The dinner ended with both of them silent. When Daniel had dropped her off that night, he decided that he had to clear the air.

    "Are you upset with me?" He asked as they both walked down the pavement.

  Anna faced him squarely. "What do you think?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Bringing up Scott ruined the mood and it's only our first date!"

     "I'm sorry. We both know it's true and I can't compete with Scott."

     She groaned... "You know what? I wanna smack that face of yours right now! Daniel I chose you because you're the one I want and not... Scott. But clearly," she poked his chest with a finger. "You don't know what you want."

    "Of course I know, Anna I love you and—"

   "But in your mind you're competing with Scott and that's not healthy. It's just the two of us, and whatever Scott and I had is long over." She frowned at him. "Dee, I really want us to work... But... You are making me think otherwise."

   "Oh Anna." He wrapped his arms around her body. "I just don't want to lose you."

    "Then stop acting like you're losing me." Anna said, looking at him.

   "Sorry. I am so sorry Anna." He apologized.

    She finally sighed. "Let's... Let's forget about it." Anna pulled away from him, giving him a small smile. "It's getting cold out here, you should get going."

    He nodded slowly. "I ruined our date, didn't I?"

    "Are you kidding? I got to fly in a helicopter!!" She exclaimed, seeming excited. "That was scary... But fun! I didn't even know you could fly one." She admitted, this time not feigning her surprise.

   Daniel chuckled softly. "You were so scared and I remember your face when I said I'd catch you if you fell. It was so hilarious."

    "And it was not funny." She shook her head before laughing. Their laugh died down and Anna decided to thank him. "Thanks, for being here." She told him.

    "You don't need to thank me." He smiled at her.

    "I do." She went closer, hugging him. "For always being there for Isla and me."
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

   "Grandma is planning the biggest party ever mom. Do you really think she's gonna invite JoJo Siwa to perform on my birthday?" Isla asked her mother as they had their breakfast.

    "I don't know peaches." Anna was busy on her phone and she paid less attention to Isla.

    "Make sure you're eating your vegetables Isla." Syla said, sitting across the table.

    Isla nodded at Syla but turned back to Anna. "Mommy, is daddy on his way?" Her mother hmmmed. "Call him, he should be here by now." Isla told her mom but Anna wasn't listening.

  "So birthday girl, what do you want for your birthday?" Naraya who just walked in, asked Isla.

    "A lot of things!! But not you worry, Grandma promised to get me all of them. I'm waiting for daddy so he could take me to grandma's house so that I can see the playhouse she made for me." Isla narrated happily.

    "That's nice. But I still have to get something for you baby girl." Naraya said to Isla.

   Isla turned back to Anna. "Mommy, how about daddy?"

    "He'll be here sweetie pie, relax." Anna answered her.

   Isla was spending the entire day with Scott. She was ecstatic and couldn't wait.

    "What if something happened to him, we should call him mommy." She continued pestering Anna.

    "You're only being paranoid munchkin." Anna told her.

  Isla studied her mom as her eyes were fixed on her phone. "Why don't you care about daddy?"

    Anna looked at Isla. "What?" She wasn't sure she heard Isla.

   "Why don't you care about daddy? Daddy is never late and you don't want to check up on him. You still haven't forgiven daddy." Isla frowned at her mother. She couldn't understand why her mom didn't care, but her daddy cared a lot! "Aren't parents supposed to care for each other?" She blurted out.

"I have forgiven your daddy Isla sweetie." Anna said slowly, reaching for Isla's cheek. "I've just been carried away by work." She tried to convince Isla with a small smile.

   Isla nodded, chewing on her lower lip. She looked like she was having difficulty in speaking. "Ijudowandagowayagain." Isla hardly pronounced her words audibly.

   Anna frowned at her. "Sweetie, what was that?" She found Isla's talk to be gibberish and incomprehensible.

  "I said," her voice was barely heard. "I just don't want daddy to go away again." She said, avoiding her mother's eyes.

   Anna glanced at Naraya and Syla who were looking at her, before turning back to her daughter. As Anna opened her mouth to speak, they all heard the door bell.

   Isla's face indeed lit up instantly.

   "Looks like we've got a visitor!" Naraya said, standing swiftly to answer the door.

   "It might be daddy!" Isla got on her feet, preparing to race out of the dinning.

   "Isla you don't know if..." She wasn't able to complete her statement when Isla dashed out. Anna sighed deeply. "Great." She said, dryly.

     "Don't be too hard on yourself and just go along with the flow." Syla said, watching Anna gulp down a full glass of water in a flash.

    Just then, they both heard Isla scream daddy happily.

   Anna groaned loudly. "Sometimes I wish Isla was grown so I could explain to her everything between Scott and I. It is just so hard for me to keep pretending Scott and I are okay when in reality, we are not. I wish I could tell my daughter how complicated everything is for me. I just hope the time won't come when she'd ask for an impossible thing."

   "That would be?" Syla asked.

