Single Father with girls from two different moms

[Ishigreensa]

Robert Strauss was a forty year old man with a lot of issues in life, most of which can be traced back to a single mistake he made when Lexi was almost six months old.  He didn't fully recall everything that had happened, but at the time, he worked for the border patrol.  They stationed him on the Arizona border where he moved his family, but while he was working one evening, things went crazy and got clouded.

He had only seen this Mexican woman like six times.  He wasn't sure how it had happed, really, because he was actually still in love with Sandra, but anyway, one thing led to another because this lady, Brianna, had taken his fancy, too.  Little did he know, Brianna had used him to get into the states.  When she snuck into the US for the fifth time, she was pregnant, and she had put Robert's name down as the father.  He was an American, and so whether she was deported or not back to Mexico, her child would be American by America's own laws.  All she needed to do, was have a DNA test if it came to that.

Well, it didn't quite come to that.  He had the baby in an American hospital, and so Imelda grew up until she was eight years old with her mother taking care of her in America.  Then tragedy struck.

A drug operation gone bad and left her mother mortally wounded, and Brianna told the authorities to look for a Robert Strauss last known to live in Arizona.  He had not moved since then, so he was found.

When everything came to light, Sandra and he fought about that.  Then they fought about him keeping the kid, and Imelda having no other place to go.  They fought about whether Imelda, at eight years old, should be able clean up the dishes and do other things that Sandra hadn't expected Lexi to do yet.  They just fought and fought, and most of the time, the one that was hurt by it most, was Imelda.... At least that's what Robert thought.

He eventually moved away because their divorce only took six months to push through, and then Sandra stopped giving Robert visitation rights.  

Sandra had driven him away, and after that, she was never the same.  She sometimes blamed Lexi for being born, and that it was really her fault that Robert had cheated on her and then left.  Because of this, she started to do things that were not healthy towards Lexi.  (I'll let you decide exactly what happened there).

 

One day, Robert had just picked Imelda up from school in Wyoming and had just gotten home when the phone rang.

"Mr. Singer?  I thought the divorce settlement was long over with."

"It was, but CPS found new evidence that the courts gave the child to the wrong parent.  They are now asking that you take your daughter."

"Really?  But it's been nearly two years!  How could it take that long for them to find that they made such a mistake?"

The lawyer said he wouldn't go into detail on the phone, and he asked Robert to come to Arizona to meet him and talk about it as well as pick up his daughter, otherwise, she might end up in state custody.

Not wanting that, Robert got on the internet and unable to get a flight open quick enough, he just loaded Imelda into their red and black jeep and then started out towards Arizona.  The drive would likely take them about two days, but that was better than waiting for the weekend.  He was worried about what would happen to Lexi if he waited until the weekend.  He wanted the courts to know that he was serious and wanted custody of his daughter if his ex was unable to take care of her.

 

After meeting with the lawyer and talking things out, three days after getting the call that he was needed, he finally got to meet Lexi.

He walked up to the home she was staying at in a brown suit while he held Imelda's hand, she was in a colorful dress.  Her hair was black and shiny and her brown eyes looked at the world in wonder.  Her deep tan skin and round plush face with those eyes, definitely hinted at her Latino heritage on her mom's side.

 

Robert rang the door bell....

[Shy-Diapers]

Alexandra or Lexi as she was more commonly known was 11 years old. For the first 9 or so years of her life, everything was perfect. She had two parents with good jobs, they had a nice house and Lexi attended a good public school and had lots of friends. But after the separation and eventual divorce, Lexi’s mother fell into a depression and was often too upset to care for Lexi. Lexi had to be somewhat independent and care for her basic necessities. 

After having missed a few too many school days, CPS got called to do a home visit at her house. They found that Sandra was unable to care for Lexi and decided that it was in the child’s best interest to live with her father. 

