Hello Beautiful

He still just kept waiting for the moment that Faya lost it and started yelling at him. He knew she could do the math in her head. It was obvious that Savannah wasn’t conceived long after the two of them broke up. He just hoped at this point that she wasn’t thinking that Savannah was a result of him cheating. After all the shit that he had put her though, he wouldn’t be surprised if that was a thought she had. It wasn’t exactly a secret that he had cheated on girlfriend’s before. The thought had never crossed his mind with Faya though. Even back in high school, he had cared too much about her. She didn’t deserve to be disrespected like that. Part of Eric wanted to reassure her of that, but he didn’t want to get into it. Also, he was fairly sure she didn’t want to get into it either. Especially not now when there would be other parents walking in to meet her at any moment. As much as he knew they needed to talk about it, he definitely didn’t want to do it now. Eric knew she had to be nervous about this, and he didn’t want to make it any worse than he already was. He just hoped that with time they would be able to work past this. Now that he was being given a second chance, he had no desire to waste it. Eric was going to do anything he could to show her that he was a changed man. That would take a lot though he was finding out. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as she spoke. “Uh, no, I guess not. To be honest I was kind of expecting a slap or something similar.” He admitted, giving her a little half smile. “I have definitely learned that in the past five years. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve found her messing around and drawing on my business papers.” Eric said as he smiled fondly at his daughter. “So you’ve got a nephew now?" 

There was a big part of Faya that wanted to as Eric about his daughter’s mom. She wasn’t quite sure she wanted the answer though and anyways it wasn’t any of her business. Things had been over between them for a long time now and there was no need bringing up the past. If she could help it this would only be a causal seeing each other just for school and being as friendly as she could be until he was gone.  There was something though that made her feel like it wasn’t going to be that easy. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, feelings she had kept buried deep down were already starting to resurface in their short time together. And that was bound to only get worse the more time she had to spend around him, right? It didn’t help that most of the feelings he was bringing up weren’t great ones. Faya had felt this much anger and jealously in a long time. It was something she was going to have to work to get passed, but looking at his little girl play in her room made her think that the jealously aspect would be made a lot easier the more she was around her. It wasn’t the child’s fault that her father had been the best and worst thing to ever happen to her. “As fun as that sounds I wouldn’t dream of doing so in front of your daughter.” She said, sighing softly.  She nodded at his question, still keeping her eyes on Savannah; it was easier to look at her than it was to look at him. “And two nieces. My sisters been pretty busy.” She joked slightly though it certainly wasn’t a lie. Her sister Amber had been pregnant three times in the last four years. It had been a shock considering her sister had always been the one who said she never wanted children, now they were her entire world and she had to admit that she was a bit jealous. “Look I’m going to have other parents in here any second .  .  .” 

For the first time in a long time, Eric was finding himselfnervous. Eric had always been a confident guy, a guy who had no problems withhimself or any types of nerves ever. There were only a few times in his lifethat Eric could recall being nervous and almost all of them were around Faya.She had always managed to have that effect on him, but Eric had thought giventhe time and distance between the two of them, that maybe that would havediminished somewhat, but as he was quickly learning, that was not true at all.No, she was still able to make him a nervous wreck with just a few glances. Itwas a little embarrassing honestly, but Eric couldn’t take his eyes off her.She was still the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen, even more so nowthat she had grown up into her body a little more. He knew it had to be alittle awkward. He was definitely feeling the awkwardness even though he wishedthat he wasn’t. He didn’t figure that there was any way for it not to beawkward when you ran into an ex. Especially when said ex was the one you spentyour whole life thinking of as the traditional “one that got away” or in hiscase, that he pushed away. He tried to focus back on the conversation as hiseyes drew back to Savannah, making sure that she was okay. “I’m sure I can. It’sjust going to be tough, but I trust you to take care of her.” Eric told herhonestly, turning his gaze back to her just in time to watch her run herfingers through her now short hair. It was so different from the long lengthsof high school, but it suited her. A small frown fell on his lips at her tone,but he knew he deserved it and probably so much worse. “Is there any way we canmake it less awkward? I mean … we’re probably going to be seeing a lot ofeach other this year.” Eric pointed out, biting his lip while he looked at her.

