Promising Danielle Ch. 10

Mountains of gratitude to honeywldcat for her editing of this entire series.

*

"I've got a present for you." I said, plopping down on the couch next to Dani.

It was Father's Day. I had texted my father wishing him the best. Dad wasn't much of a talker, and I learned years ago that a call was rather pointless. All Dad really wanted was to know I was thinking of him on his Hallmark Holiday.

Danielle, however, was another matter. She was down and in the dumps from when we first woke up. It was simply another reminder that she didn't have a real family. Or, at least that's what she thought.

Little did she know that in the hours that I was in "lab," I was busy on the internet, at the library, and on the phone to the city, county, and state offices trying to track down her family. Most things were a matter of public record and searching around through them was easy, but bureaucratic and time consuming.

"A present? What kind of present?" she asked curiously. I handed her a card.

"A father's day card?" she asked, looking at me with terrible disappointment. "Did you really need to remind me that I don't have a dad?"

That nearly took the wind out of my sails. I thought my gift had been clever. She had clearly missed some part of it.

"Look inside the card." I urged. She opened it, and a small slip with an address fell out.

"What's this?" she asked, clearly confused.

"I've haven't really been going to lab in the afternoons," I confessed. "I've been moonlighting as a private detective. I've been digging through every bit of information that is a matter of public record that I could get my hands on."

She continued to look at me confused, but no longer sad. I took a deep steadying breath. She would have too, if she knew what I was about to tell her.

"This is the address of your biological grandfather. The card is for him."

I waited for a response from Danielle. I really didn't know what to expect. I wasn't expecting her to stare at me unblinking for a solid minute before she spoke.

"Really?" She was going to cry. Dammit, I hate making her cry, even if it's because she's happy.

"Really," I nodded. "I've already spoken to him several times, and he really wants to meet you." Tears were welling in her eyes but refused to fall. "He's here in town for a couple of days, if you want to meet him." I offered.

I didn't see the tears fall, mainly because that would have been physically impossible. She had flung herself at me giving me the biggest, tightest hug ever. Shit, when did she become She-Hulk? She was crushing me with all her strength, and either she was trying to head-butt me repeatedly, or she was trying to shower my face with kisses.

As I half fended her off, half tried to accept her kisses, she abruptly stopped and kissed me gently and deeply, each hand on either side of my face.

"Thank you." She whispered, tears lining her flushed cheeks.

"Don't thank me yet, thank me after you've met him."

"What's his name?"

"Charles, but he prefers Chuck. Chuck Victor."

"Danielle Victor." She said. "My real name is Danielle Victor."

"Yes it is. Now Ms. Victor, care to go meet your grandfather?"

We hopped in my car and I drove her to the hotel. I may have a car, but with the price of gas being what it is, I'll be damned if I drive to somewhere I can walk to. Danielle was of this opinion most of the time, too. It was good exercise for the both of us to walk and kept her legs nice and toned, which was far more important to me than "being healthy."

Danielle practically vibrated in the front seat. Her expressions were cascading wildly between excitement and nervousness. She was silent for the most part, looking out of the window and the windshield.

"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked cautiously.

"I need you to come with me," she said looking over at me. "I'll need you in case I hate him." The rest of the short trip passed in silence for the two of us, save the unremarkable noise from the radio.

I hadn't considered the possibility that she may not like her grandfather. I was under the impression that she would want to replace the void left by her rapists arrest with her real family. I had pictured a tear-filled reunion, like something out of a made for TV movie.

But this isn't TV. This is real life, where things don't always have a happy ending. There's no cheesy violin music in the background. Some wounds don't heal. Some wounds don't show up until long after they're inflicted.

I parked and we made our way up to the hotel room.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" I asked in the elevator.

"I don't know. I really want to be. I really want to have a real family. I want to like him."

"I think you will." I squeezed her hand. "He seems like a really nice guy."