Lexi packed up her necessities, the clothes that fit her, and her favorite toys. She didn’t have too many anymore because as she got older and Sandra got worse, Lexi got less new things, so most of her toys were things she’d outgrown. But she still loved her stuffed animals. She packed up her few stuffed animals and her favorite quilt and was taken to an emergency placement foster home. 

When her father was finally there, Lexi bolted to him, hugging him as tight as she could. It had been so long since she’d seen him last and she missed him so much. She’d certainly grown since the last time Robert had seen her. 

Her long blonde hair fell past her shoulders and her small freckled face looked a little sunken in. It had been hard on the little girl. While she missed her mom, she was glad to be out of that toxic situation, she knew her father would never get like Sandra did. 

“Daddy! You came for me! I knew you would!” She said smiling. She had grieved what was basically the loss of her mother a while ago, so she didn’t have any real issues leaving her and going to live with Robert. 

She smiled and stayed at his side with her backpack and small suitcase. Eventually, she noticed Imelda. “Daddy who’s this?”

[Ishigreensa]

Robert hugged Lexi for a long time, and then he Lexi finally noticed Imelda, he pushed her back just enough to look into her beautiful little eyes.  His blond balding hair was a little untidy at the top of his head and he had the same light freckles that lexy did around his nose.  His green eyes danced in their sockets full of life for receiving his daughter.

"Honey, this is your little sister.  Her name is Imelda.  Imelda was born a few months after you were."

He turned to Imelda.

"Do you remember me telling about my other family before your mommy left you in my care?" he asked Imelda.  "Well, this is your big sister, Lexi."

Imelda nodded.

"Lexi is the reason we made our road trip, honey."

The then took both girls into a big hug and tried to get them to hug each other.

"We are one family," he told his girls.  "You are both my daughters, so I hope you get on and realize that you are sisters."

[Shy-Diapers]

Lexi smiles at Imelda. It didn’t really seem to phase her that she was her sister. She didn’t have any issue with it, it seemed like David still loved her just as much as he did before the divorce. 

When her dad pulled them both to hug each other, Lexi was noticeably uncomfortable. She didn’t know the girl yet and didn’t want to hug her. Alexandra had become kind of closed off after her mother fell into a depression. She had no time to feel her feelings because she had to be busy taking care of the house. 

She pulled away from the hug and stayed on the other side of her dad. She didn’t want to be rude, but she didn’t like being touched or hugged by people she didn’t know and trust. 

Alexandra had definitely been affected by her mother. She seemed so much more quiet and shy, but Robert could see her bubbly self shining through a little. He’d just have to work with her to get it back out again. 

[Ishigreensa]

Robert didn't take the girls' initial reaction too much to heart.  He knew they would need time to get used to each other.  He just hugged them together to show them that they were both inclusive in his world, and that they were both the most important things in his world.  If he hugged one and then the other, the first one hugged might have had it difficult as the second one hugged might have felt jealous or something.  This way, he hoped, they would realize that they were both special to him.

He wasn't sure about Lexi though, because she seemed not as talkative, not quite as active, not quite as lively as he had known her to be a couple of years ago.  Was it because she was growing up, or did something really bad happen while he was gone.  He knew that they found her mother to be unfit, but he didn't truly understand what that meant, yet.

When he saw the kinds of toys that Lexi had with her, and he relfected on what Imelda had, he shivered a bit.  Something was off about her toys.  Not so much because she liked stuffed animals, but more because she didn't have any other activies or toys that girls her age should be interested in.  Sure, girls might like stuffed animals, but he didn't imagine that many eleven year olds went to each other's house to play with stuffed animals.  He figured they would be playing games or doing activities a little more grown up.

"Are these all the toys you have?" he asked her trying to hide his confusion and surprise.

[Shy-Diapers]

Alexandra frowned and looked down. “I have some barbies left.” She said quietly. A lot of her toys had been given away by her mother because her daughter was ‘ungrateful’. She stared at her feet and shifted her weight uncomfortably. She didn’t expect to be called out on her lack of toys. 

