Chapter Text
George woke up from the sound of footsteps running from the end of the hallway of his tiny apartment, the familiar sound that starts his morning every single day.
His daughter, Isabelle. His entire world, his entire being, and his entire reason for existing on this earth. His daughter. Whom he adore more than anything to ever come his way.
The three year old seems to have him wrapped around her finger. Which is in fact the truth. Considering the fact that she is all he had left in this world.
He used to be married, used to have somebody by his side but that was long ago, his wife has left him, right after she gave birth to their daughter.
She had left him with their newborn baby still in the hospital, and she had disappeared without a word, leaving him very confused and worried to why would she ever do that.
But all she had left him is a letter saying that she “couldn’t do this” and “this is not the kind of life she wanted for herself”.
Leaving him dumbfounded as to why she has never mentioned that part to him the entire pregnancy.
She has made it very clear that he shouldn’t be reaching out to her anytime soon and to give her some space and not to bother her until she reach out to him first.
And now he can’t think of anything. Standing in the middle of a hospital wondering how could he ever managed to raised his newborn daughter alone without a single help from anyone.
Would he even be survived this? He has no experience in parenthood, with no support system to help him through all this.
And his head is now starting to be filled with worry. So much worries and anxiety and he cannot stop himself from spiraling.
But all those worries and all those anxieties left him as soon as he laid his eyes on her.
His daughter. His.
In that moment, he knew no matter how much he has fucked up in life, how messed up he is, how little he believes in himself to be responsible for another life.
For once in his life, he has never been more sure of himself. He is certain that he would give up everything for this little girl. That he would sacrifice every single thing he has left for her and he would try his best to protect her from all the danger there is on his planet earth.
He is absolutely gone. From the moment he had laid his eyes on her, all those worry had left him and was replaced with a newfound certainty that he knew he has to be the best version of himself for her. No matter how unprepared he is for all this.
All he knows is that he would give her everything he has in him in order for her to have the best life possible. He knows for sure that is this what he wants to be for the rest of his life. The best father for his daughter.
And now, years later he can hear her running from her room at 7 in the morning towards his. Immediately the door swings open gently by those little hands of her.
“Dada!!” She screeches as soon as she could spot him. “up now dada” as she jumped onto his bed trying to convince him to wake up and makes some breakfast for her.
Oh, he wouldn’t trade anything else in the world for this. To wake up to his daughter happy and safe in his care.
“Yes sweetheart, i am very much awake now alright” he says softly as he sat up on his bed and rubbed his face to fully wake himself up before facing the toddler in front of him.
“Hi morning baby” he grabs her by the tiny body and starts to cuddle her and all she does is giggles. This is basically their routine now. Her waking up and immediately going to his room to wake him up so they can start their morning.
His daughter is a morning person, and fortunately he is too, so he kinda gets where she got that from and he is grateful for it because she is never moody in the morning.
Bella is overall, a very easy child, and he is forever thankful for that fact. Being a single parent is very difficult in general.
Ever since his wife had left him with their newborn daughter and later on had asked for a divorce and never looked back, he had been doing all this alone. Entirely by himself, figuring so much stuff out regardless knowing almost nothing about raising a child.
But considering Bella is very much a healthy, happy and brilliant child so far, so he is taking this as win because he really did tried his best to give his daughter a good life as he promised. And he’s making sure to keep his words on that.
Although he went through so many hardships while raising Bella, he is very grateful for the fact that she is an easy child. He always thought he was lucky to have her, she was never the fussy type. Always listening to him even when she barely understood the words. She’s basically an angel, his angel.
And now she has her hands on both sides of his face “mornin dada” she says with such enthusiasm and a sweet smile on her face. The smile that made his whole day.
“Are you hungry sweetheart? What do we feel like making this morning hm?” He asked “does pancakes and some eggs works for you?”
He already knows the answer considering that is her favorite and she would never turned down a good pancakes “yes dada!! is my favorite” she yelled with excitement.
“Okay baby, let’s brush our teeth first and then I’ll make us some breakfast while you accompanied me yeah?” Says george.
“Okay dada!!” She said as she started jumping on his bed with joy now.
And when they’re done washing their face and brushing their teeth together as they do everyday, he carries her towards the kitchen and settles her on the high chair.
“Alright sweetheart, what do you reckon we should do today huh?” He asked her while cracking the eggs onto the pan.
“Can we go the to park dada?” She suggested, with such wide sparkling eyes. She knew he could never managed to resist those, ever.
“I guess that’s not a totally bad idea, we can go grocery shopping right after that too.” He says as he put down their food right on the table.
“Yes!! Can we get some flowers too??” Her voice filled with excitement now. Those are her favorite.
