Everything comes back to you -J.MARIANO

[3.07]

ꪻaryn and Jess were officially together for two months before she even considered letting him finally meet Daisy. He had, through it all, been incredibly supportive and didn't bring up the subject himself and instead waited for her to be ready. He figured introducing her child to him would be a huge thing, especially with his past flighty behavior and he didn't want to pressure her into anything she would regret later even though he was certain he'd never leave her. He had spent the entire time after leaving her desperately yearning to go back. So why leave at all?

She was certain, despite Tas' natural wariness, that he had changed for the better. Upon realizing this small and attitude changing feature, Taryn arranged for Jess to meet Daisy four days later after he came back from a short business trip. So, whilst Daisy played with her toys in a complete world of her own creation, Taryn waited for the knock at the door she now almost always recognised as his.

It sounded five minutes before the time they had arranged, she always admired his punctuality and used it as one of the contributing factors that signified change within his mindset. Daisy's attention pulled itself away from her made up world and to reality as she grinned towards the wood of the door. "Auntie Ri Ri?"

"Not today honey," Taryn replied, her heart aching at the subtle and briefest disappointment that crossed behind her child's eyes. " A new person, is that okay?"

As Taryn walked to get the door, Daisy shrugged and turned back to her immersive playing. By the time she had opened the door, Daisy had moved on from her toy cars and had settled in her tiny pop up tent that functioned as a cafe with many wooden food items to be sold. Jess leaned into Taryn's brief kiss, hoping the distraction would settle the nerves that had twisted his thoughts. He hadn't quite figured out why he was so anxious about the situation. He had learned from Taryn that he was extremely likely to be welcomed with open arms by her daughter so it wasn't the fear of being hated by her that fueled the sweetness of his palms. "Daisy this is Jess," Taryn introduced as Jess pulled off his coat.

Daisy looked up from her tent, face just about poking out of the service window in the tent. She looked only at her Mom though as she asked, "Mama's friend?"

^Yes.^ Taryn signed back, knowing it was one of the few sign words that she had completely learnt already. Daisy simply waved at Jess, rather enthusiastically as always, before she went back to her cake baking. Jess, after waving back in a way that would be enough to melt even the coldest person's heart, followed Taryn into the kitchen and they took seats at the counter. Daisy played whilst Jess filled Taryn in on the wondrous and disastrous parts of his trip. She particularly loved to hear about missing luggage and the subsequent outfits one of his colleagues found himself forced to wear to all the important scheduled meetings.

"What's the inspiration for her name?" Jess asked after they had stopped their conversation so she could help Daisy pull apart two velcro pieces of wood.

Taryn responded instinctively, not at all thinking of the consequences that could arise from the minuscule piece of information. "She's named after Daisy Buchanan."

"Did you read it a lot whilst pregnant?"

"Not really," she cleared her throat and shuffled in her seat as confusion furrowed his brow in the most perfect way. She couldn't create another lie and dig herself even deeper into the web of untruthfulness that had been created mostly out of her own worries and concerns. He deserved to know, now that she was sure she could trust him again. Their relationship, even though it was earlier on still, felt like they were all each other would need and should already picture their future together. So, after years of lies, she decided to bite the bullet and inform the sixth person of Daisy's fathers identity. "We talked about it for days, I still have the copy you annotated for me on the shelf."