She was embarrassed by what her situation with Sandra was like. Most of her favorite things had been donated or thrown out when she was at school one day. She was able to salvage some things, but most of those she’d outgrown.

Hopefully Robert wouldn’t bring up her lack of clothes. A good chunk of her clothes were shirts that used to be dresses. She’d wear them as shirts because she mostly got taller not wider. 

“Are we going home?” She asked, unsure what was supposed to happen. 

[Ishigreensa]

"Well, we are going to have to stay here a couple of days for us to work out legal issues, so we will stay at a motel, honey."

He smiled at her.  "Then we will start for home before the weekend.  Home is in Wyoming now, sweetheart."

He did notice her strange wardrobe, but decided that that had something to do with why they called the mother unfit as a parent.  He didn't see everything because she had been allowed to pack most of her clothes before he came to get her.

"I think before we go to the motel room, we should go shopping," he told both his daughters.  "I want to get you both some nice clothes before we go before the judge to sign some papers."

[Shy-Diapers]

“Oh.” Lexi said with an unsure tone. She wasn’t sure about moving to a new state. But she tried to tell herself that things would be ok and that she’d like the new home. 

“Shopping?” She asked curiously. She hadn’t gone shopping at a normal store in forever. Most of her clothes came from the Salvation Army. She hadn’t gotten new clothes since shortly after Robert and Sandra seperated. 

She stayed quiet for the most part, her stomach feeling funny. She was nervous about everything. Hopefully things would go smoothly.

Her stomach started to growl soon. While the foster home was kind and took care of her, they had a lot of kids to take care of, and Lexi’s food sometimes got stolen by some of the bigger kids. The parents just simply couldn’t watch everyone at once. 

Alexandra didn’t mention her hunger though. She felt too shy and unsure of herself to speak up. 

[Ishigreensa]

"Of course we're going shopping, honey." he smiled at her.  "Even if I had not needed to see the judge tomorrow, do you think I would just bring you home without celebrating the fact that we were able to finally be together?" 

He brought her closer to him and kissed her head.

Imelda smiled.

"I get to get new clothes, too?"

"Of course, baby.  You are both my girls, and I want you both to be happy about this homecoming!"

He ushered them both to the jeep, put Lexi's stuff in the back, and then waited them the girls to settle themselves in the back seat before making sure they were buckled up.

[Shy-Diapers]

Alexandra smiled a little. Things seemed to going well so far. 

She climbed into the backseat, but stopped Robert when he put her stuff in the back. “No!” She insisted, grabbing her backpack. She felt unsure about herself without having her backpack with her. Her backpack had her favorite stuffed animal and her quilt. She wanted the security of knowing that they were right with her, even if she didn’t get them out. 

She sat in the back, holding her small backpack on her lap and buckling herself in. She kept her head down or towards the window the whole drive. She didn’t feel too sociable and didn’t know Imelda well enough to talk to her. 

When they eventually got to the mall, Lexi tossed her bag onto her shoulder, hoping Robert wouldn’t try and stop her from bringing it inside. 

[Ishigreensa]

Robert didn't stop her from bring her bag, but he was a little concerned about her attachment issues to her things.  It was like she was afraid someone was going to throw her stuff out or something.  It was certainly not something a normal eleven year old would have to do.  He sighed and nodded at her that she could bring it in.

Imelda looked at her quizzically, too.  Normally, daddy told her that she shouldn't bring bags into the store because people might look at you as if you are trying to shoplift.  But for some reason, he was letting the older girl bring her stuff in.

Robert reached for both of his little princess's hands to take them into the store.

He didn't realize that Imelda was a little confused by his actions.

Imelda kept looking at Lexi's bag wondering why she needed to bring it in with her.

[Shy-Diapers]

Alexandra kept a tight grip on the shoulder strap of her bag. She wouldn’t need anything from the bag while she was out, but she felt safer just knowing it was with her. She didn’t want the few things that made her feel safe to be taken from her or her lost. 