Faya hated so much that he still had an effect on her. She had been so sure that she was over him, okay maybe she hadn’t been completely sure but she had never expected for her heart to race like this if she had ever saw him again. Of course she had been counting on never seeing him again, it was part of the reason she hadn’t let herself completely get over him. She had thought that maybe if she never saw him again it would be okay to still keep a little piece of him with her. That was so stupid of course, she knew that, but he had been such a big part of her life and when he walked away from her it had been harder than she had expected to just completely let him go. A completely other part of her though was so ridiculously mad, madder than she had been in along time. Looking at him brought back so many memories of things she didn’t want to think about. Faya never expected after all this time that it would still hurt like it did, but her heart was certainly being reminded that time doesn’t heal all wounds. And God why did he have to still be so good looking?Actually she was pretty sure he was even better looking now than he was when they were in high school. He had certainly grown into himself, had a more mature aura to him, something he was sure his little girl had a lot to do with. “She’ll be safe with me. I can promise you that.” She told him, looking over at Savannah before turning back towards him. “We just have to be civil is all. I don’t think there’s any making this less awkward.”

Eric couldn’t deny that he had definitely thought about Faya. Pretty much since he could notice girls Faya had always had his attention. She was just so beautiful and smart and sassy, and for as long as he could remember he had feelings for it. Most of his friends had thought it was because she had always said no to him, and he was just obsessed with the chase, but it had never been about that. It was always just her. She had always captured his attention when she walked into a room, and Eric didn’t ever think that would change. It certainly hadn’t once she had finally agreed to a date with him, in fact his constant thoughts about her had just gotten worse, and even when they had broken up, he was almost always trying to forget her, but she’d always be in his mind. When Savannah came along, he had been able to push her back a little, but she was always there. Eric had the distinct impression that it was about to just come back to haunt him again now that he would be seeing much more of her, because Eric was determined to be as big of a part of Savannah’s schooling as she would let him. Eric smiled as Savannah visibly relaxed at Faya’s words, and he rubbed her back, pressing a kiss to her cheek. He took a calming breath as she told him to relax. “I know, you’ll take care of her. You have no idea how much relief I feel right now knowing you’ll be her teacher honestly. I just … haven’t been away from her for longer than a few hours well … ever.” He told her, biting his lip. He smiled at her words, but it quickly turned to a bit of a pout. “Why not?” Eric asked, “but yes, I’ll definitely be there for the parent days, and anything you need help with parent wise, go ahead and sign me up, and I’ll be here no matter what. Whether it’s with reading or career day, or just well … lifting heavy stuff I guess -” he laughed a little awkwardly. “-Whatever it is, I’ll help.” Eric assured her.

Right now Faya was having a hard time keeping the thoughts of Eric breaking up with her from infiltrating her mind. It definitely wasn’t something she wanted to think about right now, or ever really. The memory was one of her worst and it still hurt every time she thought about it, and seeing him standing there just made it even worse. At the same time though there were all the feelings of how happy he used to make her. No guy since had ever made her feel as happy as he did, and she had found that every time she dated anymore she would compare them to him a little. She knew that it wasn’t fair but she couldn’t help it and she very much wished that she could. She didn’t want to think about Eric anymore. They hadn’t seen each other in years and she shouldn’t still feel this strongly about him, but she did. Her feelings were just as strong as they were when they were kids. She had to stop thinking about him though, this wasn’t the time or place to be having these feelings and she told herself that she needed to keep it all at bay at least until he was gone. Then she could go home and think about him nonstop because she knew that was exactly what was going to happen. Faya smiled softly again as he kissed Savannah’s cheek. God, why did he have to be so cute as a dad? “Well I promise she’ll be safe with me. I’ve got a pretty small class so she’ll be well looked after.” She assured him. “Because she needs to learn how to function without you, and if you come in everyday it will be hard for her to do that. Still though like I said you can come as often as you want, and you’re more than welcome to help with classroom things. All the parents are given that option.” She told him, not too sure how she felt about him coming in to help out with things in the class. She didn’t want to encourage him not to but she knew it would be rough seeing him a lot during the day. At the same time though she kind of hoped he would take up some classroom duties so she could see him more often. She could tell already that these mixed emotions about him were going to drive her crazy.

