Chapter Six

“Okay, Kayleigh, you're going to be good for me today, right?” he asked as he opened the back passenger door, looking at her. “I'm not gonna have any problems, am I?”

“Not today, Daddy,” she said, smiling.

“Good girl,” he said, reaching over to unbuckle her.

After the incident the day before, Kiddie Academy could no longer take Kayleigh as one of their children. Leave it to my child to get kicked out of daycare on her second day, he thought to himself. Because of it, he had no one to send Kayleigh to this Wednesday morning, and he had things in the office he couldn't tear himself away from until this afternoon.

He had no choice but to bring her to work this morning and find a new daycare this afternoon. He knew a boring office wouldn't be the best place for her, but with a small backpack strapped to her back full of a few toys and coloring books, he hoped he could manage to keep her occupied long enough to get only what was necessary done.

“Is this where you work, Daddy?” Kayleigh asked as he held her, gripping tightly onto his tie.

“Yep,” he said. “And I work with lots of girls. And I bet they're going to love you.”

He opened the front door entering the lobby, and wasn't surprised that the first reaction came within seconds.

“Mr. Bass, you have a call on line – oh my goodness!” the front desk girl, Britney said, holding the phone away from her ear as she yelled. “Who is this adorable little girl?”

“This is my daughter,” he said. “But Britney?”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Phone,” he said with a smile.

She glanced over at the phone she held in her hand, still on the line. “Oh, sorry sir!”

He could only chuckle as she went back to the phone, hearing her apologize to the caller as he walked through the door to the back offices.

The minute he walked through the door to the room where most of the girls worked, he wasn't surprised to get much the same reaction.

“Mr. Bass!” Christy, the advertising manager, exclaimed, immediately getting up from her desk. “You brought a little girl to work!”

“Oh, who is she?” Reagan, an assistant said, following Christy.

“Guys, this is my daughter, Kayleigh,” he said. “She had to come in with me for a couple hours today while I find her another daycare center.”

“I didn't know you had a daughter!” Julie from accounting squealed.

Neither did I until five days ago, Lance thought with a smile.

“She's been staying with her mother,” he said, choosing to avoid bringing his personal life into the office. “But now I have her.”

“She's so cute,” Claire, who had followed the others, said. “How old is she?”

“She's four,” Lance said, setting her down on the ground. “But ladies, I don't want you to be distracted from your work while she's here. Understand?”

He watched as his words fell on the deaf ears of the girls, who had already gathered around Kayleigh as she ran over to greet her new fans.

“It's like you brought bait to the shark tank.”

Lance looked over to his side to see Wendy had come up next to him. He was surprised to see her smiling.

“Sorry,” he said. “She got kicked out of daycare yesterday so I don't have anyone to watch her. I had work to do this morning so I won't be able to go find her a new daycare until this afternoon.”

“She's cute, Lance,” she said, and he glanced over at his business partner. “She looks like you.”

“Good, then I'm not seeing it wishfully,” he said.

“I heard about what happened,” Wendy said. “I'm sorry to hear about her mom.”

“I wish I'd have known her better,” he responded. “I have to plan her funeral and...I was so unprepared for all of this.”

“When do you find out the results of the paternity test?”

“Hopefully today,” he said. “But, you know, I don't think I need them. I think I know anyway.”

“I'm sorry about the way that I acted the other day,” she said. “I didn't know about everything. I was so worried about our project falling apart, and I didn't think that whatever was going on in your personal life was so serious. I thought it was you being you again.”

“I'll take that as an insult,” he said with a laugh. “But I know what you mean. I've had my head up my ass too much lately. You were right. I'm going to change, Wendy. I have to change – I have to do what's best for Kayleigh now.”

“Well, if you need anything,” Wendy said, turning slightly to him, “let me know. Okay?”

He grinned. “Thanks Wendy.”

“Now get that gaggle of girls back to work,” she said, pointing to the staff gathered around as Kayleigh entertained them. He could only laugh.

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“Here's the place, Kay,” he said as he pulled into the first available parking space, seeing the sign. “Sunny Acres.”

“Is this going to be my new dayplace, Daddy?” she asked from her seat, looking up front to him from behind her yellow sunglasses that were oversized for her face.

“As long as you can be good,” he said, removing his own sunglasses. “Think you can manage not to bite anyone this time, Mike Tyson?”

“Who's Mike Tyson?” she asked, scrunching up her nose.

“Never mind,” he said with a laugh.

The minute he entered the daycare, he noticed the difference between this one and the one she had previously been at. Kiddie Academy wasn't bad, but its appearance was lacking. The place had stark white walls and no imagination; nothing like he would expect a place that took care of children to look like.