Hearing Robert’s sigh, Lexi stared at her feet. She felt like maybe she was burdening her father, but tried not to let it show. She held his hand, and walked into the mall. Imelda staring at her bag didn’t help her feel less self conscious.

”What clothes are we getting daddy?” She asked, unsure if she was allowed to get clothes that weren’t meant for meeting the judge. Was she allowed to get normal clothes too? She didn’t want to assume anything and get anyone upset. 

Alexandra was trying not to overthink things. She was still really happy she was reunited with her daddy. She squeezed his hand tight, smiling a little as she affirmed to herself that he was there. 

[Ishigreensa]

Robert smiled at his girls.

"Well, you will both need a nice dress and the under clothes for that dress for tomorrow, and then I think you both need a few new tops.  Don't you?  I don't know how long it has been since you last got new clothes, but it has been about four months for Imelda, so I figure you are both due for a few new clothes."

He smiled.

"And of course, you can get a couple pair of pants and a skirt or some mix match of three ."

He smiled at his girls.

Imelda looked up at him wide eyed.  She wasn't sure that it was time to go shopping again, and wondered if he was just doing this for Lexi or not.  Either way, she did notice that Lexi was wearing what looked like a dress for a younger girl as a top and it didn't exactly look that cool.  Maybe her sister really did need some new clothes.

They walked through the store, which was not an expensive one like JCPennys but at the same time, it wasn't cheap like a Walmart either.

[Shy-Diapers]

Alexandra smiled and looked around for her dress first. She wasn’t sure of the budget, but made sure to look at the price tags. She felt bad that she needed new clothes, but was happy that she was getting clothes that were hers, and hadn’t been worn by someone else before, like the Salvation Army clothes. 

She fell in love with a light blue hanky style sleeveless dress. It had pretty white daisies on it and a little bit of see through lace up by the collar. “Daddy is this one okay?” She asked hopefully. She’d need to wear a little cardigan with it, but it was appropriate. She bit her lip seeing the $8 price tag. Her mother would never let her spend $8 on one piece of clothing. 

While she waited for a response, she started to browse for shirts and pants and shorts. She only really liked one of each, some dark blue jeans and a lavender top with ruffle from the belly button down. Lexi preferred to wear dresses most of the time. 

She wandered back to the dresses and picked up a few, but promptly placed them back when she saw her daddy. She didn’t want to upset him and he said shirts, pants, and skirts, not dresses. She put back a cargo green dress that buttoned up the front and a light pink and dark blue horizontally striped dress. She wanted to be good. 

[Ishigreensa]

Robert saw what she was looking at and wondered why she didn't ask him about the dresses.  His little Imelda would have tried to reason with him if she wanted a dress by telling him that a dress was both a shirt and a skirt at once, so he would only have to pay for one outfit.  Of course, she was too young to realize that a nice dress normaly costed one and a half times as much as buying a shirt and a pair of pants, and he would enable her by smiling and letting her logic win for the time being.  She had plenty of time to learn about how money really worked.

He walked over where she had put away the dark blue horizontally striped dress and picked it up.  He looked it over for a minute, and he put it in the cart next to the other dress she had chosen.

"Hey!" Imelda whined.  "That's not fair!  I didn't get two dresses!"

Robert sighed.  "Get another dress, Imelda.  I am not trying to be unfair, okay?"

Imelda nodded and went to look for a dress.

Robert then went over and joined Lexi to see what she was looking at next.

"Honey, please don't be scared to ask for something.  If I don't want to get it for whatever reason, I'll tell you, and I won't be mad if you just ask for something, baby.  You do know the difference between asking and begging for something, don't youi?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Alexandra looked at her feet. She was embarrassed that she didn’t ask for the dresses but Robert put them in the cart anyway. 

