Any fool can be a father but it takes a real man to be a daddy.

- Philip Whitmore Sr.

The house was very quiet but the slight murmurs of the people under my roof were hearable.

I twirled the pen in my hand and gripped the paper tightly. Once again, my eyes travelled through the information written there, memorising every line. They were going to be intercepted in my brain for years to come.

But when a certain person came into my mind, I sighed. Letting go of the paper, I stood up and rubbed the frustration out of my face. The stubble in my jaw scratched the inner skin of my palm reminding me to shave it off soon.

The afternoon outside the house was very warm. Light slipped through the window pane brightening my study room. I walked on barefoot feeling the carpeted floor beneath me, to stand before the window and gaze over the backyard. The gardeners were still tending to the flowers and bushes surrounding the backyard.

Every person was delayed for their chore of the day because of the little daughter of mine. At the first light of the day, she started wailing and throwing things around in anger saying she needed her mommy. I knew who she meant at that time but I had no words of comfort for her.

Since after her throwing things session she directed her anger over to me, I got delayed too. Thus, I stayed home to sort the problem out but eventually failed to solve it. It was not needed though. After Lydia became tired of throwing things around, her little feet walked her to her bedroom and I hadn't seen her since then.

Mommy.

She really needed a mother to groom her into a proper lady because I had no experience in that department. My knowledge only took me as far as to the inside of the boardroom. At home, parenting Lydia was hopeless. My mother could not tend to her needs daily. She had her own life to live with my father. It was not like she did not offer. She did but looking at the way Lydia behaved with her, I took the liberty to decline her offer.

The way I could see now. Lydia turned into a spoiled brat, throwing random tantrums, taking over the whole house. She had destroyed half her toys in her anger. Mom said she inherited her temper from me but I believe I wasn't that spoiled back in my childhood. It wasn't like I wouldn't buy her new things. I would but the way she behaved now-a-days had me worried.

My head started hammering with all these worries. And the waiting I did in these last three days didn't help me at all. Though right now, an aspirin would greatly help me. Taking a deep breath, I walked back to the mahogany desk and picked up the deserted paper that included the further details of the woman whom I hadn't seen or heard from, since three days now.

Claire Bishop

When would you call me, Ms. Bishop? When she said she needed time to think, I thought maybe it was only for a day or two but soon it would be the end of the third day and still, she didn't contact me.

As usual the worry crept on me at the thought of her backing away from my offer. I wouldn't blame her if she refused. I, myself had second thoughts about it but when my mind showed me the smile playing on Lydia's face on the day she pointed out her mommy, I relaxed myself and became more determined to make her happy forever.

In order to do that, if I had to give up my bachelor life then I would. Nothing would make me content than to have my family fulfilled but it wasn't up to me. It was up to Claire now. Her decision would make Lydia either a very happy little girl or make her a very wailing little girl and I couldn't handle her that way. I needed Claire to be the mother of my daughter. We both needed her in our house.

After the death of Lydia's biological mom, there was a vacant space in my house waiting to be filled with someone. Even though I tried to fill with all the riches of the world, it still felt empty. Thinking of that woman shooed away my worry for a moment replaced with the rage that usually followed at the thought of the betrayal she caused me six years ago.

To control the turmoil of emotions, I thought of Claire. Why that woman would even agree to this arrangement was out of my knowledge? Nonetheless I deeply hoped she would agree for my daughter's sake. She was really different and we needed different in our life.

At first glance, I thought she wasn't the usual woman I would choose for myself but seeing her that day before the diner rose an admiration in me. I admired her instantly because it takes a strong woman to be sane when money issues fall on her. And it wasn't just that, on closer inspection she was a pleasant sight. It was true she wasn't my usual choice but it was time to try for something different.

The paper fell from my hand and I opened the first drawer to find the object that I had picked up twice today. It laid upon the multiple files and gazed at me seductively.

Thick brown wavy hairs curtained the flushed heart shaped face. Light blue eyes gazed at me from the very depth of ocean making me drown myself in there. A pretty smile and curves in all the right places that could bewitch any straight man, including me.

I gripped the photo tightly in my hand and intently looked at the woman. Whether she agreed on my offer or not, I could agree on the fact that this Claire Bishop, was a very attractive woman.

A very one indeed.

******

As the sunlight slipped away with the rise of the moon, the hallways were getting darken. Two maids were present, closing the curtains and switching on the lights hanged over the wall.

When I passed them, they murmured their greetings and I nodded at them. Standing before the largest room in the house other wise known as my bedroom, I made a sudden decision to change my path and walked toward the door with purple glitters sticked on it. I cringed at the glitters ruining the carved design of the door but I couldn't stop the little girl from sticking them even if my life depended on it.

I knocked at the door before opening it. Sally, one of Lydia's maid was folding some clothes on the far side of the room. After the recent nanny went away, I decided enough was enough. I instructed many maids to take care of this little red hellion. Looking at Sally, I gestured her to leave. After she left, I made myself comfortable on the single couch positioned in front of the small bookshelf.

