Chapter 2

My date with Daddy was amazing! First off, the weather couldn’t have been any more perfect. It was a bright sunny day, not too hot out and with a slightest hint of a breeze. A few light fluffy clouds broke up the beautiful blue sky adding a lovely contrast.

Daddy took me to this new clothing shop where they had the most wonderful clothes! Clothes that made me feel so grown up and even sexy, and Daddy let me pick whatever I wanted. He would tell me how he felt about them, but as a man, not as my father.

It was wonderful – he acted more like a boyfriend than a father and would tell me what he liked to see on a woman. Which made me feel so special ... Daddy was looking at me as a woman finally, not as his “little girl”.

Don’t get me wrong, I love being Daddy’s little girl and I never want to outgrow that. But to have him looking at me though a man’s eyes and not a father’s was huge for me. I was about to enter high school and, like any young girl, I was self-conscious about my sexuality and desirability.

Being an only child and with Mom gone now, I had no one really to talk to about this sort of thing. And I hadn’t started dating yet, so I had no boyfriend to ask (besides boyfriends aren’t always the most reliable source of information anyway!).

After I got all the school clothes I could possibly need, we decided it was a good time to grab a bite to eat. So we left the clothes store and Daddy drove to this very fancy five-star Italian restaurant. I walked into the restaurant awestruck ... Daddy had never taken me to anything this nice before.

My normal Italian food consisted of pizza or spaghetti or maybe ravioli (the Chef Boyardee kind!), so this was a real treat. And Daddy really played the part too, he took care of the maitre’ d, when we were shown to our table he pulled out my chair and seated me, he asked me what I wanted and then ordered for me, and he even set up with the restaurant to have a special bottle of grape juice set aside so we could have some “wine” with our meal!

It was all very sweet and made me feel so grown up and ladylike! We ate our lunch and enjoyed our “wine” just as any other man and woman would. Daddy talked to me about school and what classes I would be taking, what I wanted to do in school, and what I wanted to do after I graduated. I told him I wanted to be a marine biologist and so I would be taking a lot of courses headed in that direction. I also wanted to try out for the cheerleading squad, just because a girl needs to have some fun and it’s a great way to meet boys!

“Well, we might be on a date right now, but I am still going to want to talk to any boy that wants to go out with you. After all, I want to know who my competition is!” he said, winking at me and smiling.

“Don’t worry, Daddy ... no boy can ever take your place,” I assured him.

“That’s good to know,” he said, smiling at me. I loved my Daddy’s smile ... I hadn’t seen enough of it lately.

Once we had finished eating, it was off to the final part of the date with Daddy. He took me to a very nice beauty salon and after he explained to the receptionist there what was going on, the girls took me back into the back to do their magic. Daddy sat very patiently out front while I got a manicure, a pedicure, a facial, and got my hair done.

The girls were wonderful – they took me on like I was their pet project! Knowing that this was my first trip to a beauty salon and I was starting high school, they fussed over me, giggling and laughing, it was a wonderful time.

One of the girls worked on my toes while another worked on my fingers. Then the girls washed my hair and styled it. Finally they gave me a facial and I was done. One of the girls who was working on me went out to get my dad.

As I stood behind the partition she announced me. “Mr Tinkerton, may I present your daughter Tina,” she said. Then the two girls walked me out in front of Daddy. He was stunned ... I saw him look me up and down and then I saw something else. I saw his eyes start getting wet and a tear run down his cheek. He took my hands in his as he spoke.

“Tina, my beautiful girl, you look simply breathtaking. I have never been more proud to be your father than I am right now, and I am so happy to see what a magnificent young woman you have become. I love you sweetheart,” he said, looking down at me.

Now it was my turn to cry, and as the tears ran down my cheeks, I wrapped my arms around my father’s neck. “Thank you Daddy, Thank you for today, and thank you for everything. But most of all, thank you for being you. I love you too, Daddy.” As we hugged, I looked over at the girls to mouth them a silent “thank you”, but both of them were crying too!