“I’m sorry.” She said when Imelda pointed out that she didn’t get another dress. All of the dresses Lexi had picked out were under $15, most of them being around 10. She wasn’t purposely trying to find cheap things, just that was the price of things she liked. 

“Daddy do I have to get the pants and shirt?” She asked quietly. She was more than happy just getting dresses. She rarely ever wore pants anyway. If it was cold she just wore leggings or tights. 

Lexi looked at her feet and shook her head. She didn’t really understand the difference. She hadn’t been allowed to ask for anything for a while without being told she was begging. Her mother had gotten very strict and harsh with her. 

“Is the first one I picked out ok for the judge?” She asked hopefully, holding up the blue dress with the daisies. She hoped it would be. It was her favorite thing she’d seen in the store. “Is it too expensive Daddy? It’s almost eight dollars.”

[Ishigreensa]

Robert frowned and nodded.

"Yes, honey, you do need a pair of pants for just in case.  There might be something you have to do where a dress or skirt might be inappropriate, honey.  I want to make sure you have at least one pair of jeans just in case."

He smiled.

He sighed when she seemed to not understand the difference between begging and asking.  Then he looked at Imelda, and he knew that she didn't always really know the difference either, so he shrugged it off.

"Well," he told Lexi.  "You are allowed to ask for something, but if I say no and that it's final, then it's final.  If you ask after that, then it's begging or pestering.  If you ask two or three times, but I haven't said that my answer is final, well, that's normal and natural for a kid to do, and I really won't mind unless I've told you that I want you to stop for that time.  Okay?"

He considered her other questions.

"Honey, actually, eight dollars is not expensive at all.  When I buy clothes, normally, I expect one dress to cost around twenty dollars and a shirt to be between eight and ten dollars while a pair of pants or a skirt to be between ten and fifteen dollars.  If I ask you to get something nice for a special occasion, then I expect it to be more expensive, honey.  So, don't worry about the price."

He wasn't super rich, but it was just natural for him expect clothes to be a lot more expensive.

He picked Lexi up and hugged her.

"That dress is nice," he told her.  "I think it's very appropriate for court, honey."

[Shy-Diapers]

Lexi nodded. “I like these then.” She said and put the dark blue jeans into the cart. She put the shirt in too, so she’d have something to wear it with. She didn’t really want to wear pants, but she wanted to be good for her father. “Mom never got me dressed most of the time.”

Alexandra nodded. She didn’t really understand what he meant, but she pretended to. She didn’t want to cause trouble by asking questions. Besides, she didn’t know what to ask to help her clarify. 

She continued to look at dresses she thought were pretty, but didn’t ask for any of them. She figured three dresses and some pants and a shirt was as much as her dad would want her to get. 

She squealed and laughed when Robert picked her up. She hadn’t been hugged or held in a long time. 

“Thanks daddy. I like it a lot.” Lexi said with a smile, feeling the soft fabric. 

[Ishigreensa]

Robert smiled when she squealed in delight and giggled.  He patted her bottom a couple of times and the put her down next to Imelda.  Then he picked Imelda up and threw her into the air once to make her laugh and caught her and then put her down next to Lexi.

Imelda smiled up at her big sister.

"Daddy's always playing with me like that," she said brightly.  "He likes to make me laugh, and he'll probably find out what makes you laugh, too."

Robert wanted to get her some more clothes, but he had to make sure they had enough money to get home, so while he saw her looking at other dresses, he didn't add them to the cart because he didn't want to come up short on the way home.

They went to the front, when Imelda looked up at him with a pout.

"Daddy, the line is really long, and I gotta pee."

He bend down to her and to Lexi.

"Lexi, can you take your sister right over there?  Do you see it?  That's the girls' room.  I'll be right here paying for stuff, and then when I'm done, if you are not out yet, I'll go wait near there for you and your sister, okay?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Lexi smiled a little but looked down at her feet. She wished she had gotten to have her daddy around like Imelda for the past few years. She also wished her mom was nicer to her and tried to make her laugh like Robert does. 

