When Love Comes to Town

"Morning guys." I called out on a chilly Monday morning as I entered the garage at Thompson's Auto Mechanics and Parts in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

My name is Ben Davidson, I'm a twenty-seven-year-old apprentice motor mechanic and a divorced dad with a daughter who's now seven. I'm 6'2 with light brown hair and in good shape. I started my apprenticeship three years ago, thanks in large part to my best friend Tyson Brown, who convinced his boss to take me on. It's a bit weird having your best friend as the mechanic teaching you, added to that I'm actually a month older than him as well. But this job's been really helpful in turning my life around.

"Morning Ben, let me know if you're ready to grab a quick coffee before we get started." Tyson replied in amongst the other guys saying good morning.

"Yeah, for sure. Just let me drop my bag off in the locker and I'll be right with you." I replied as I put my bag away before making my way with Tyson to the coffee shop a few doors down from the garage.

"Shame about the Steelers on the weekend, they could've clinched the division with a win." I offered Tyson, he's an even bigger Steelers fan than me.

"That's okay, we're still in the play-offs anyway. So, did you end up doing anything on the weekend apart from seeing your mom?" Tyson asked.

"Nah, money's a bit tight still." I replied.

"And your mom? How's she doing?" Tyson asked once more.

"The same. It's depressing seeing her like that, but what can you do?" I replied, not expecting an answer.

My mom had me in her late thirties and I'm her only child, she's sixty-five years old now and has suffered from Motor Neuron Disease for the last seven years, she's mostly wheelchair bound now and lives in a nursing home where she can get some level of care. I never knew my dad, so it's been tough for both her and me.

"Anyway, I got some news for you though. I was out with Clara on Saturday night; she told me something that'll interest you for sure." Tyson said.

"What is it? Has she found another girlfriend she wants to set me up with? The last time went really well." I replied laughing. The last time went bad, very bad. It's been almost two years since my last real relationship of any kind, and that only lasted about three months.

"Well, that depends, I guess. Does your ex-wife count as finding another girlfriend for you?" Tyson asked with a sly grin.

"What? Susie's married and lives in Honolulu. Did Clara say something about her?" I asked, not sure where Tyson was leading this.

"Yeah, that she ain't married no more, or at least she doesn't live with her husband now. She just got back home, that means your daughter is with her too." Tyson answered.

That was the best news I've heard in ages; I haven't seen my now seven-year-old daughter since she was just two years old.

"Is Clara sure that Susie's back for real? Not just visiting her parents for the holidays?" I asked again, not wanting to get my hopes up too much just yet.

"Yeah, she's sure. She was over at Susie's parent's house all day Friday helping Susie to unpack all her stuff. It's weird, they haven't seen each other for what, five years now? And they seemed to be best friends again like no time has passed." Tyson responded.

"Did Clara say anything else? Anything about Halie and if I can see her?" I asked further.

"Look, I already asked Clara about you, if Susie will be okay with you going over there to see your daughter. I knew that'd be the first thing you'd want to know. I'll let you know as soon as Clara finds out." Tyson replied as we drank our coffees.

"Thanks, I don't want to get my hopes up yet, though. Susie and I didn't really part on good terms the last time I saw her." I replied.

"That's when you got put up on assault charges, wasn't it? I still think you were lucky to get off, my black ass would've been incarcerated for sure if I done what you did." Tyson replied while laughing a little.

"Yeah, but it was worth it, he had it coming." I replied, referring to my ex-wife's new husband or is that now ex-husband? Not sure yet.

We finished up our coffees and made our way back to the garage to start our day.

Susie and I got married when she was still eighteen and I had just turned nineteen, and of course she was already pregnant with our daughter Halie which is why we got married so young. Yes, we named her Halie Davidson, it would've been Harley, but Susie refused to allow me that.

Susie and I had been longtime childhood sweethearts; we were together for six years by the time we started having sex and Susie fell pregnant after having turned eighteen only a few months earlier. She had only just turned nineteen when she gave birth, that was about the same time that my mom got diagnosed with MND. Talk about highs and lows.