Sunny Acres was exactly that...sunny. Every wall was painted a different color of the rainbow, and cartoon characters decorated every spot, including the base of the front desk where the secretary, a peppy-looking blonde woman, sat taking a phone call. He immediately heard kids chattering, laughing, and running around, clearly having fun. Kayleigh quickly ran off to join them as he stepped up to the front desk.

“Hi, can I help you?” the blonde said when she placed the phone back on the receiver.

“I had an appointment today,” he said. “I talked with a woman – a teacher here, I think. Parker, maybe?”

“Ahh yeah, Rayne,” she said with a smile. “Hold on, let me get her for you.”

He leaned against the counter as the woman walked away to another room full of children laughing and playing, watching as Kayleigh sat down in the middle of a play area with a few other children.

She looked happy. He wasn't surprised; this was what kids needed, from what he could tell. It looked like the perfect place for her.

He saw the blonde walk back in and sucked in a breath when she stepped out of the way.

Following her was possibly the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

“Hi, Mr. Bass,” she said, holding out her hand to him as she walked up with a smile. “My name is Rayne Parker. I'll be Kayleigh's teacher.”

“Uh...hi,” he said, finally remembering to grab her hand to shake it. “Rayne.”

“Kayleigh seems like a sweet little girl, we're happy to have her here at Sunny Acres,” she said.

“Yeah, she is a pretty good kid,” he said. “I hope she doesn't give you the same issues she did at her last daycare.”

“Oh? What kind of issues were those?” she asked.

God, she was so gorgeous. She wore a long floral print skirt with a silky white blouse, her dark brunette hair pulled up in a clip. Her reading glasses were propped up on her forehead, and jingle bell earrings dangled from her delicate ears – looking cute and teacher-like, but not tacky. Her smell...he could smell her perfume from here.

He was suddenly aware that he hadn't gotten laid in almost a week.

Get a grip, Lance, he thought.

“Um...well she's had a bit of a rough time adjusting,” he said. “She's not used to me, and she's dealing with the death of her mother at the same time.”

“Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that,” she said. “Your wife?”

“Uh...not quite,” he said. “She got sent to me because my name was on her birth certificate. Lacey kind of raised her alone. In fact, I didn't even know I had a daughter until five days ago.”

“Oh, I see,” she said. “Well, that's a unique situation to find yourself in, I guess. How are you two managing?”

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He was tempted to take off his jacket, feeling like the heat in the room had been turned up, but he resisted, trying to focus on the conversation with her.

“Not bad so far,” he said, taking a deep breath. “We've had a couple of bumps – she's having some trouble with nightmares and sleeping at night, and she bit a kid the other day at her other daycare. I hope that's not going to be a problem.”

“In her situation, I think a little acting out is to be expected,” she said. “It's nothing I haven't seen before, and in fact, I've seen a lot worse. I don't think it will be a problem at all.”

God, she was attractive and good with kids. He was in trouble.

“Would you like me to take you on a tour of the facility?” she asked. “I have a few moments to spare.”

Don't do it, his brain screamed.

“I would love to do that,” he said, immediately realizing his mistake.

Idiot!

“Follow me,” she said with a smile, holding her hand out cordially to lead him through the room.

Walking next to her through the daycare, he tried to focus on anything – looking around at the environment, listening to her talk – to keep himself from looking straight at her.

“We're a Montessori education-based daycare, so we focus a lot on the kids having the freedom to express themselves in the way they see fit, as long as it doesn't affect the safety and well-being of the other children,” she said. “Our teachers take into consideration each child's personal developmental level and their psychological and social developmental levels as well – which is why this is the perfect environment for Kayleigh right now. I can work with her through any behavioral issues on a personal level, unlike a lot of other daycare providers.”

“Mmm-hmm,” he managed to say.

“We let the children choose their own activities within our educational guidelines. Our goal here is to prepare them for preschool, kindergarten and beyond into elementary school. We focus on giving them the tools and experience they need for their first few years entering into the more structured environment of public or private schooling while still allowing them a place to have the freedom to play, as children should.”

“Uh-huh.”

“This is an important stage in Kayleigh's development. She's at about the right age that she'll be entering into kindergarten and it's important to ease her into the change gradually. When will she be starting school, Mr. Bass?”

He was unaware that she was staring at him, while he walked along freely next to her, watching his surroundings.

“Mr. Bass?” she asked, touching his arm lightly.

“Yeah?” he said, turning around with a jump at the touch.