Alexandra quickly attached to Robert’s side again as they headed to the front. She didn’t want to be accused of dilly dallying or wasting time and not listening. She stuck as close to him as she could, not wanting to be separated from him again. She’d gone years without him, and she didn’t want to ever be away from him again. 

This became problematic when Imelda needed to go to the bathroom though. Lexi bit her lip when her father started talking to her. She swallowed hard and looked at the bathrooms. She really didn’t wanna go across the store without her father. She hates going places by herself, even though she often had to because her mother didn’t want to be around her daughter all that much. 

She sighed and nodded. She really wanted to stay with her dad somehow, but she had to be a good girl and suck it up. 

Lexi walked silently to the bathrooms with Imelda. If Imelda tried to make any conversations, Lexi just stayed quiet and kept her head down for the most part. She didn’t like unfamiliar places and this store was very unfamiliar. She’d never been in this part of town so she’d never been to the store.

She felt very anxious and scared. She didn’t really know why, but she sure felt it. Her tummy was doing somersaults and had butterflies in it. She felt tears in her eyes, but tired not to let them show. She had to be the big sister and take Imelda to the bathroom. But what she really wanted to do was hug Robert and stay as close to him as possible. As they walked, Lexi’s grip on her bag got tighter, the knuckles on her small hands turning white. 

[Ishigreensa]

Imelda looked up at her big sister, and she could see something was wrong.  Her face didn't look right, and she was holding her bag like it might be snatched from her any time.  She wondered if her big sister was okay, but every time she tried to say something, the girl just stayed quiet.

She gave up and went into the stall to use it.

When she was done using the toilet, she ran out and looked around for Lexi in the main part of the bathroom.

"Lexi?" she called to make sure she could find her.  "I'm done."

 

The line was really long, so Robert was still in line.

[Shy-Diapers]

Lexi stayed against the wall in the bathroom, standing by the sinks. She tried to tell herself that she’d be back with her daddy soon enough. She was trying to do anything to do distract herself. She resorted to counting floor and ceiling tiles. 

When Imelda came out, Lexi walked down to where her stall was. “I’m here.” She mumbled quietly. She felt almost like she was going to throw up her tummy hurt so much from this fear and anxiety. 

She hoped Imelda didn’t think she was being snooty or standoffish, but she was more concerned about getting back to where she could see and be with her Daddy. She really didn’t like being away from him. She couldn’t show her tears though, for fear she’d be in trouble like she would be with her mother. 

[Ishigreensa]

Imelda looked up at her.

"How come you look upset?" Imelda asked her.  There were no tears spilling down her face, but the other girl definitely looked uncomfortable.

"If you are so upset, maybe I'll just wait until daddy can take me next time.  I didn't know you would be a little scared."

She looked down.  "I just didn't want to wet my pants, and I already waited as long as I could."

[Shy-Diapers]

“I’m fine.” Lexi mumbled. She nodded towards the sink so Imelda would wash her hands and then they could get out of there. 

Once Imelda was done they headed back to the front. When Lexi saw Robert, she ran up and hugged his side, hiding her face in his side. She didn’t want to let go of him. 

Lexi tried not to cry at this point, just being so relieved that her father was back in her eyesight. She sniffled and continued to hug him until he’d eventually have to move her. 

[Ishigreensa]

Imelda ran behind her and caught up.

She saw how tightly Lexi was holding their dad, and she wondered what happened to her to make her so nervous like this.  It was true that she had not had her dad for a while, and as she understood it, the girl must have lost her mom, but it seemed even more than that.  Imelda had lost her mom, too, and she had just met her daddy a couple of years ago.  She was pretty lost for a time, but she didn't get scared just going to the bathroom.

She looked sadly at Lexi until Robert moved her to pay and then started to push the cart of bags out to the car.

Robert patted Lexi's back before he moved her.

"Honey, do you want to talk in the car?" he asked her.