   "Maybe, for Scott to move in with us or worse, move in with him. That would be crazy. And even more crazy now that I have a boyfriend." Anna said aloud.

    "Oh! Really? Since when? Who?!" Syla was inquisitive.

   Anna turned to Syla. "Daniel and I became a couple last night." She pulled her hair back. "Now I'm wondering how Isla is going to react to the news."

    "She's always known Daniel had a thing for you. She'll be happy." Syla assured her.

  "That was before Scott appeared into her life. I fear she is taking this daddy and Parents stuff pretty serious, it's unlike her."

   Anna walked into the living where she saw Isla and Scott talking. She cleared her throat when she none of them acknowledged her presence.

    "Hey." Anna tried to smile at him.

  Scott smiled back. "Good morning." He was staring at her. She was glowing! The two days he didn't see her, he was restless.

   "Here's everything she'll need." Anna handed Isla's backpack to Scott. "Call me if you need something else." She said to him.

    "Okay." Scott nodded, receiving the backpack.

    "Hey peaches." Anna pulled her daughter. "Be a good girl okay? Don't make trouble." Isla nodded, grinning at her mom. "Okay." She kissed Isla's forehead. "I love you baby."

     "I still can't believe I'm having a sleepover at daddy's!!" She squealed happily.

    "Mommy's gonna miss you." Anna smiled, ruffling Isla's hair.

   "I know." She giggled, going to take Scott's hand.

    "We're leaving now." He told Anna.

   She nodded, looking down at Isla. "Alright." Anna nervously looked up, locking eyes with Scott. "Call me immediately if anything comes up."

   "Will do." Scott nodded before turning to leave.

   "Bye mommy." Isla looked back to wave at Anna.

    "Bye honey." Anna blew a kiss to her daughter.

    Scott glanced back at Anna, parting his lips to speak.

    Anna's eyes widened as she waited in anticipation for him to say something to her but then her heart fell when he turned away without uttering a word, leaving. She sighed sadly.

    "That was awkward." Naraya noted, leaning on the door frame with her arms folded over her chest.

   Anna looked at Naraya. "What?"

   "It was obvious you both wanted to say something to each other. Don't tell me you fought again." Naraya would not be surprised if they did.

     "We didn't." Anna said beginning to walk away. "I'm going to AnStin, are you coming?"

   "Sure! I'll grab my bag." Naraya said before disappearing away.

    Anna sighed deeply, running her hand down her long her. "I'm so stupid." She whispered, scolding herself. It wasn't even up to two days, yet she was emotionally cheating on Daniel.

    Why couldn't she just go back to hating Scott, that way, it would be easier.
................................................................................

    "Are you excited?" Scott asked, fixing the rearview mirror to get a better view of his daughter at the back seat.

   "Of course I'm very excited daddy! It's the best day of my life." Isla grinned happily. "We are going to Disneyland!!!"

   Scott smiled, glancing at his little girl briefly. "Um... Princess can I ask you something?"

    "Uh-huh." She nodded, trying to braid her Barbie doll hair.

   "It's about your mom."

   "What about her?"

  "How is she?" Scott asked her.

   "You could have asked her when you saw each other." Isla told him.

    "I wanted to... But I didn't know if she would have answered me." Scott shrugged.

  "Why wouldn't she, unless..." She looked at the rearview mirror. "Are you fighting again?" Isla frowned at him.

    "No princess, we aren't."

"Daddy, all my friends think it's weird we aren't living together in one house. Did you divorce mom?" Isla accused him.

   "Divorce?" He was surprised. "Your mom and I were never married sweetie."

   "Then how come... Then how come I was born?" Isla looked confused, scrunching up her nose.

   He had no idea how to tell Isla in a way she'd understand. "Well... We did something crazy and you, my princess came along." Scott smiled, glancing at Isla who still didn't look convinced.

    "Where do children come from? I don't believe the Storks bring them at all." Isla curiously asked.

   "The... Storks?" He had no idea what she was talking about.

    "Yeah. Everyone knows Storks bring a baby each time a letter is sent to them. I have written tons of letters to them but they never bring any baby." Isla said to her father.

    "I'm sorry, Storks and babies? What's that?" Scott asked still not getting any hint of what she meant.

    "I wrote to the Storks that I wanted a baby sister but they never replied any of my letters. So I don't believe in it anymore." Isla shrugged her shoulders.

    "Well that's... Nonsense. Storks don't bring babies, those are bunch of bullsh..." Scott halted from the use of vulgar in front of Isla.

   "Then where do babies come from?" She asked again.

   "From..." He thought for a while. "Heaven? I guess?"

    "Does heaven open and the baby falls from the sky?" Isla kept on asking.

  "No." Scott sighed, looking for a better explanation. "Your mom has to get pregnant first."

   Isla's eyes widened in realization. "Ohh." She nodded slowly. "That's true." Another question popped in her head. "How do we get mom pregnant then?" She looked happy with what her father was telling her.