“Do you know when Kayleigh will be entering kindergarten?” she asked, smiling at him.

He breathed deeply, unprepared to have to look at her again.

“Um, I'm not sure,” he said. “In a year, I guess?”

“Will she be attending a public school or will you be sending her to a private one?”

“I haven't really...thought that far ahead,” he said. “You know, five days – I'm still working on getting her to eat food instead of wearing it.”

She laughed. “Of course. Well we can help you make the decision on school as well, if you'd like us to.”

Smoooooooth, Bass, he thought to himself. Real smooth.

“Would you like to peek in on one of our classrooms while the children are here?”

“Sure,” he responded.

As she walked ahead of him toward the classroom door, he tried to collect himself. He was making a jackass out of himself in front of this woman. She had to think he was a complete moron by the way he was acting.

“This is one of our main classrooms, it might be a little...oh!”

As she opened the door, three kids ran through, barely giving them both time to move.

“It gets a little crazy around here,” she said with a laugh.

“You seem to handle it well, though,” he said. “How long have you been teaching?”

“Four years, and this will be my second here.”

“Wow,” he said. “You don't look old enough.”

The minute he said it, he cringed. His goodfella Southern upbringing always told him you never questioned a woman on two things – her weight, and her age. Even if it sounded relatively positive and you were underestimating...you would never be right, in one way or another.

To his relief, she only laughed.

“I'm 25,” she said. “I interned for a year and worked in elementary another year – but I much prefer the setting I'm in now.”

As they stepped into the teaching room, he finally snapped out of his daze to get a good look around the room. It looked much like the room they had come from with the walls painted bright colors, and children milled around a floor covered with playmats and toys. It was loud and chaotic to him, but he was surprised that all the children looked well-behaved, keeping themselves entertained.

“Have you always wanted to be a teacher?” he asked. “Have you ever wanted to do anything else?”

“As far back as I can remember, I've loved kids,” she said. “Teaching seemed like the most sensible profession to go into, and I felt like I could reach kids who might need something more than a teacher.”

“Kayleigh definitely needs more than a teacher,” Lance said. At that moment, Kayleigh ran up to his side quietly, and he rested his hands on her shoulders. “I woke up one morning a regular guy, and when I went to bed I was a dad. I'm still finding my way, and I have no idea where I'm going.”

“You'll find your way,” she said with a smile. “I don't know you well, obviously – but I can tell you love Kayleigh and care for her. That's a step above a lot of parents. You'll figure out the rest with time.”

He smiled and was about to respond with a thank you when his phone rang from his jacket pocket. He sent her an apologetic look as he reached in to grab it, holding it up and seeing on the ID a call from a name he had been waiting to get all day.

“I'm sorry, I have to take this,” he said to her.

“No problem. Kayleigh, you want to come with me and see your classroom?”

Rayne walked away into the classroom tightly holding Kayleigh's hand, and Lance slipped out of the doorway, putting the phone to his ear.

“Ben,” he said in lieu of a greeting. “Hey. Did you get anything?”

“I did in fact,” Ben responded. “Are you ready to hear the results?”

Lance paused a moment, inhaling a breath deeply. Whatever was the next thing to come out of his lawyer's mouth would determine Lance's fate for the rest of his life. If Kayleigh was his daughter, he was responsible for another human being's life, safety, and happiness – when sometimes he could barely take care of his own. If she wasn't his daughter, he would have no choice but to let her go and make sure that she went to her real father, wherever and whoever he was, the person she belonged with.

He still wasn't sure what would make him happier.

“Yeah,” he said, holding in the breath. “I am.”

“She's absolutely your daughter.”

Lance was surprised when he released the breath, and along with it came a chuckle and a smile.

“Thank you, Ben,” he said, unable to believe the joyful feeling making its way through his body.

“No problem,” Ben said. “If you need anything else, feel free to let me know, Lance.”

Lance hung up without a goodbye, taking a moment of peace to himself to process the news. She was his daughter; and it was without a doubt now. He'd had five days to get used to it, but it was something he didn't think he would be able to get used to this quickly. To his surprise, he was happy. He never would have expected it himself.

He shoved the phone back in his pocket and walked back to the doorway of the classroom, stopping and leaning against the door frame when he saw Kayleigh and Rayne together. For the first time since she had been with him, Kayleigh looked happy. The way she looked at Rayne with a smile – he knew this was the right place for her.

Rayne looked up and seeing Lance, grabbed Kayleigh's hand and led her over to the door where he stood.

“Everything is okay, I hope,” she said.

He smiled. “Everything's perfect.”