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[av_slide_full slide_type=’image’ id=’12276′ video=’http://’ mobile_image=” fallback_link=’http://’ video_format=” video_ratio=’16:9′ title=’My Girlfriend and My Daughter’ custom_title_size=’50’ custom_content_size=” caption_pos=’caption_center’ link_apply=” link=’lightbox’ link_target=” button_label=’Click me’ button_color=’light’ link1=’manually,http://’ link_target1=” button_label2=’Click me’ button_color2=’light’ link2=’manually,http://’ link_target2=” font_color=” custom_title=” custom_content=” overlay_enable=’aviaTBaviaTBoverlay_enable’ overlay_opacity=’0.5′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_pattern=” overlay_custom_pattern=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” av_uid=’av-38105q’][/av_slide_full]
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I was a single father whose little girl was growing up fast. She was my bundle of joy bringing me smiles and happiness wherever I went. She was the center of my universe, my reason for living. But things can change fast and my life was no exception. That didn’t mean I stopped loving my one and only daughter; it meant she had a little competition for my time.
I was in my mid 30’s and I thought that doing my job and taking care of my little girl was my life. It certainly didn’t occur to me that I’d fall in love again. It started simple enough two strangers bumping into each other. Well not really, she almost ran me over with a shopping cart but Daphne was polite enough to help me up and ask me out to coffee so she could properly apologize.
We ended up talking a while and exchanged number after. Daphne seemed intrigued at the idea of a single father, saying she didn’t think it was easy. It wasn’t; I’m a man and I had to enlighten my daughter about female problems when she hit puberty. That was not fun. Nonetheless at the end of our impromptu meeting I had a new charming friend to call my own. I told my daughter about my little adventure. At the time she didn’t think much of it and even dared to tease me about the lack of romance in my life.
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[av_heading heading=’See What You Didn’t See’ tag=’h3′ link_apply=” link=’manually,http://’ link_target=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ margin=” padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” custom_class=” admin_preview_bg=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=”][/av_heading]
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That situation changed when Daphne and I started seeing each other. We had started out with the occasional text messages here and there. As we got to know each other better we started flirting. We started going out not soon after. She was a delight to be around and showed me emotions that I didn’t know I needed. It was like putting on glasses for the very first time; things you knew existed but didn’t quite see were suddenly visible.
Surprisingly everything was going well, at least at first. We would see each other a couple of times a week and we were happy; that is until Beth started commenting on how we didn’t spend time together anymore. Hardly true but she was a teenager.
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[av_heading heading=’Raised Her Better Than That’ tag=’h3′ link_apply=” link=’manually,http://’ link_target=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ margin=” padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” custom_class=” admin_preview_bg=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=”][/av_heading]
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I thought it was the typical teenager acting out; she would storm out or downright ignore me whenever I started talking about Daphne. It was like a light switch had been flipped, cheery one moment and angry the next. Sure, we didn’t go out to movies or just go out as much as we used to but the reaction was a bit bratty and I thought I had raised her better than that.
I finally had enough when my daughter broke her curfew. I caught her sneaking in one night. I never raised my voice against my daughter but she knew she was in trouble. She refused to meet my eyes as I sat her down. I asked her if she wanted to tell me whether I’d been doing anything wrong in the past few months.
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[av_heading heading=’She’s Jealous’ tag=’h3′ link_apply=” link=’manually,http://’ link_target=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ margin=” padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” custom_class=” admin_preview_bg=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=”][/av_heading]
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It almost broke my heart when instead of the usual silence, she broke down in tears. It turned out she was jealous and afraid that Daphne would steal me away from her, and that in a few years, I wouldn’t be there for her. It was terrifying how my teenage daughter could think like this. I was her father; I would never abandon her and I told her this.
Even after the long overdue talk things were tense. I didn’t know what to do until I talked to Daphne. In hindsight it might have been my fault; the three of us didn’t spend that much time together. And as my girlfriend pointed out that since I loved the both of them, that they should spend more time together. That had never really occurred to me and I could only agree.
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[av_heading heading=’Shopping Brings Women Together’ tag=’h3′ link_apply=” link=’manually,http://’ link_target=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ margin=” padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” custom_class=” admin_preview_bg=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=”][/av_heading]
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The next weekend I organized the three of us to go out. Beth’s prom was a month away and she needed a dress. Since I didn’t quite know about women’s clothes Daphne seemed to be the ideal solution to my problem. As soon as we entered the store my girlfriend pulled my daughter away with the vigor and energy of a teenager. They tried on every in-stock designer pageant dresses, one after another. On and on, it was boring. On the other hand they were smiling and bonding, nothing like shopping to bring women together.
My daughter would model the dresses out for us; she was spectacular in all of them. Daphne didn’t quite agree; she said Beth needed to look perfect. Perfection came in the form of a strapless dark blue designer dress. Since I’m a man I could only agree to their opinions but as we exited the store and they talked to each other like long lost friends, I knew everything was going to be all right.
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