    Scott took in a sharp breath instantly. He coughed. "Why do you want your mom pregnant?" He asked her.

    "I want a baby sister!" She exclaimed happily. "So tell me!!! How does mommy get pregnant?" Her eyes lit up waiting for his answer. 

   Scott needed to divert her attention so that she could stop asking about pregnancy and stuff about babies. "Oh look baby girl," he pointed at the window. "We are so close to the airport."

   "We are?" She turned to the window. "We are!! Daddy, are we gonna fly in an airplane?"

   "Yep! Daddy's private plane." Scott told her, inwardly praying that she stopped asking questions about babies. His plan worked! In a second, Isla was back to talking about what she would do at Disneyland nonstop.
🐞🐞🐞🐞🐞🐞🐞

     Both father and daughter wore themselves out, going from one ride to the other— Peter pan's flight, It's a small world, sleeping beauty Castle Walkthrough, Autopia, King Arthur Carousel, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo the flying elephant.... A lot more! Isla bought anything she could lay her hands on, and Scott happily gave her whatever she wanted. In short, the two had the best fun ever.

    "I look like a princess!" Anna twirled and struck a pose.

    "Don't worry, once we get back, I'll get you all the best tiaras on the planet. Do you like diamonds?" Scott asked picking her up in his arms.

     "I love whatever sparkles." Isla squealed.

    "Fantastic." He gave her a big kiss on her cheek, blowing raspberries on it.

   Isla giggled loudly. "Daddy!"

     Hours and hours passed, Scott and Isla headed to a hotel in a limousine. Isla had passed out while seated across Scott, clutching her newly acquired Princess Elsa doll. She was looking so cute and adorable even when sleeping.

     He took out his phone, taking a picture of Isla sleeping and soon took to his Instagram. With the caption My little Princess. It wasn't even up to a minute, Scott started getting notifications and comments. He turned off his phone not wanting to see any of it, as he watched Isla sleep peacefully.
................................................................................

   
   He fluttered his eyes, feeling something touching his nose. Opening his eyes halfway, Scott noticed a figure hovering above his face.

    "Daddy? Daddy?" Her soft voice called out to him as she poked his nose slightly with the tip of her finger.

   Sense knocked Scott immediately and he became conscious of his surrounding. "Oh, hey." He slowly sat up, turning to Isla who was beside him. "Baby, what's wrong?" He asked groggily, touching Isla's cheek. 

   "I'm thirsty." Isla said, looking at him.

   "You are? I'll go get you water, come on." Scott pulled the comforter away from his body. He got out of bed, picked up his phone before taking Isla in his arms.

    Scott carried her to the mini kitchen in the luxurious penthouse. He took out a bottle of water from the fridge.

   "Here you go Isabelle." He said, opening the cap.

    "You're supposed to pour it in my water bottle." Isla rubbed her eyes.

   "Oh, okay." Scott nodded, looking around. "Princess, do you happen to know where I kept your backpack?"

    "The room." She yawned. "Daddy I'm hungry." She said lazily.

    "Wha-what? Now?" He blinked at her repeatedly. "But sweetie it's..." He tapped on his phone to check the time. "Three Thirty."

    "But I'm hungry." Isla looked up at him. "I wanna eat fried bologna sandwich."

  Scott nodded, running his hand down his hair... "I'll call room service. Hold on." He hoisted her up on the counter top.

    "My water bottle too." Isla reminded him as he was about leaving.

   Scott nodded, walking towards the living room. He was extremely tired and exhausted due to the running around he did with Isla, he had never thought it would be so exhausting. He got to the telephone and placed the receiver over his ear and then dialed a number.

   "Can I get fried bologna sandwich? Yes. Thank you. Please make it quick. Um.. No. Well just make everything extra. And please, do me a favour and make it ummm... Kid friendly. Yeah. Thanks." Scott said before dropping the receiver.

    He sighed deeply before unlocking his phone.

32 Missed calls...

25 messages....

  "What the..." He frowned, opening the messages as most were from Anna. She went from asking about Isla to raining insults on him. Scott was tempted to call her but it was too early. He knew why she was tripping, of course! The picture on his Instagram.

  Scott immediately logged into his Instagram. 2million likes?! His eyes almost popped out of its sockets. He read the comments mentally.

Who is the adorable little girl?!

Oh Em Gee! She looks like him.

Is she related to him?

The girl looks like Scott.. Swears.

It's a first Scott's posting someone other than himself and his family.

Undeniable resemblance.

   There were tons and tons of comments about Isla. A user had even pic mixed his picture with that of Isla to make a more striking resemblance.

His parents called. Daniel called. Chad called. Anna called... More than the others.

      "Daddy."

Scott snapped out of his daze to look at his daughter who was meters away.

      "I'm thirsty and you left me." Isla whined, folding her arms as she pouted at her father.

   "Oh!" He had forgotten about the water bottle. "Sorry sweetie. Come here."

   Isla walked over to him, receiving a kiss on the head from him.