My high school “career” began easily enough and despite the daunting task before me, I was able to get through the orientation and find all my classes on time. The first couple weeks went by pretty quickly, and one Friday afternoon an announcement came over the school’s public address system.

“Attention students. Don’t forget that next week is Teacher-Parent week. I would like to invite all your parents to come to school and meet the teachers here and see what you are doing in school. Your home room class will have the schedules for you. Be sure to tell your parents.”

I went home and told Dad about the Teacher-Parent Week and what day my class was scheduled. He had been to a couple of them before, but mostly it had been Mom going to them. Work always seemed to get in the way when they scheduled these Teacher-Parent Weeks before.

“I’ll be there at your school on that day. I will let the department know I need the day off. I know Mom used to do these things, but now I will be doing them. And I don’t want to miss this one,” he said.

“Thank you, Daddy,” I said. I knew this was a big deal and meant a lot to him. It meant a lot to me too – knowing that he put me ahead of his work was very special.

That following Tuesday was the day of my Parent-Teacher conference, and Daddy showed up just as he promised. He met my home room teacher and talked to him about the school and what today was all about. Then he talked a bit about how I was doing in high school for my first year, and what my plans for high school were.

When they were finished talking, I took him to my next class which was biology. I showed him where my class was and introduced him to my teacher.

“Dad, this is Miss Parkinson, my biology teacher. Miss Parkinson, this is my father,” I said.

I have to hand it to my Daddy ... he really tried to maintain his cool! He reached out his hand “Nice to meet you, Miss Parkinson,” he said.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Tinkerton,” she said “Tina here tells me you are a firefighter?”

“Please call me Dave. And yes, I work for the Phoenix Fire Department,” he said.

“That must be an exciting job ... Dave. How long have you been a firefighter?” she asked.

“I’ve been with the department for about fourteen years now. And before that, I was a firefighter while going to college at the University Fire Department,” Daddy told Miss Parkinson.

I could tell Daddy liked Miss Parkinson, and from the way she talked with him, I was pretty sure the feelings were mutual. But we were here for a reason, and so the two of them began discussing me and my grades.

Luckily for me, I was a good student and “a pleasure to have in class” according to Miss Parkinson. That made Daddy happy as he told her a bit about our recent past and how hard the divorce was on us.

“Oh, so you are divorced?” she asked “I’m so sorry. But you both seem to be handling it remarkably well.”

“Well, it would have been a lot harder if it wasn’t for this one,” Daddy said, “She is the reason I am doing so well. She’s been amazing through all of this and I have come to depend on her as much as she depends on me.” Daddy playfully tousled my hair as he talked about me.

“She is a pleasure to have in my class and she is doing just fine with her schoolwork. You should be proud of her,” Miss Parkinson said, smiling broadly.

Then it was time to move on and Daddy and I went on to my other classes and met my other teachers. When we were finished taking the grand tour and talking with all the teachers, we left the school and headed home.

“Your biology teacher is quite attractive. Miss Parkinson isn’t it?” Daddy asked.

“Yes, Miss Parkinson. You think she’s pretty do you?” I said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. I thought I had spotted a little something going on between them!

“Yeah, she is nice on the eyes. And she seems sweet,” he said.

“You going to ask her out?” I asked, clapping gleefully.

“Now hold on there pumpkin ... no one said anything about dating! I just said she seems nice!”

“Yeah, but you like her don’t you?” I asked.

“Well, I don’t dis-like her.”

“Then you should ask her out! At least take her for coffee or lunch or something!” I exclaimed.

“We’ll see, honey,” he said. That was Daddy’s way of ending a discussion without declaring a winner or arguing some more. Daddy may have been finished with the discussion, but I wasn’t!

“Daddy, it’s been a year and a half since Mom left and I know that you and her weren’t close for awhile before that. You need to find you someone who makes you happy. Someone you can be close to and who you can care for and who cares about you,” I said.