I was doing multiple crappy jobs to bring in some money; I didn't really have any career goals or ambitions. I just wanted to be a dad to Halie, a husband to Susie, and a son to my mom Joan who needed more and more support. With my mom's condition especially, money became very tight, not that we had any money before that. Her meds alone were way more than she could afford, she also could no longer work as well so I would use whatever extra cash I had to help her out. All the while trying to support Susie and Halie too, living in a small run-down apartment, it was damn near impossible.

Things went from bad to worse when only two years after Halie was born, I fucked up big time. I was supposed to be helping Tyson out at the garage one weekend to fix up his car when we got asked by some other friends to go to a party that night instead. I hadn't been out anywhere in ages because of the money situation, so I agreed to go along when they offered free drinks and other substances. I decided not to tell Susie about the party because she was at home looking after Halie.

That night I drank and took some other stuff that had me spinning and buzzed way more than I can ever remember; I ended up later that night on the couch playing tonsil hockey with some girl I barely knew. She then led me down the hallway to a spare room where we fucked. At the time, I couldn't explain why I did it, I could've blamed it on the drugs and alcohol, or that I was only twenty-one, or perhaps that Susie was the only girl up until that night that I'd even kissed, let alone had sex with.

No, there really was no excuse.

What I didn't know was that there were two separate friends of Susie's at the party, both of them telling her what happened independently. I was fucked.

We didn't break-up and divorce straight away; it was another three months before Susie finally kicked me out. Susie tried but, in the end, she couldn't get past what I'd done to her that night. I couldn't blame her, but I did try everything I could to get back into her good graces. I loved Susie, she's the only girl I've ever been in love with, which still holds true to this day. So, I was married at nineteen, divorced at twenty-one.

It took a few years before I even entertained the idea of being with another woman in a relationship, but even then, I couldn't help but to compare her to Susie and we never went anywhere, breaking up after just a few months. Since then, I've mainly kept to myself, working to pay the bills and to help out my mom. Even though she's been moved into a nursing home, it's not very good and we didn't have any health insurance or money to get anything better.

I even sold off her furniture from her rental apartment when she was moved, but that barely covered the nursing home's entrance fees. To top that off, not six months after our divorce, Susie met an older rich guy in his thirties named Bill Johnson. He swept her up and promised her the world, a good home for both her and Halie.

If I was angry about this guy being with Susie, it got worse quickly when he proposed to her as he had purchased a resort hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii and wanted Susie to be with him to help manage it.

Not only was he taking the only girl I've ever loved, but now he was going to take my daughter away from me too. I flipped, I went over to Bill's place where Susie and my daughter were now staying and started pummeling the guy. I say started, because he ended up trying to give as good as he got, not that it worked out too well for him though. But our fight took place inside his house, in front of his new fiancée, with my two-year-old daughter present. Not my best moment.

The Police and Child Protective Services weren't that impressed either. I got charged with assault and handed a restraining order, now I couldn't even see my own daughter while I waited for my court hearing. The three of them left shortly after for Hawaii, Susie did however get Bill to request that the Police drop my assault charge as a parting gift. I'm still thankful to her for that.

But in the five years since, I haven't been able to afford to fly to Hawaii to visit my daughter due to me needing to financially help out my mom, and I'm not sure if they would've let me see Halie once I got there anyway. On top of that I had no contact details for Susie either, and when I brought over some money to her parents to send over for Halie shortly after they had relocated, they told me that Susie and Bill didn't need my money, that they were refusing to accept it, and that I should use my money to help my mom instead.

After having a father that never once tried to contact me and didn't give my mom a dime, here I was feeling that I was doing the same to my own daughter. I felt like total shit, a failure in every way and I was barely holding myself together. The worst part was that I knew it was all my fault, if I'd just gone home that night and avoided that fucking party, my life could've been a whole lot different.

All these thoughts have come rushing back to me, thinking about Susie and my daughter and what could've been. Susie looked good when we first started going steady as awkward young teenagers, but then she blossomed into an extremely attractive young woman, a total hottie. By the time she was eighteen she turned heads everywhere she went.

