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There's an invader at my house.
He is totally repulsive, with pure sarcasm in his eyes, he is ugly. He wears a horrible leather jacket and tight jeans, he's thinking who it is? The fucking Damon Salvatore? He was not invited to be here, much less is he welcome at my house.
So, like any conscious person, I did what everyone else would do. I took my shotgun and I'm pointing at the guy.
I intend to do it fast, shoot and throw it in a closer ditch and go back to my beautiful and hot husband and my sweet and dear daughter and have a lovely family dinner, just like every night
I'm burning this bastard with his eyes for about Twenty minutes and the little shit who didn't dare blink once.
I can only be dreaming, maybe if I pinch myself, I'll wake up from this horrible nightmare. The boy looks like a damn gangster, a serial killer, a damn psychopath, I bet if this bastard takes off his terrible leather jacket, he will have tattoos on his arms.
How old is this guy? Twenty years old? My daughter is only seventeen years old, she is a baby, how could she meet a gangster?
A fucking sociopath is trying to steal my baby, so I'm going to have to burst the brain of this manure before that happens.
"Leave my property immediately, before my wall is stained with the remains of your brain."
The boy falters a little, but soon gains confidence in his eyes.
"I've already said Mr. Egan, I'm here because I'm going out with your daughter, I came to pick her up. I promise to bring her back exactly at 10 o'clock at night."
I have a dry laugh, it can only be a joke.
"just on top of my corpse, my daughter is not going anywhere with you, now leave my property."
Before the gangster in front of me has the chance to answer, I listen one step behind me.
"Dad? What's going on? My God! Dad, put that gun down!"
"Stay behind me, Aurora. I'll take care of this manure and join you and Gale, call the police now."
An arm gently wraps around my belly and I felt a familiar warmth and Gale speaks affectionately behind me.
"John, let go of that gun, yes?"
"Only when this gangster is off my property or his corpse is fallen in front of me."
"Dad, stop it!!"
To my chagrin, my beloved daughter runs in front of the gangster like a shield.
"get out of the way, Aurora! He's dangerous."
"Dad, this is James, he's...my boyfriend."
I feel sick, my worst nightmare is happening.
"Stay away from my daughter now or you die."
"This old thing shouldn't even be loaded." The bastard wears a tone of sarcasm that makes me want to punch him in the middle of his face.
"You don't have to be loaded for me to hit her in the middle of your face, motherfucker." I walked towards them to do just that, but Gale pulled me back.
"John, calm down, come on, give me this gun and we'll get a better conversation." Before I had a chance to refuse, Gale already had the shotgun in his hand.
Damn military training.
Here I am being betrayed by the two people I love the most in my life.
"I may not have a gun, but I still have both my hands and if this boy doesn't leave my house for good, it will be for bad."
“Dad, stop it! I can explain...it wasn't supposed to happen that way." My daughter looks at the gangster with a warning.
God, this can only be karma.
"We should go in to talk better, I'll make some tea." Gale speaks patting my biceps and I look at him
"I'm not going to have any tea crap with this son of a bitch and just for you to insinuate that I should do this is absurd! And why are you so calm? There's a fucking guy who looks like he got out of a biker gang saying he's going to take our daughter out!”
“John, she told me."
"Did she tell you? What do you mean counted?" I look at Aurora indignantly. "Now do you hide things from me? "
"No, Dad! It's nothing like that, I just told Dad when we were in the kitchen!"
"And are you okay with that?" I turn to Gale indignant and point to the gangster.
"I bet this guy went to a fucking reformatory, he must even have a tattoo!"
"Actually, I have five."
"James!!" My daughter looks at him with a look of disapproval
I laugh without humor, someone please shoot me in the middle of the forehead.
"Aurora, how about you take James to the kitchen while I talk to your father?" Gale speaks and I was going to protest, but he squeezed his hand on my shoulder as a warning sign and the words in my mouth die.
I look towards my daughter and the gangster and I feel that my teeth can break with so much shape that I am pressing them.
"Stay five steps away from my daughter or you will leave here with a black eye."
"Yes, sir." He speaks taking steps back, distancing himself from my baby.
I look with so much hatred that I feel capable of releasing laser beams on his head as he passes with my daughter towards the kitchen.
After they disappeared through the door, I look at Gale with my furrowed eyebrows with a thousand questions in mind.
"What the fuck was that, Gale?!"
"I ask, what the fuck was that pointing a gun at the boy? Are you crazy?"
I let out a dry laugh, I can only have set fire to the cross.
"Obviously! Didn't you see the guy? He could easily be a serial killer, it was just self-defense." I speak with a sarcastic smile.
"Was that before or after he said that he was here to go out with our daughter?" Gale asked raising his eyebrows.
“Don't remember exactly the chronological order, you know, I'm getting old."
"John, I'm serious, look at me," Gale approached and put his hands on my cheeks, "She's growing up and we'll have to accept that, especially you, I know you love her and just want to protect her, I want her too, but we have to let her make her own choices."