She seriously did look absolutely amazing. It had been a long time since Eric had seen her, and she just looked absolutely breath taking. He still couldn’t believe that this situation was actually happening. That she was Savannah’s teacher, and to some extent, he was kind of glad. He already knew that he was going to have a horrible time letting her go to school on her own, and it was nice to know that the person that she was going to have looking after her, was someone he knew and trusted. Even if Faya hated him, which she might, and would be totally justified in doing, he knew that she wouldn’t ever take it out on Savannah. Not to mention thinking about her as a teacher definitely wasn’t something that surprised him. She was definitely caring and patient enough to be good at it, and it definitely eased his nerves a bit. Not completely, but a bit. “You know, Savannah, Miss. Song is a very nice lady, I actually know her.” He stage whispered to his daughter, and she pulled back from his neck, surprised. “You do?” She asked, sounding shocked. “Yep, and she’s going to take great care of you when you start school, so don’t you want to greet her a little better?” He suggested, rubbing her back comfortably as she finally turned and looked at Faya for real. “Hi, Miss. Song, it’s nice to meet you too,” She said, waving briefly and smiling, but still keeping an arm around her father. “You’re welcome,” Eric replied, tightening his grip slightly on Savannah in his nerves having no idea what to say. “I um … I have a list of her allergies and emergency contacts. My cell, we don’t have a house number, and well Spencer’s. You remember Spencer, right?” He asked, referring to his high school best friend who was still his best friend today. “He’s her Godfather, and I put the number for her pediatrician too. Do you have any visiting days? I mean … I’d like to come see her sometimes.” Eric rambled, which was oh so unlike him, but he felt like a bit of a mess after seeing her, and then once again being confronted by the fact that he wouldn’t be getting to spend all of his days with Savannah anymore. 

Whenever she had found herself thinking about him she had always just really let herself think about how things were with them in high school. She had sometimes wondered what he was doing now but she tried not to focus on that too much because she didn’t want to imagine him with someone else and she always figured he was with someone else. She suddenly wondered if maybe he was married, but she didn’t notice a ring on his finger and she certainly wasn’t going to ask him about it. It wasn’t a thought that sat very well with her and she tried not to let herself focus on it. Still though she wondered why his little girls mother wasn’t here, but let it go telling herself that she might find out eventually. Why did she even care though? She shouldn’t be concerned at all about his life and what was going on in it. All she would focus on was making his Savannah was taken care of while she was here at school and wouldn’t let herself worry about her fathers personal life. She couldn’t help the small smile that graced her lips as he spoke to the little girl in his arms, noticing just how much she looked at him now that she could get a good look at her face. “Your daddy is right and I do promise to take very good care of you while you’re here with me.” She told her, her smile growing slightly. Faya shook her head slightly at his rambling. Okay, that was pretty adorable and she had to once again force herself to focus. “Eric relax. She’s going to be fine and you’ll know I’ll take care of her. Well technically you could come see her everyday at lunch if you wanted to, though I wouldn’t suggest that. And I’ll also have days throughout the year where parents can come in.” She said, smiling slightly at him. Seeing this side of him, this side that was so incredibly worried about his little girl, was definitely a little bit of a shock for her but she had to admit that fatherhood looked good on him. She had always known that he would make a good dad someday. 

Eric’s eyes widened as he finally came face to face with his daughter’s new teacher, and he almost wanted to laugh at the irony. Of course, his amazing, beautiful, one that got away, ex-girlfriend who he had broken up with because he couldn’t commit to her was his Savannah’s pre-school teacher. That was usually the way life managed to fuck you up right? The girl he couldn’t commit to having to spend every day with the biggest commitment in his life. Some part of his brain realized that it wouldn’t take her long to figure up the dates and realize he had to have had sex with someone not too long after they broke up, and then the other part of his brain was telling him she was probably thinking that he was such an asshole right now. The biggest part of his brain though was telling him he must look like a complete idiot staring at her, and he quickly shook himself of his thoughts. He had to fight back a laugh as she walked towards him. Was she seriously pretending she didn’t know him? Eric had seen the recognition in her eyes when she looked at him. His attention was distracted though by Savannah who at Faya’s question buried her face in her dad’s shoulder shyly. “This is Savannah. She’s a little shy,” he said, reaching for her hand to shake. “Until you get to know her, and then she won’t stop talking.” Eric teased her, grinning as his daughter pulled back slightly to pout at him before hiding her face again. “Savannah, say hi to Miss. Song.” Eric told her, and eventually Savannah murmured a soft hi, clinging to Eric’s neck tightly. He took the momentary distraction of his daughter speaking to look over at Faya. Her hair was shorter, her body a little more fit, but she looked pretty much the same. “You look good, Faya,” He told her, smiling softly at her.