She's 5'6 with sparkling grey eyes and golden blonde hair, an athletic figure with wonderful round C cup breasts. She was always smarter than me as well, she should've really had gone to college, well if it wasn't for me and my dislike for condoms.

Her best qualities though are her laugh and her smile. That she was always fun to be around, and everything always seemed better to me when Susie was close by. She'd told me about her deepest thoughts and feelings that no-one else knew, and I told her mine. Neither of us liked being away from each other either, all of our friends saw us almost as being joined at the hip, there was no Ben without Susie. Until that one night and that damn fucking party!

I know where Susie's parents live, now I just need to find out if Susie will let me over to visit.

On Wednesday, Tyson grabbed me as I got to work, we both did our usual trip a few doors down to get some coffee.

"Susie said 'yes'. You can go over there on Saturday morning to see Halie." Tyson told me as we walked along the sidewalk.

"Fuck, that's great news. Tell Clara I said thanks for her doing that. I would've just shown up uninvited otherwise." I responded.

"Yeah, no doubt. Best to start off on the right foot this time, eh. Just take it easy with Susie as well, Clara said she's been going through a lot lately, with leaving her husband, moving back home and all. The last thing she needs right now is for you to be a pain in the ass." Tyson added.

"Yeah, best behavior I swear." I replied while smiling.

I couldn't wait for Saturday now, I started to wonder if my daughter would even remember her dad. Bill didn't want me to have any contact with Susie and by extension Halie, and Susie apparently never fought him on that.

Five long years I haven't seen or spoken with my daughter, I don't even have a recent photo of her, the last one I got was one that Susie's parents gave me a few years ago but asked that I stop coming around and asking about their granddaughter. Her parents are great people, they just wanted what was best for their daughter, and that meant not going against Susie and Bill's wishes of not having me involved in any way in their daughter's life.

I knocked on the door, I can't believe how nervous I am, standing here at Susie's parents' house. I've been here so many times before, for so many Christmas's and Thanksgiving's, Birthdays and Sunday night dinners. I even used to sneak into Susie's bedroom when we were still teenagers. John and Mary Bowers were always good to me, they always treated me like I was their own son as Susie was their only child as well. Yet here I am, nervous as fuck.

The door swung open, and there stood Susie. My God, she looks even better than I remembered her.

"Hi Ben, it's good to see you. I need to talk to you for a moment before you come in to see Halie." Susie said as she stepped outside, closing the front door and leading me out to the front yard gates.

"Sure. Hey, you look good Susie, all that Hawaiian sun I guess." I replied, not sure what else to say.

"Thanks Ben. Look, I don't know how else to say this, so I'm just going to be straight with you, okay. Please don't get mad, can you promise me that first?" Susie asked.

"Depends on what you tell me. But I promise I'll try to be civil, whatever it is." I responded.

"It's about Halie, she doesn't know that you're her father." Susie told me as I stood there with an expression of shock across my face.

"What do you mean? I don't get it." I stumbled with my reply.

"She thinks Bill is her dad, that's all she's ever known since she was just two years old. I'm sorry, but we both thought it best if Halie didn't know about you, that it'd make it easier for her and for us. I should never have agreed to it, but I also never thought I wouldn't be with Bill either." Susie answered me.

"So, not only did he take the only girl I've ever loved, but he wanted my daughter too. I'm starting to not regret beating his ass that day. Where you ever going to tell her? Did you think that I wouldn't have eventually found where you were living and come to see her at some point?" I replied, more than a little frustrated.

"I know, we would've crossed that bridge if we had too. Bill was adamant that you would just move on, happy that you didn't have to pay any child support. That you didn't deserve her." Susie replied to me.

"And you believed him? You went along with him wanting to remove me from my own daughter's life?" I shook my head, disbelieving what I was hearing.

"I get that Bill's an asshole, wanting my family for himself, but that you would go along with it. You had to know that I'd never give up on my daughter like that." I continued.

"I'm sorry, and you're right. I should never have agreed to it, but he can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be. It's a decision I've regretted ever since." Susie responded.

"Okay, but you're going to have to tell her now. You need to tell her the truth." I responded firmly.