The doors opened and I led her down the hall to his door.

"Here we are." I pointed out. She reached out and touched the door.

"My grampa is on the other side of this door."

"And he won't know you're here unless you knock."

She looked back at me uncertainly. I smiled in what I hoped she would perceive to be an encouraging way.

Tentatively, she made a fist and raised it to the door, hesitating. She backed her hand away, pulling it towards her chest. She held it there for a moment, looking at the door, almost as if she could see something I couldn't. Suddenly, she returned her hand to the door and knocked politely three times.

Not twelve seconds later, the door opened slowly.

Before us stood a short, well dressed man. It was clear that he was wearing his one and only set of "Sunday Best" clothing for the meeting. His hair was thin and grey, sweeping lazily back over his head like the imaginary greener field everyone always sees on the other side of the fence.

He was what some would call "wiry." He was thin, but not from lack of work. He had informed me that he was a carpenter, and I knew carpenters got quite a bit of work done. Judging from the part of his hand I could see, the skin was rough with wear and thick with callous.

He immediately put you at ease. He was the dictionary definition of "kind old man." His face was lined with both years of toil from his profession, but also many a laugh that comes with it. He had the kind of face that if this were indeed a made for TV movie, he would be killed by the villain to hurt the heroine.

But it was his eyes that were the most striking feature. Or, at least they were to me. They were exactly like Danielle's; turquoise.

"Grampa?" She asked slowly, a deep, questioning look in her eyes.

The old man stretched his lips in a happy smile, his eyes twitching as though fighting off tears, and nodded. She took the initiative and stepped to hug him tightly. They rocked gently back and forth in place, enjoying the reunion. For the moment, it looked like a happy ending. I felt a little voyeuristic watching this intimate moment, like I somehow didn't belong here. My intrusion didn't seem to register at all with my beautiful girlfriend or her grandfather.

After a moment, they parted and smiled at each other, sniffling and wiping their eyes.

"My name is Danielle."

"My name is Charles, but I prefer Chuck. You can call me whatever you like." He beamed up at her, short man that he was. "Come in! Come in! Where are my manners?" He stepped to the side, ushering us into his room.

"It sounds like you've already met my boyfriend, Toby." Dani gestured to me.

"Thank you, my boy." He shook my hand with both of his.

"You are more than welcome. It's nice to finally meet you in person."

"Are you two hungry at all?" Chuck looked brightly from me to Danielle.

"I could do with some food." It was midday and seemed like a good time to eat.

"Me too; Being nervous makes me hungry." The way she was shaking probably had something to do with it as well.

"Do you want to head to the cafe downstairs for some lunch then? My treat!"

"With all due haste then!" I'm always all for free food. Chuck patted down his pants, making sure he had his wallet and his room key and we headed down to the cozy little cafe in the lobby of the hotel. We made small talk to get comfortable with each other, ordering a light meal. Once our hunger was sated, the talk turned serious.

"You must have questions." Chuck offered, looking kindly at Danielle.

"Some...I guess..." She looked down shyly. Under the table, I felt her reach for my hand. I took it and gave it a squeeze.

"How did I get adopted? Why didn't I end up with you?" I'm not sure Chuck could see the unasked question behind their matching eyes, but I did. She was really asking, "Didn't you want me?"

"Because I didn't know about you." Chuck breathed a heavy sigh. Apparently, Dani had inherited her expressive sadness from his side of the family. "Your mother, Gwen, and I weren't on very good speaking terms. She was a rebellious little thing. She moved several states away and got married without telling me right after college. I got a phone call from the hospital informing me she died giving birth and that you were in the care of your father. He apparently got tired of being a single dad quickly and gave you up for adoption." He paused and I saw his arms flex as his fists clenched. "By the time I found out about you, you had been adopted, and there was nothing I could do to find you." He reached across the table for her other hand which she gave him. "I'm sorry."

