Just a room || Mason & Lyla
The room was finally ready. The walls were already painted and decorated, the furniture was in the right place, the curtains were covering the windows, the toys were already there, fairytale books were perfectly organized in a shelf, little clothes hanging in the closet, everything ready for the little girl that would soon be sleeping there. Lyla. Dexter’s daughter. Adam’s daughter.
It’s been long enough, already. Don’t think like that. He told to himself as he leaned against the door frame , looking at the room that he had decorated with detail, making sure everything was perfect and in place for the young girl that was going to live in it. She is going to hate it. He thought, swallowing thickly. Dex had convinced him to keep the room as a surprise for Lyla, to keep everything secret until they officially moved to the new house. Their new house. And now Mason doubted every decision he made for the stupid room, certain that Lyla wouldn’t like it. After all, what did Mason knew about her? He wasn’t her father, he was just…The man that was now married to her dad. He shook his head and closed the room, turning around to go down stairs where Dex and Lyla would be waiting.
“Um…Where is your dad?” Mason asked, once he got into the living room where the six year old little girl was waiting patiently sitting in the couch. It always surprised Mason how well behaved she could be, how sweet and nice and so like Adam.
“In the car. Picking up boxes.” The girl replied, her voice strangely enough reminded Mason of cotton candy. Then silence settled between them. It was awkward, like it always was. Mason wasn’t sure how to behave with Lyla, even after almost two years, he just felt like an intruder in her life. “Can I go see my new room, please?” The silence was broken after a minute or so and Mason was somewhat glad. Awkward silences always made him anxious.
“What?” He asked dumbly, blinking a couple of times. “Oh…Your room.” He swallowed thickly, biting down his lower lip lightly. What on the planet was Dex doing? “Um…Yeah, sure.” Fuck. He should’ve waited for Dex to come in so he could show his daughter her room. But then Lyla smiled that bright smile of hers that was absolutely adorable and Mason knew he couldn’t back out. “Come on, follow me.” And the girl did. Stepping right beside him. For a moment Mason though she would ask him to hold her hand so he simply buried his own on his pockets and made his way towards the girl’s room.
The door was painted with a lavender tone, in a darker shade the words Lyla’s room were painted in elegant hand writing. Mason took a deep breath and opened the door. He thought of saying something, maybe making a witty comment but instead he moved away from the entrance to let Lyla enter her room as he stood awkwardly by the doorway, waiting for her reaction.
There was a moment of silence as her big brown eyes looked around curiously. Mason shifted his weight from one foot to the other and then cleared his throat. “So…” He started, looking at Lyla. “W-What do you think?” He asked, his tone slightly higher pitched than usual. Another moment of silence. She hates it. And then a little pair of arms were wrapped around him, taking him completely by surprise.
“I love it! Thank you, papa!” The word made Mason’s heart stop for a moment and he was at loss of words.
“W-What did you call me?” He managed to mumble. It wasn’t what he wanted to say but he couldn’t help himself. Lyla took a step back, her cheeks turning pink.
“Nothing.” She whispered, looking down at her feet. Mason opened his mouth to try and say something, fix his mistake but nothing would come out, he had no idea of what to say, how to explain that he didn’t meant to sound so harsh, that it was just his default setting and that her calling her that was a mix of incredibly heartwarming and totally heartbreaking.
“Lyla…” He finally said, moving closer to the girl. “I…Well, I just— “
“Oh, so you saw your room already?” Dex’s voice interrupted him and Mason turned around to find the other at the door. Lyla ran towards her dad and he picked her up to hug her and gave her a kiss. “Did you like it?” And Lyla nodded a small smile in his lips.
“Um…” Mason felt an emptiness in his stomach. Like if he had no place in the picture. “I...I’m going to go down to unpack the kitchen’s stuff. I’m sure you have no idea what goes where.” He offered a small smile before heading toward the exit. Dex however caught his arm and kissed him lightly. Mason forced himself to smile before leaving. Fully aware that he had just screwed up pretty badly with a little girl that deserved to have a better dad than he could be.