“Course darling, we can put them in your room. Now please finish your food so we can starts our day”
“Okay dada!! thanksie for the food” as she starts to devour the breakfast in front of her. He’s also very thankful that she’s not a picky eater.
“Welcome baby” He’s now fully looking at her with such softness fond in his eyes. He’ll never get tired of this, not for the rest of his life.
They finished eating and start getting ready to go out. He packed some snacks to bring to the park just in case she gets hungry later.
And when they’re both ready, they started to head out to the park. Taking a walk to get there has never been boring to them. It’s part of their routine really.
And when they got there, she immediately made a run to the sandbox leaving him no time to warn her to watch her steps.
He sits on the nearest bench, close enough to monitor her. If he’s being honest, he never wants her out of his sight ever. He truly can’t afford losing her and that thought itself scares him.
But she’s right in front of him now and there’s nothing for him to worry or overthink about.
And then he can feel it. The weight of someone settling beside him on the bench. A woman.
George knew who she was. The same mom who tried to make a conversation with him every single time without fail, every time he’s at the park with Bella.
Her name is Sarah. She remind him constantly that she’s also a single parent, like him. She has a 5 year old son.
She’s always trying to flirt with him even though he has made it very clear that he is not interested in a relationship in any way. But she still has not gotten the hint so far.
And he gets it, maybe she’s just looking for someone with the same situation or fate like her. Who could understand her on a deeper level.
But George is just not interested, in relationships generally. It has nothing to do with her really, or anyone in this case. He would be lying if he said that people hasn’t been trying to get into a relationship with him ever since he got divorced.
But getting into a new relationship is just not his priority right now. All that matters is his daughter. And he really doesn’t think he has enough time or energy to start getting back into the dating scene.
Well especially after what happened to his last one. If he’s being honest, it has really left him empty and fucked up inside. But he would never admit it out loud to anyone ever. Not that anyone would want to hear about it anyways.
So in conclusion, he really has no desire to be in another relationship anytime soon, or maybe ever.
“Hii George, we meet again huh. It’s like the universe is really giving us a sign” she said to him teasingly and started to touch his hands in a very flirty and scandalous way. God he wants to run away and hide so bad right now.
“Haha, i’m pretty sure it’s just a coincidence Sarah, the kids love going to the park aren’t they?” He says awkwardly while trying to subtly pull her hands away from his shoulder.
“Yea, billy begs me to take him to the park everyday, honestly I would if you’d be here” she’s eyeing him down now and it’s really making him uncomfortable.
He has no idea how to answer to that right now so he just hums awkwardly in response instead. Hopefully she’ll get the hint and stop whatever this is, but boy was he wrong about that.
“Are you free tomorrow night George?” She ask with a very eerie soft tone “I was thinking maybe we could grab dinner tonight? Just the two of us”
“I don’t think that would be possible, i’m sorry but I can’t leave my daughter alone” Can this conversation end please!
“Oh that’s totally fine! I have a babysitter for my son and we can leave them with her, they also could have a playdate on their own you know? Sounds fun to me” She kept pushing.
“I’m truly sorry but I'm really not comfortable leaving my daughter, let alone with a stranger.” You can clearly hear it in his voice that he’s getting more annoyed now.
“Come one George, don’t be so boring now, i have been wanting to go out on a date with you since we first met! Why can’t you get the hint?”
“No offense Sarah, but I'm really not interested in dating right now so please respect my decisions on this matter, please take my hint also” He’s proper mad now. Voice slightly too rough.
He has enough of this so he stands up and starts to gather up their stuff and called out for his daughter.
“Bella honey, we need to go baby. Are you done playing?” Hopefully she won’t throw a tantrum because he decided to cut her playtime short today. He really feel selfish right now.
“Yes dada i’m done!” As she starts sprinting towards him. “Can we go buy pretty flowers now dada?” She asked with the biggest puppy eye now, landing right in front of him and putting her arms up for George to pick her up.
No tantrum at all, god she truly is an angel, he doesn’t even know what he did in his life so far to deserve a kid this well behaved, it’s a miracle really.
“Yes sweetheart of course, did you have fun?” He asked as he picked her up immediately and started walking out of the park. He felt relieved now finally.
“Yup, so much fun with sand” she said enthusiastically now. “Can we go again dada?” She’s asked titling her head a little.
And who is George to deny that when she’s asking him with the biggest puppy eye ever? He has never won against her, not ever since she was born.
“Sure thing baby, anything for you” He’s kissing her forehead now as they walk to the nearest supermarket with her in his hands.
This. This is all he ever needs. Her safe with him. Nothing else really matters to him right in this moment anyway. Not even his own self.