"But we let her make her own choices!! But not with a fucking guy who looks like he came out of a biker gang! What kind of father would I be if they let a piece of shit go out with my sweet and innocent daughter? He will corrupt her and then destroy her heart, Gale!"
"John, he doesn't seem to be a bad guy and I saw it in her eyes, Bucky, she really likes him. What do you think she would do if we prevented her from dating him? She was clearly already leaving with him hidden from us! And it's better for her to go out with him with us aware of it, instead of not knowing anything," Gale got dark eyes and completed with a firm voice, "And if he hurts her, I'll end his life myself."
"You know, you talking in this possessive and murderous way excites me," I speak smiling and pulling him by the waist approaching my head in the fold of your neck, but before touching my lips against your neck, Gale pulls me to face him and I release a sound of frustration.
"John, concentrate, of everything I said, did you only pay attention at the end?" Gale stared at me raising his eyebrow.
"No, I heard the rest too," I roll my eyes, "but I still don't support it. The guy looks like a gangster, love," I speak and making a beak with my lips.
Gale suddenly begins the shape of a smile that I know very well and he begins to move his finger from one side to the other on the collar of my t-shirt.
“You know John, you can be a compressive father, enter that kitchen and behave with a responsible adult man that I know you are, and having your beautiful husband in bed tonight or be a crying baby and I slept on the couch. Which one do you prefer, dear?
"Definitely the first option," I speak hastily.
"That's what I imagined," Gale gives me a quick kiss on the lips, "Now, let's meet our daughter's boyfriend."
I let out a grumbling while Gale pulls me towards the kitchen.
•••
At this very moment, I'm on the other side of the kitchen counter with Gale and I hope to create psychic powers to blow up this guy in front of me, but it's not working. Gale must notice me staring at the gangster with a desire for blood because he pokes my belly with his arm and releases a sound cleaning his throat.
"So, James. Do you intend to go to college?" My beautiful husband, who was cutting some ingredients for dinner, asks the sociopath who was sitting too close and gives my daughter.
Actually, I already do it. I'm in the first year of law." The gangster speaks with a stupid smile on his face and my desire to punch his face increases.
"How old are you?" I ask.
"Nineteen years, Sir."
"Don't you think you're too old to date a high school girl?"
"John," Gale speaks with a warning before the gangster answers my question.
"It's the only question, you know it's weird for a fucking college student to want to date a girl who's in high school."
“Dear, do I need to remind you that you are four years older than me?" I look at Gale indignant, after all he is on whose side?
"It's different, Gale!"
"Is it really? How?" Gale stop cutting the ingredient and puts his hand from the waist, "please explain to me"
"To begin with, when we were in training it wasn't fucking high school! We were both adults!"
"She's going to be eighteen in April, John!"
“we don't even know since when this is happening!" I speak pointing between my daughter and the psychopath who was on her side.
"Enough!!! You two stop!" Aurora screams and gets up from the chair, "let's talk just the two of us dad," Aurora points to me, "out there."
Before I had a chance to answer, my daughter was already walking to the door that led to the backyard.
I just followed her.
"Up there," Aurora says pointing to the tree house I built for her when she was only seven years old. I remember we were playing at tea time and she made me put a princess tiara on my head and wear pink fairy wings. Before I had a chance to answer her orders, she was already going towards the stairs and going up them. So I just did the same. When I finished climbing the stairs and entered the tree house, Aurora was sitting on the floor. So it made me realize how much she grew, I felt an unbearable pain in my chest. She was so small. The house was practically a mansion for her and now she hits her head on the roof if she stood totally up.
"Sit down dad, let's talk," she speaks softly. I take a deep breath and walk on my knees to your front and sit down.
"Dad, you have to understand that I'm not that little girl anymore," she says putting her hands on mine.
"You will always be my little girl."
"You're right, I am, but I'm not seven years old anymore and I need you to understand that," she smiles sweetly, "I'm going to be eighteen in two months and I'm going to college next year. I need you to let me mature, travel, live and meet new people."
"But this is happening so fast and that guy, I didn't like it, honey."
"But Dad, I love him," when she said these words I felt something inside me breaking.
“I really love him, Dad. I feel that. And if it doesn't work out and if he broke my heart, that's fine, then I'll know that he's not the right person for me, and I'll keep living my life until I find my person, because I believe in true love, father. I believe in soul mates and this whole nonsense, because you and Dad are the greatest example of this. You have made me believe my whole life that I have a soul mate and she is somewhere waiting for me. I want someone who looks at me like you look at daddy, I want someone who loves me like you love daddy. I admire you so much and I love you both with each cell of my body, but I need you to let me live my own life. Let me make a mistake, let me hurt myself, that's fine. If someone knocks me down, I will get up harder, because I had great parents who taught me never to give up and if there comes a day when I am no longer able to get out of bed, I will force myself to walk to the car and travel as many kilometers as they go to get to you and we will have a pajama night as we have every Sunday and we will watch romantic comedy movies and eat ice cream, chocolate and various other nonsense. I'll always be the girl of you two, I won't leave forever, dad," I didn't realize I was crying until my vision started to get based.
