My Hart

Chapter 35

"Thank you so much, girls! I feel so pretty!" Mom said as she said goodbye to Aubree and Kaylee.

"If you need anything, call me." Ayden said before kissing me.

"You can't stay?" I asked grabbing onto his shirt. I wanted him to stay to keep me grounded.

"Do you want me to?"

"I would love for you to be here. I'm so nervous." I said, my nerves starting to get the best of me.

My dad would be here in about half an hour. Mom kept fluffing pillows and re-fluffing them. I could tell she was nervous even though she kept saying tonight was going to go great. I knew she was trying to be strong for me. I kept rubbing my hands together, not quite sure what I was supposed to do with them. Ayden stayed right beside me, rubbing circles on my back. There was a knock at the door causing all of us to freeze. After a bit, mom finally spoke.

"I guess I better get that." Mom's voice trembled. She smoothed out her dress before heading to the door.

"Makenzie. This is your dad. Mark, this is your daughter." Mom said. I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. He had the same eyes as me. He has the same hair color as me. I was froze completely. My brain could not make my mouth work.

"Hello, Makenzie." Mark's voice was soft and shaky.

"Hi." I managed.

"Hello, I'm Ayden. Makenzie's boyfriend." Ayden said shaking my dad's hand.

"Very nice to meet you." Mark said smiling.

"Who wants a glass of wine?" Mom asked leading us to the kitchen.

"Your mom told me you have a birthday coming up." Mark said.

"Yeah, next week." I answered.

"I didn't know that." Ayden said surprised.

"It's not a big deal." I smiled at Ayden. The truth is, I've never had friends to celebrate my birthday with. It's always been mom, me, and a small cake. Ayden gave a small smile in return.

"I can't believe I found you after all these years. And you gave me a daughter." Mark said smiling at me. I smiled back.

"Can I ask you a few questions? I don't want to seem rude." I asked needing to clear out some of the thoughts racing through my head.

"Ask anything." Mark said straightening up in his chair.

"Do you have other kids?"

"No. I never married either. Your mom was it for me. No one has ever measured up to her." Mark said placing a hand on top of moms.

"Where do you live?"

"Straight to the point with no bullshit. You are my daughter." Mark said causing us all to laugh. "I live about two hours from here. I just bought a house there six months ago."

"What do you do for a living?"

"I own an architect firm."

"How long did you look for mom before giving up?"

"I never totally gave up. I hired a private detective. He brought me evidence that said your mom had been married. I stopped looking so hard core. Every blonde woman that walked by, I had to make sure wasn't Melanie. After eight years when my secretary was finally arrested, I put two and two together. She had paid off the P.I. to give me false information. I hired a new P.I. and let me tell you, your mom is a hard one to track down. As fate would have it, we spotted each other at the airport of all places."