Two beautiful little girls hopped off the bus and started walking towards the front doors, black curls bouncing, blue eyes sparkling as they laughed and giggled to whatever joke one had told the other.
They were wearing identical dresses down to their knees, white with a sheer rainbow fabric on top and a unicorn on the bottom much like an old poodle skirt, white Mary janes on their feet and flower barrettes in their hair holding back their bangs.
Blake was mesmerized; he couldn't take his eyes off of them as they walked up to the bakery.
McKenna got up and went to the front door, ushering the girls inside with hugs and kisses. He couldn't hear what was said but the girls suddenly looked his way and started squealing as they bounced up and down. "You found him, you found him!!!" They pushed past their mother and started running his way. Blake quickly got out of his chair and squatted down, opening his arms to welcome the two girls. They pounced on him and nearly knocked him over but he didn't care. They smelt of strawberries and a soft ocean breeze.
These were his girls, they looked just like his little sister when she was a kid mixed with the beauty of McKenna. He didn't need a paternity test for anything other than to reassure his family that these were his kids. His eyes started tearing up as he thought about all the firsts that he missed because he hadn't given McKenna a number to reach him by. Hadn't given her a last name or any other clues. And yet, she hadn't given up on trying to find him, she had done all she could just to unite him with his daughters. With Their daughters.
The girls let go of him only to start peppering his face with kisses. He laughed and looked at them both, tearing up even more until he could feel tears falling down his face. "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner. Who's Jasmine and who's Amber, how do I tell my beautiful girls apart? Tell me all about yourselves." "It's okay daddy, I'm Amber." Amber replied. "I have a beauty mark under my eye and Jasmine has one under her other eye." Blake looked and saw the mark under her left eye then looked at Jasmine and saw the one under her right eye. "Identical but not. I love it." He said as he kissed them on the cheek by their marks.
McKenna had walked up during this time and had watched with tears in her eyes as well. She finally spoke up, saying "Girls, we still need to do the test that says he's really your dad. We know that he is but it still needs done." Jasmine rolled her eyes "We know momma, we can't get our hopes up again, but this is the first time we've ever seen the guy that Miss Jessica found. You said we'd only ever meet our real dad though." She looked up with puppy dog eyes that made Blake melt.
"Yes, I know what I said. This is the Blake that I remember from before you girls were born, no one else could be your dad. But we still need to do the test so the rest of your dads family knows that he's your dad too." The girls just sighed and looked back at Blake. "Can I call you daddy?" Amber asked. "Hey, me too! I want to call you daddy too!" Blake laughed and grabbed them both into another hug. "You girls can call me whatever you want. I'm not going anywhere for the next week so we can get to know each other very well."
"Hooray!" They started dancing around the aisle and telling him all about themselves at the same time. "I like rainbows! That's my favorite color!" "Mine too! And we both like cats the best but if unicorns were real that would be our favorite!" "Our favorite food is pizza but we like different kinds of pizza. Mine is pepperoni." "I like bacon pizza!" "We love all of mommies treats but her cinnamon rolls are the best!" This went on for a good 10 minutes before they started asking questions.
"What's your favorite pizza? Do you like cinnamon rolls too?" "Do you like cats?" "Mommy won't let us have a pet yet because its a big responsibility, can you get us a pet?" "Do you like the ocean" "Will you come to church with us and meet all of our friends?" "Where do you live? Can we live with you too?" "Are you and mommy getting married now?"
At this McKenna stepped forward once again. "Girls, that's enough for now, I'm sure daddy is tired and wants to get some rest." "Mommy, can daddy stay at our house in the guest room?" Jasmine asked. McKenna looked up at Blake. He looked at her with hopeful eyes, looking so much like their daughters who were also looking at her. She sighed heavily and consented, "Yeah, I suppose he can stay with us, much better than staying at a hotel all week."
Shouts of joy rebounded throughout the bakery as the trio celebrated what they felt was a huge victory. Blake looked at McKenna, "You won't regret this, I promise. And to answer one of your questions," he said as he looked back at the girls, "I'd love to go to church with you. I bet it'll be lots of fun and you guys can show me off to everyone you know."
The girls squealed and started dancing around in a circle. "Momma Daddy said yes to church!" "Yes, I heard! It is Super exciting! Now how about we head home and make some supper while you girls spend some more time with daddy?" The girls agreed and started dancing towards the kitchen to head to the back door.
"Want to go out to eat somewhere?" Blake quietly asked McKenna. "We don't have it in the budget this month but thank you." "It would obviously be my treat, do they have a place they like to go to?" McKenna thought about it for a minute before agreeing. "That would be lovely, thank you. They really like Antonios' Pizzeria, it's down the street from our apartment." Blake was a little surprised she agreed but was happy nonetheless. Antonios' it is then.