"There was nothing you could do, grampa," she said gently. "I can only imagine what life with you might have been like."

"Dani," I squeezed her hand to get her attention. "He doesn't know." I hadn't told him about her adoptive parents. I didn't want him to blame himself for it. It was a burden I didn't want to put on him. It wasn't my right to tell him.

"What don't I know?"

"I'll tell you some other time." Danielle smiled one of her fake smiles at him. I had started referring to them as "High School Smiles," because that was the last place I had seen them. I hurt every time she wore one. "What about my dad? Do you see him at all?"

"No one's been able to find him. I tried to track him down several years ago, thinking you may have found each other, but he just vanished. Didn't show up for work one day, his manager reported him missing, and the case has been cold ever since. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She squeezed my hand.

They talked at great length for at least four hours. We got up, took a walk around the hotel and sat down at our table for dinner. Danielle learned about her real family. She had aunts, uncles, and cousins all eagerly waiting to meet her at the next holiday. My parents had meet Danielle at Christmas last year, so I guess they could live with missing both of us for once.

Soon, dinner too was finished and it looked like Chuck wanted to get to bed. He and Dani made plans to go out the next day. They said a happy goodbye and we headed home.

"This has been the best day of my life." Danielle sighed happily as she fell back on the bed. "Thank you so much!" She smiled and reached for me. I fell down next to her and wrapped an arm around her.

"You are more than welcome."

"You don't know how much it means to me," she said into my neck. "I have a family now. A real family. That wants me." I felt the smallest ping of hurt at not being her sole source of happiness in the world anymore. Sometimes I really hate my ego.

"You know what this means?" A happy realization!

"What?"

"You have someone to walk you down the aisle now." She smiled.

"I was going to ask Stacy to do it. She's the closest thing to a parent I've had since those bastards went away."

I smiled. Those bastards did indeed go away. Far away. Dani would never hear from her rapists again. They had all gotten made examples of. Even if the possibility came up for parole, it would be kind of hard when you've most likely died of old age before you became eligible. One of my most cherished memories of the past several years is the small amount of vengeance Danielle got on them, watching Mr. Carter and his fuckugly family in orange jumpsuits being lead away. They are the only people I have ever wished true suffering upon, and from the looks on their faces, they were going to receive some in the slammer.

"I have never felt more whole than I do right now." Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling as big as her tired face would let her.

"Just you wait until you meet the rest of your family. You'll feel so much better."

"I don't think that's possible." She threw her leg over me and pulled herself tighter to me. "I have you and a new family. Everything I could ask for."

"So, no house, no car, no job; just me and your family?"

"Yeah. As long as I have those two things, everything else is just icing on the cake." Sometimes, I wonder if she knows just how good and loved she makes me feel. If she doesn't already, she's about to. I worked my arm down to my pocket and pulled it out.

"I know I've never asked directly, and you've always said you wanted to, so this seems a little redundant." She opened her eyes, her smile fading a little but not leaving her face entirely. "I love you more than anything or anyone on the face of this planet, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I know, and I do to."

"So I'll take that as a yes?" I lifted the ring to her field of view.

"Of course!" she whispered hoarsely. She offered me her hand, allowing me to slip the ring onto her finger. It was just a simple silver band. I couldn't really afford a giant rock and lucky for me, she wouldn't have wanted one.

"I love you. So much." She cupped my face and kissed me deeply. Even when she stopped kissing me, she still held my face, looking from it to the ring on her finger. "I know it's just a formality, but I really like having your ring on my finger."

"I know what you mean. Kind of like how I can call you my fiancé now." It's always the little things that make me happy.

"You have made this the best day of my life. I think you deserve a little reward." She began to kiss and nibble at my neck.

"What did you have in mind?" She tucked her hand down the front of my pants.

"I'm sure we can think of something."

*

More to come. Any feedback is welcome. If you have any questions, let me know with a way to respond to you, and I'll do my best to answer.