Epilogue

6 months later

Caroline nervously stood at the white door, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and chewing on her lip. David set the car seat down and held her arms.

“Baby, we don’t have to do this.”

Caroline chewed on her lower lip and fiddled with the ring David had given her just a few months earlier. “No--I know…but I want to. I mean, kind of. After all, I excluded him from the wedding…” she let her voice trail off. “It’s only fair that he meet his granddaughter.”

“That’s totally up to you,” he gave her a warm hug. “Don’t put pressure on yourself to do something if you don’t feel comfortable with it.”

Caroline nodded as she digested her husband’s words. “I have said that I wanted to get some answers from him…gotta start somewhere.”

“Okay, then.” David pressed the doorbell and gently picked Bella up, handing her to Caroline.

The man Caroline had grown to fear, yet felt an unexplained affection toward opened the door and smiled at his youngest daughter. “Hello, Caroline.”

“Hi, Dad,” she said softly and turned her body so Frank could see Bella’s face. “I’d like you to meet your granddaughter, Bella Grace.”

Frank rubbed Bella’s head. “She’s beautiful, Car. I know that I’m probably the last person you want to see right now, but it means so much to me that you brought her by.”

“Can we come in, Dad?” Caroline peeked into the living room. “I’d--well, we should talk.”

Frank seemed a little…afraid…of what his daughter was going to say to him, but he stepped aside and let the couple in.

“You remember David, right?” Caroline asked as she motioned to her husband.

Frank nodded and extended his hand. “Good to see you again.”

“You too,” David replied as he set the car seat down and leaned forward to shake the older man’s hand.

Frank cleared his throat and pointed to the couch. “Would you like to sit? I--I, uh, have water, Coke, sweet tea…if you’re thirsty.”

“I’m fine,” David replied and shook his head while Caroline pursed her lips.

“I’ll take some ice water,” she said softly. “I’ll come with you. I also need a mug of hot water to heat up Bella’s bottle.”

Frank nodded. “No problem.” He pointed at the couch. “Stay here. I’ll get it.” He walked out of the room and Caroline turned to David.

“I’m really proud of you, Cari. I know this isn’t where you want to be right now, but I also know how much it means to your father.”

Caroline shrugged. “It feels so weird to be here.” She gazed around the living room, letting the familiarity of her surroundings sweep in. “Part of me is expecting to see my brothers and sister run through the front door any minute now. An even bigger part of me would like that…things being the way they used to be.”

“But if things were the way the used to be, we never would’ve met.”

Caroline pursed her lips. “I know,” she nodded slowly. “I just--it’s--”

“Relax. I know what you mean.” David laid his hand on her shoulder. “I’m just giving you a hard time.”

Caroline nodded and a smile came to her lips. “I know, I know. It’s because you love me.”

“You bet.” David chuckled.

Bella started to fuss just as Frank walked out of the kitchen. “Perfect timing, huh?” he commented as her set a glass and a mug on the table.

“Yup.” David took Bella from Caroline’s arms and she started preparing the bottle.

After a few minutes of walking back and forth, David was still unable to calm Bella down. Though he’d never say so, Caroline could tell by the frown on his face, he was becoming increasingly frustrated.

“Can I try something?” Apparently Frank sensed the frustration as well.

David glanced at Caroline. She looked like a clichéd deer caught in the headlights.

“S--sure,” she nodded hesitantly and David handed Bella to her grandfather.

Frank sat in the recliner and gently rocked Bella. She stopped crying almost immediately.

“Good job.” David commented.

“Thanks.” Frank nodded. “Back in the day, it was the only way I could get this one to calm down,” he used his elbow to motion to where Caroline was standing.

Caroline smiled politely and pulled the bottle from the steaming mug. She tested the temperature of the formula and looked up at Frank. “Would you like to feed her?”

“Really?”

The cautious tone of Frank’s voice led Caroline to believe that he was not expecting to be holding Bella, much less feeding her.

“Yeah,” Caroline responded in a soft voice. “Here.”

Frank received the outstretched bottle and once Bella was content, her turned his gaze back to his daughter. “So, uh, wh--what did you want to talk about?”

Caroline sat down on the couch and placed her hands in her lap. “I--” David sat next to her and slid his arm around her shoulders. “I just wanted to ask you why, dad,” she bit her lip as tears stated to fall from her eyes. “Why did you hurt me?”

Frank opened his mouth to respond at least three times before he was actually able to come up with a decent--at least is his mind--statement. “I don’t know how to answer that, Caroline,” he finally admitted.

“You don’t know how to answer that?” Caroline repeated bitterly. “Well, that’s just great,” she muttered sarcastically. After a few seconds of silence, she shrugged David’s arm off of her and forced herself into a standing position before walking out the front door.