Lydia looked up from her position on the round rug in the middle of the room with curious eyes but then she shook her head and went back to her drawing. Couple of blocks and dolls were scattered around her making the room a bit messy. I never liked messy places. I liked everything organised and everyone under my roof knew it. It was probably why, Lydia messed up her room daily. Her little show of rebellion.

A small smile playing on her mouth caught my eyes. She looked so small and fragile that it made me want to even bring a star for her.

It was for my selfish reasons that stopped me from being close to her. When she was born, I vowed to keep her happy but as she grew up and her hair -the exact replica of her biological mother, grew to longer lengths- kept me away. I couldn't even look at her without having the flash of that wicked woman.

Eventually over the years, I stayed away from her but I did provide for her and protected her from all harm. It wasn't enough. I realised that but it was too late, she already hated me for never being there for her and for never bringing a mommy for her.

If it was that easy then I would had brought a mommy for her but marrying again disgusted me. But I made a decision myself. The early morning tantrum, the big fat tears rolling down her cheeks made me more determined to make her happy. It was time to set aside my dislikes for marriage to make my daughter happy. My one and only blood.

My eyes roamed around the room lingering on the princess stickers all over her wardrobe, her desk and the princess covered sheets on her bed. I needed to buy her a whole new set of furnitures with the print of that red haired princess. Some kind of princess in a fairly tale. I looked at the small bookshelf to find it covered with all kinds of story books. Ever since Claire called her Little Ariel, Lydia became a great fan of that princess and some other fairly tales.

Yesterday she asked me to take her to a princess store so she could buy all these things. Normally, I never took her for shopping. It was my mom or my housekeeper Gemma's work but this time, she personally asked me to take her and therefore I couldn't ignore her request.

Upon reaching the store, she immediately took me to the fairy tale section and choose all these princess stuffs. The girl who would only play with blocks and roll on the backyard now plays with dolls and reads princess story books. I was amazed at her different behaviour. A single woman just called her Little Ariel and she became like this. I wondered what she would do more if that certain woman asked her to.

Even though she was a little girl, sometimes she would behave more matured than her aged children did. Her room was also not of the typical little girl's room. It wasn't covered in pink. It was more like some shades of purple and that princess, Ariel. She loved the colour purple but hated the colour pink.

There were couple of things I knew about her but that was just it. I didn't know many things.

"Lydia?" I called her softly. When she glanced at me from beneath her lashes, I continued. "Do you really want a mommy?"

Immediately, her whole posture changed. All drawings and toys were forgotten as she turned, bestowing all her attention to me with a glowing smile. "Yes, yes. Where is she? Is she coming now?"

A simple question of mine brought over many questions of her own. Why did I bother to ask her? Now, I had to prepare her for a let down if Claire by chance declined my offer.

I shook my head at her. "No, not now." When her beaming smile faltered, I encouraged her by telling the truths. "She needs some time to think before she decides to stay with us."

But that was a wrong thing to say and I realised that too late. She completely lost her smile and her head dropped down. She whispered, sadly. "She is not coming, is she? She will decide, I'm a bad girl then she would go far away leaving me all alone."

At once, I kneeled down before her, on the rug cupping her face with my hands, clashing my grey eyes with her own grey eyes. "No, no. That's not it. You're taking it all wrong."

When she didn't respond and kept her her eyes down. I went through my brain to think of something to make her smile again. My mouth opened to speak before I could even think over the words. "No, she is coming. She...she just needs..yeah, she just needs time to pack. Yeah, that's it."

My words did their magic on her because she smiled brightly and hugged me closely while shouting with glee. "Yes! Yes! I knew it. She will come and stay with us. She will love us, Daddy! She will stay with us forever!"

I staggered back and froze. I was busy pondering over her open affection that I failed to hug her back. When I realised though, she already went back to her drawing. That damn drawing.

What was it even? I peeked at the chart paper in front of her and caught the title -Welcome home Mommy- before she completely hid it from me.

"No, Daddy! It's a surprise."

Wow. She was preparing for Claire's welcoming from now. She truly had faith that her mommy would come. Her little moment of weakness was due to my words but before that, she had complete faith on Claire. I couldn't say the same thing for myself though. What sane woman would agree to this deal?

Desperate woman.

Desperate and Claire? No, situations made people desperate. But whatever her reason was, I hoped she would just agree and free me from my misery. The deal was a easy one though. I just picked out the beneficial points from both partners side and offered it. It was a perfect deal but why did it still sound so ridiculous?

I shook my head and stood up to resume my earlier path to the master bedroom. The migraine from before came back again but the ringing of my phone froze me and I realised maybe Claire finally thought of contacting me.

At once, I pulled out my phone to see an...unknown number calling me? I had Claire's number on her bio data but forgot to save it in my phone. Maybe this was Claire after all.

Now who's being the desperate one?

Ignoring the little taunt in my head, I answered the call hoping with everything in me that, Claire Bishop finally came to a decision regarding me and my daughter.