to draw animals. So far, sheâd mastered the art of butterflies and ladybugs. âThen, ice cream.â
âAlright. You win. Weâll go visit Monica at the office first and then weâll go get ice cream.â Sam kissed the top of her girlâs head. âNow go get dressed.â She tickled her daughterâs tummy and the chorus of giggles warmed the actressesâ heart. âHurry!â
Watching her daughter jump out of bed and run across the hallways left the woman feeling exhausted
Come on, Sam, you know what you represent. Youâre a scandal machine. Plus with that tape coming outâ listen, if people see the two of you together, I canât do damage control.
No, you canât go to the cops. Sam, please. Thatâll ruin me. This will ruin everything Iâm trying to do. Wait, I know, Iâll hire you. Okay? Iâll hire both of you. We can figure out who'sâ
A tender smile formed across Samantha Swiftâs lips, as it usually did whenever thoughts of Sarina flooded her mind. Imagining the young child walk around the playground, surrounded by a group of friends, furiously discussing which My Little Pony they wanted to be made Sam feel warm inside.
Sarina Wesley-Swift was an endlessly happy child. The little girl stated the fact several times a week and it wasnât just to make her mother happy. Often times, Sarina had been forced to pick up the slack and baby her mother. Telling Sam gently that it was okay for her to nap and sheâd just keep herself entertained doing a puzzle in the meantime. Or lying about how much she loved eating soap from a can five days in a row.
After Dylan dumped Samantha so coldly on live TV, the actress wasnât at her best. She had neglected her child along with all her other responsibilities. During those dark times, the booze and drugs had provided her with a security blanket. Theyâd whispered lies in her ears, making her believe that they were the answer to her sorrows. In all those days of sadness, that sweet little girl never stopped telling her mother how much she loved her nor stopped promising that everything would be okay.
Sarina was the only thing that saved Samantha Swift from death at the hand of drugs. Her ochre hues and ash blonde tresses flooded her mind every time she felt the urge to leave the rehab center. Sam got clean for her daughter. She deserved so much more than what Sam had given her. That girl deserved a mother, not a basket case that cried every time Dylan popped up on the screen.
No matter how much the actress wanted to take credit for Sarinaâs current state of happiness, it wasnât lost on her that the one partially responsible for the girlâs inner pease was Eddie Valetik. He had provided the Swift household with stability and predictability. Sarina knew that her mother would always be there to pick her up after school, that dinner would be on the table and that work started every morning at 9 a.m. That was something Sarina had never had before. Predictability was new for the both of them.
Biting down on her cherry-red lip Sam ran an index finger across the cellphone screen, gently caressing the image of her daughter clinging to the stuffed Rainbow Dash sheâd been gifted by the private investigator.
The little girl was everyoneâs weakness.
As Samantha walked down one of the office buildings many hallways she caught a glimpse of someone sitting in the conference room. She walked slowly to the doorway, the clicking of her heels kept below a hush, as to not disturb the man who was deep in thought. Sam didnât enter immediately. Instead, she lingered behind the slightly parted door and watched as Eddie shuffled stacks of paper from one pile to another while sporadically jotting things down on a small notepad.
âSarina loved the stuffed animal.â The words felt rough against her throat. âShe sleeps with it every night.â
Eddie looked up briefly from his task, but neither invited her in nor asked her to leave. Nothing about his body language gave Sam an inkling of what to do next. He was incredibly hard to read. She knew he was still getting used to her and didnât enjoy the ease with which she rearranged the office, but when it came to Sarina Eddie tended to be particularly guarded.
âOkayâŚgood talk.â With an open palm she tapped her left hand against the doorframe and soaked in the embarrassment that was coursing through her body. His seeming disinterest in Sarinaâs enjoyment of the gift made Sam wish she hadnât said anything. âIâll just go then. See you tomorrow.â
A smirk tugged on the corner of his lips as he set the pen down on the table and traded it for a half-empty glass of water. âIâm glad she liked it.â He focused on her for the first time, finally meeting her warm gaze. âHow is she doing at school?â
âSheâs going good. She really likes her teacher.â His initiation of the conversation gave Samantha the confidence to break the barrier between them and enter the room. âHer teacher, Ms. Anderson, said sheâs finally napping. And itâs all thanks to the pony you got her.â The click of Samâs boots grew louder and louder as she made her way to the far side of the table. She watched his movements, getting a feel for his level of discomfort before pulling out a chair and sitting beside him. âIâm really thankful for what you did for her. The last couple of months have been rough really rough. That obnoxious pony has made her feel a lot safer. Her teacherâs seen a big difference in her behaviorâŚand so have I.â
Eddie nodded slowly, taking in her words. He had a soft spot for the kid. It had to be hard growing up in a home where neither parent wanted to take responsibility for their actions. Always being shaken around from one house to another. Never knowing if her father was going to make it to the court ordered pick-up or if she would be spending yet another week with a depression ridden mother. âSheâs a good kid. Has a hard time containing her excitement about everything, but Iâve learned to look past that.â He offered Sam a smile and reached into his jacket pocket. âI have something for her.â Eddie placed a pair of tickets for The Little Mermaid on Ice onto the table and slid them towards Samâs hand. âSheâs been talking about wanting to go. I just thought, since sheâd be with you this weekend itâd be something youâd both enjoy.â
âEddieâŚâ Sam shook her head and tried to wrap her mind around his actions. It was obvious she had yet to figure out this man. Most days Sam was sure she was one mistake away from being kicked out of the office for good. And the next day he went out of his way to do something nice for her daughter. âThis is too muchâŚâ She wanted to refuse the gift. She wanted to tell him that allowing her to take off early in the evening to pick up Sarina was already more than enough. But she knew the gift was more for Sarina and less for her. He wanted to make sure she was enjoying her childhood. âSheâs going to love it, but I think you should be the one to give them to her.â Sam slid the tickets back across the table and gave him a soft smile. âYouâre going to need to prepare yourself for the endless amount of hugs and kisses sheâs going to bring your way.â
âThanks for the heads up. Iâll make sure to be out of the office when you bring her after school.â Eddie let out a chuckle before tucking the tickets back into his pocket. âYou should get going, Sarinaâs going to be out from school soon.â
Sam looked down at her watch. He was right. The little ball of sunshine would be out of school in twenty minutes. âYou know her schedule better than I do.â Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she rose from the chair slowly. âShe really loves you. Youâre practically her best friend.â Which is kind of sad, considering her best friend should be her father. âIâll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.â
I love her too. âSee you tomorrow.â Eddie watched the actress march out of the office. Once the door had swung shut entirely the private investigator picked up the tickets and ran his dumb across the black ink. Why was he so weak whenever a Swift woman was involved? They both made him do things that were completely out of his usual character. Maybe thatâs what it meant to care for someone.
