He was her teacher; She was his student.
He wanted her; She wanted him.
It shouldn't be complicated.
But nothing's ever that easy.
*contains mature content; read at your own risk
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Michael opened the door to the room labeled 437 and inside sat a small, pale child with dirty blonde hair and green eyes that matched her father's.
The little girl looked up from where she was coloring in her Beauty and the Beast coloring book and smiled widely when she saw Michael.
"Daddy!" She exclaimed running over to Michael.
Michael scooped her up in his arms and hugged her and kissed her chubby cheeks. "How's my princess doing today?" He asked.
"I'm almost all better!"
"That's good, princess. I brought somebody to meet you," Michael smiled at his daughter before setting her back in her bed.
He motioned for me to come over before introducing me. "Kenz, this is your Aunt Blake."
"Hi," she waved shyly hugging a teddy bear with a purple bow.
I returned the greeting and looked over the little girl's features. She was almost an exact replica of Michael. The only difference was that her hair was slightly darker than Michael's natural color, but nobody would ever know that because of the infinite amount of times that boy dyes his hair.
"Daddy? Do I get to go home with you soon?" McKenzie asked, drawing me from my observations.
Michael sighed. In the brief amount of time we have been in this room, I could already tell just how much Michael adored her. It had to be killing him not knowing whether he was gonna get custody of his daughter or not.
"I hope so, princess," Michael said while placing a smile on his face. It wasn't a real smile, I could tell, but the two-year-old couldn't tell the difference.
"Well, Auntie Blake and I have to leave now," Michael said after twenty minutes of her introducing me to all of her stuffed animals that had been given to her since she had been admitted to the hospital. There were at least fifteen of them, ten of which Michael alone had given her.
"Okay," McKenzie frowned but wrapped her tiny arms around Michael's neck first and then mine. "I love you, daddy. Bye Auntie Blake."
"Bye, Kenz. I love you more," Michael said, leaving a kiss on the top of her head. "I'll be back soon."
As we exited the hospital, the mood was slightly somber. Michael was more nervous than he would let anyone believe, but being his twin, we had this weird connection where we could feel each other's pain. My heart ached for him, but I couldn't let it bother me. I had to be strong and encourage him.
Before we got into the car, I touched his shoulder making him stop and look at me.
"It's going to be okay, Mike. There's no way in hell she's going to get your daughter. It would take a miracle for you to lose her."
"But miracles do happen. Jess is her mother. And why would the courts even consider giving her to me? I'm still in high school. I don't have a job. There's no way I could support her on my own. I'm still a fucking kid myself!" Michael cried out. He was on the verge of a breakdown.
"So?" I retorted. "Her mother nearly killed her, and it wasn't much of an accident. And if you're that worried, go get a job. Finish school. We'll graduate in a couple months. Show the court that you'll do whatever it takes to win your daughter. Show them that you want to be her dad, not just some ass of a sperm donor."
"But—" Tears were gathered in his eyes.
"No buts. You can do this, Mikey. I believe in you." I smiled as I finished my encouragement.
Michael grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug. It was a tight embrace where I tried to comfort him as much as possible. I wanted to let him know that everything was going to be okay.
"Thank you, Blakelynn," he whispered in my ear. "I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you."
"I love you too, Michael."
We separated a few moments later, and his stained cheeks told me that he had been silently crying during our moment.
"Do you want me to drive home?" I asked concerned that he might me a little too out of it to focus on the road.
"Please," he nodded and sat in the passenger seat.
»»»
After the events of this afternoon, I understood why Michael hadn't been more upset about my relationship with Luke. He was somewhat upset because in his eyes I was still his baby sister, and he didn't want to risk seeing me get hurt again or hurt like he did. I realized that after talking to him more about Jess and how McKenzie came to be. There had been a relationship there, but apparently it wasn't very healthy. Jess was secretive, but Michael made the mistake of trusting her just because she was a few years older than him, so he assumed that she was "older and wiser." Although he regretted giving his all to a person who only returned half, he didn't regret what it brought him— his daughter. The only reason why he had been slightly hesitant about my relationship with Luke wasn't because of the age difference like I initially thought but rather the fact that he could easily screw me over if he wanted to. I trusted Luke though with all of my heart, and while I didn't love him yet, I could slowly start to feel myself getting there. I could only hope that was just as invested in the relationship as myself and wouldn't pull a "Jess" on me.