"Please don't cry dad, if you cry, I'll cry too," Aurora speaks already sobbing and overflowing in tears.
"Oh dear, come here," I speak opening my arms and Aurora jumps on me closing her arms around my waist, I squeeze her tightly and kiss her head, I feel some tears running out of my eyes.
"It's okay," I say, "it's okay, we'll be fine," I feel my shirt gets wet with her tears, she shudders in my arms and I caress her head, "I promise I won't kill your boyfriend," she laughs between tears and then squeezes me harder, "I'm scared, dad," she raises her head to face me, "I know dear, I'm too," I speak drying her tears with my hand, "but everything will be fine. You'll be fine, I know that. You will be able to do everything you want and more than you think. You will study, you will work, you will travel, you will get to know new foods, languages, people, cultures and love. You deserve to be loved, but no one will love you more than me and my father and if this...guy who is in our kitchen now, probably being threatened by your father, is the person who will stay with you for the rest of your life, I will be able to get used to it," she is sobbing more than before and hugs me again burying her face in my chest, "can we stay here forever?" She asks and I feel like she's small again, like when she fell and got hurt and immediately ran into my arms, "you just told me to let you go, dear," I say laughing slightly and caressing your head, "I changed my mind, I don't want to leave anymore," she squeezes me harder and I smile giving a kiss on her head, "Well, now I'm the one putting a foot in your ass, I'll let you go out with that guy," She loosens her arms on my waist and gets up again.
"Really?" She speaks drying her tears with her hand.
"Unfortunately," she smiles and hugs me again more cheerfully, "I love you, I love you, I love you," I hug her laughing, "I love you, Honey."
"Can we stay like this for a few minutes?" She asks me, "The amount of time you want."
•••
When Aurora and I passed through the kitchen door, we immediately received worried glances.
"Is everything okay?" Gale was the first question, walking to us. Aurora and I smile at each other.
"It's great."
"Everything is perfect."
We answered in unimos, "Daddy let me go out with James," Aurora speaks and Gale stares at us with a suspicious look, "really?" He asks me with a frown, "yes, love," I speak smiling and approaching and pulling him by the waist and putting a kiss on his forehead, "we will have dinner just the two of us today," Gale looks at me smiling sweetly, I can see the pride in his eyes and I feel like burying myself in him.
We are interrupted by a forced throat noise.
"We're still here, Dad! Wait for at least me to leave!" Aurora speaks complaining, but in her eyes all I see is love and admiration.
"Okay, you can get out of here." I speak hugging Gale stronger from behind.
"John!" Gale exclaims turning his head and looking at me repressing his smile.
"What is it? You were complaining that I didn't let them leave until a few minutes ago!"
"I'm being kicked out of my next house," Aurora says putting her forehead hand dramatically.
"If you don't leave now, I'll change my mind," I say and Aurora quickly fixes her posture, "we're going, we're going!" She walks up to me and Gale and gives us a kiss from the cheek, "bye dad and dad."
"Be here at eleven o'clock," I say, "midnight?" She replies: "eleven o'clock," she smells, "it was worth the attempt, darling," says Gale smiling, "ok, ok, I'll be here at eleven o'clock! I promise," she says distancing herself along with James to the entrance of the house sending us kisses from the air, "it was a pleasure to meet you both, have a good night," he says, "I wanted to say the same," I grumble low, but enough for Gale to hear and hit his elbow on my belly. We heard the noise of the entrance door closing.
“That hurt!" I speak dramatically and Gale totally turns in my direction, "now you will have to give a kiss to heal," I say pulling him by the waist, "maybe later," Gale responds smiling and gluing his hands to my chest, "but now I want to know what you talked about, you two came here with red eyes, john," Gale says worried suddenly, "Relax dear, it's okay, we didn't fight. They were tears of emotion. We had a conversation that I think we should have had for some time, but I was scared, it's okay now, we'll be fine," I say giving small kisses in the corner of Gale's mouth that softens in my arms, "I'm proud of you," Gale replies by putting his arms around my neck and I smile, "but now I want to know the kind of threats you made to the boy while alone with him," Gale the look as if he had been caught in the act, Gale's cheeks were in a pinker tone in embarrassment, "I don't know what you're talking about,"My smile widens as I keep reviewing kisses between the corner of his mouth and his neck, "Oh buck, you know very well what I'm talking about", I speak against his neck, "I didn't threaten him, I just said facts about what would happen to him if he hurt our daughter", I laughed and looked at his face, my heart warms up and I feel my whole body on fire. It doesn't matter if twenty, fifty or eighty years go by, my feelings for Gale will always be the same the first time I looked at him, touched him, felt him. Gale will always be my home.
"I love you," I say and Gale smiles finally kissing me, "I love you," he whispers between my lips.
"I love you much more," he smiles, "don't count on it."
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