"I will, but leaving her home, her school and her friends has been hard on her, especially with leaving her father as well." Susie replied.

"He's not her father, he's just some guy who was banging her mom." I replied more forcefully.

"Ben, to her Bill is her father. You need to understand that. I can't just go in there and tell her all that was a lie, and by the way, here's your real dad." Susie responded, frustration in her tone.

"Why not? It's like tearing off a band-aid, better to get it over with." I replied, getting more frustrated.

"I won't put her through that right now just to make you happy. I'm telling you she's not ready. Not yet." Susie responded, now clearly getting angry with me.

I tilted my head back, eyes closed and taking a deep breath for fear of exploding right now. Losing my temper was not going to get me closer to my daughter.

"What then? What are you suggesting we do?" I finally replied, a little calmer this time.

"I want you to go slow, I'll tell her that you're her uncle so that she can get used to you being around. Then when the time is right, we can have that conversation with her. Right now, it'd all be just too much. Please Ben, can we not fight and do this together, for Halie." Susie answered me.

I looked deeply into Susie's pleading eyes. I never could go against whatever she asked of me. Why would today be any different?

"I can't say I'm happy about this, but alright. But I want a deadline, Susie. I want you to promise me that our conversation with Halie explaining all this will be in a matter of weeks, not months. Can you promise me that?" I asked her in return.

"If we think she's ready, then yes. I can promise you that." Susie replied.

I nodded back in agreement.

"Well then, are you ready Uncle Ben? Are you ready to meet your daughter, oops, I meant your niece." Susie asked with a small smile.

"Does that mean I'm your long-lost brother now?" I chuckled in response.

"Yep, mom and dad always treated you like their son anyway, now you can act like it as well." Susie replied as we made our way back towards the front door.

"I sure hope a bit of incest runs in the family though." I responded with a laugh.

Susie gave me a confused look, then a naughty smile when she realized what I was referring to.

"Hey, I never said we'd ever be getting back together. I'm still angry with you about what you did." Susie responded.

"Wow, that was like, almost six years ago now. You really like to hold grudges, don't you?" I responded as we reached the front door.

"Shhh, remember that you agreed, Uncle Ben, okay. Mom and dad already know as well." Susie reminded me as she stepped through the door.

"Halie, your Uncle Ben is here to see you. Come and say hello." Susie called out as we walked inside.

Susie's dad John came over and shook my hand, welcoming me back and telling me he'd missed me over the last few years.

Then Susie's mom Mary came walking down the hallway closely followed by a beautiful little girl. Halie looked like a miniature replica of her mom, Susie. The same haunting grey eyes and golden blonde hair, her face even looks alike, and her smile was identical.

As Mary came over and hugged me to say hello, Halie stood back, a finger in her mouth, looking unsure of this strange new man they were calling her uncle.

"Halie, come over and say hello to your Uncle Ben." Susie again asked her.

"I don't have an uncle. You never told me I have an uncle." Halie responded quietly.

She's seven and probably already quite smart like her mom, just how do we pull this off? Right now, I felt like saying 'You're right, I'm not your uncle, I'm your father.' But that wasn't what I'd agreed to.

"Did your mom forget to tell you about her brother Ben? That wasn't very nice, just because they weren't getting along. They've made up now, and now you're home here in Pittsburgh, you'll be seeing your uncle all the time." Mary spoke to Halie, reassuring her.

Halie tentatively made her way across the lounge room towards me, I squatted down as she approached. Everything in me wanted to take her in my arms and hug her to death. But instead, I let her determine how she wanted to greet me.

She raised one of her hands, for me to shake, so I did.

"Hi Halie, how are you?" Was all I could muster.

"I'm good, I want to go home though." She replied and I nodded acknowledging her.

"You're very tall, a lot taller than my mom." Halie added.

"Yes, I am. Maybe you'll grow tall like me too one day." I added.

"Only boys grow tall silly." Halie responded with a little smile.

"Girls can be tall too, haven't you ever watched the WNBA? Who am I kidding, no-one's ever watched the WNBA." I replied with a laugh, accompanied by John who liked the joke as well. Halie just looked at me a little confused.