David frowned at Frank. “I should--”

“Yeah.” Frank nodded and watched David walk out the door.

Caroline was sitting on the front steps with her head in her hands. She felt a touch on her shoulder and looked up. David was sitting next to her. She pressed her forehead against his chest and sobbed; muffled ‘I’m sorry’s being the only other sound coming from her

“I know,” David soothed into her hair.

“How could I have thought this was a good idea?” Caroline asked after giving herself a few minutes to steady her breathing. “One simple question and he couldn’t answer it.”

David shook his head. “In all fairness, that really wasn’t a simple question, Cari.”

“You’re on his side?” She looked up at her husband with betrayal flashing in her eyes.

“No sides. We’re not in elementary school.” David shook his head again. “You’re probably not going to like what I have to say, though. This can’t be easy for him. Imagine having to face something shameful from your past that you’d rather forget.”

Caroline pursed her lips. “I should just let it go because he feels bad?”

“No. Cari, please don’t mistake what I’m telling you. I am by no means telling you that you need to get over it or let it go. In fact, if you were to tell me you didn’t forgive him or even want to--”

“I don’t.”

David nodded. “I understand that. But let’s pretend, just for a minute, that one day you change your mind…”

“Yeah,” Caroline scoffed. “It’ll be a cold day in--” she grinned sheepishly when David narrowed his eyes at her.

“I’m not saying that it’s going happen today, tomorrow, or even next week. Don’t close yourself off to the possibility, though. Especially since you’ve already taken a big step towards it.”

“Excuse me, guys.”

Caroline looked behind her when she heard the screen door snap shut. “Hey, dad,” she said casually. The causualness of the moment turned to panic when Caroline remembered that she left her daughter with a man she didn’t quite trust. That’s a great parenting skill right there. She jumped up and reached out for Bella. “Is Bella okay?”

“She’s absolutely fine.” Frank tickled the infant and smiled when she giggled. “She’s finished with her lunch--well, for now anyway--and I was wondering if you had a burp cloth.” He handed Bella to Caroline.

Caroline took a breath as her heartbeat slowed to a normal rate. “Yeah. There’s one in the diaper bag. Actually, now that I think about it, she’s about due for a diaper change.” She started toward the house.

“I got it.” David stood up and took Bella. Caroline widened her eyes, but it didn’t seem to faze David. He rubbed her back and leaned closer to her. “Talk to him,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll be back.” His voice returned to its regular pitch and he flashed a cheesy smile before walking into the house with Bella.

“Caroline,” Frank cleared his throat and sat on the step. “This may not mean anything to you, but I really am sorry about the abuse. I’m not going to give you some lame excuse to make me look less guilty or in the hopes that you’ll forgive me, but--”

“I--”

Frank put his hand up. “I’m not expecting you to forgive me, Caroline. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re here at all.”

“You can thank David for that.” Caroline said matter-of-factly before she sat down. She sat on the same step as her father, but there was a distance between the two. Caroline was okay with that distance and she honestly didn’t give any thought to whether Frank was or not.

Frank smiled. “I’ll do that,” he said quietly. “One thing I’ve wanted to ask you about is that day I saw you two in the hospital. You called David your boyfriend…was that completely true?”

“No.” Caroline lowered her head. “He asked me…” she tapped her chin, “the day before, I believe. Anyway, I wanted to avoid a lecture.”

Frank shook his head. “No lecture. David seems like a great guy. I can tell how much he loves you…and Bella.”

“Yeah,” Caroline nodded and smiled. “I love him too.”

Frank folded his lips inside his mouth. “I heard something about your child not being his…” He let his voice trail off.

“No, she’s not.” Caroline figured he’d wanted an explanation. She knew she would if the roles were reversed. “I was raped.”

Frank covered his mouth. “Oh, my--” he reached out to hug her but stopped before he touched her arms. “I--” he pulled back. “Are you--was there any permanent damage?”

“No.” Caroline shook her head. “I had a rough time giving birth to Bella, but that had nothing to do with the rape…or her father being a manipulative jerk.”

“Good.” Frank forced a smile and rubbed the tops of his legs. “David doesn’t have a problem raising another man’s child?” Frank put his hand up when he noted Caroline’s outraged gasp. “I’m asking because I want to make sure he’s good enough for you.”

Caroline had to smile. Her father really did care. “No, he doesn’t.” She chuckled. “That’s the question I get asked most often.”

“Are you going to tell Bella?”

Just then David walked out the door with Bella. He leaned down to kiss Caroline and handed Bella to her before sitting down. He smiled at Frank. “No. All she needs to know is how much her mom and I love her.”