Of course this had to be happening right now. Every possible thing that had run through her mind that could have possibly happened today, this was certainly not one of them. The only guy to have ever majorly broken her heart had to be a parent in her classroom. God, why was this happening right now? Thoughts of him leaving her, something she hadn’t let herself think about in forever, started assaulting her mind and she had to work hard to push them out. It wasn’t easy though and she couldn't quite get them to go away. Faya also couldn’t help but think about his daughter. He sure didn’t waste any time moving on from her after they had broken up. She felt another wave of hurt wash through her and to her embarrassment a little bit of jealously too. She had always stupidly thought that she would someday be the mother of his children. Of course she had been young and idiot then. When she thought about it now she knew that there was no way she would have been able to get him to settle down with her. Well she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish it anyways, obviously someone had made a father out of him and she found herself wondering where the girls mother was. That was something she definitely didn’t want to think about and she forced herself to focus back on Eric and his daughter. She suddenly felt stupid for acting like she didn’t know who he was, there was no way he thought that she didn’t remember him and she knew he remembered her too. “It’s very nice to meet you, Savannah.” She said, smiling softly as she watched how she buried her face into her dad. Faya tried not to focus her attention on Eric but when he spoke to her she knew she couldn’t avoid looking at him, and damn she wished she could because he looked even better than she remembered him. And that was saying something because she had always thought he was the most attractive guy she had ever seen. “Thank you. . .“ She said simply, running a hand through her hair.

“Are you sure about this whole preschool thing? You don’t want to stay home with daddy all day?” Eric asked his little four year old daughter who was walking beside him on the sidewalk, jumping over all of the cracks. “Daddy! Uncle Spencer says I’ve gotta go to school!” She chastised him. “But we don’t listen to Uncle Spencer, remember?” He reminded her, but she just crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t look at me like that, young lady, you know what happens when you do.” She stuck her tongue out at him. Eric pointed his finger at her in a fake threatening tone. “Oh, you’ve done it now missy. The tickle monster’s coming to get you.” He said, holding his hands out threateningly. She let out a squeal and started running up the steps inside the school, but before she could make it all the way inside, he caught her around the stomach, hoisting her in the air upside down, causing her to let out another squeal as he tickled her stomach and carried her inside, ignoring any strange looks in favor of smiling at his little girl. He followed the signs to Savannah’s classroom, putting her down once they reached the door. “You going to be good when we meet your teacher, right?” He asked, bending down to her level and kissing the top of her head when she nodded. “Daddy?” She said when he started to walk inside. “Yeah, baby?” She held her arms up, and never one to deny her anything, even though he knew he shouldn’t, he picked her up into his arms, smiling when she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close. “Okay, let’s go meet your new teacher.” He said, and brought his hand up, knocking on the door as he peeked inside. “Um, hi, I think this is my daughter’s room?” Eric asked, looking at the woman who was currently reading some paper on her desk. 

Faya felt herself calming the longer she sat at her desk. She really was being ridiculous. She had done this before, sure it hadn’t been her own class but she at least knew what to expect and would be able to handle this just fine. When she heard a knock at her door she stood up, straightening the papers on her desk before she looked up at her knew arrivals. For a second she felt herself freeze. No, no, there was no way that he was standing in her doorway right now. And with a kid on his hip? Nope, no way. This was not happening and even if it was she was going to pretending like it wasn’t. So she stood of straighter, acting like she had no idea who this man was that had just walked into her classroom. Faya walked over to him, extending her hand to him and putting a smile onto her face. “Hi, I’m Miss Song. And you are?” She asked directing her question to the little girl in his arms.