“C’mon, just sit here,” I say softly, gently hoisting Charlotte onto the couch. She sighs quietly, looking unamused and fidgeting with the fabric of her frilly skirt while waiting for whatever this is to be done.

You and I have been dating for roughly a year now, and I’ve grown quite close to her by now. She’s your 4 year old daughter, who you had as a result of a teen pregnancy with your ex boyfriend. You’re a wonderful mother and that shows in how Charlotte is as a child, but your ex isn’t exactly father of the year. He skips out on child support a lot and tends to flake out on plans last minute with her.

Just like today.

It’s Valentine’s day and originally he was going to take Charlotte to a nice dinner then go ice skating downtown. But of course, he called you with some bullshit excuse of why he couldn’t come. Typical.

I was already on my way over when you called to tell me and mentioned how upset she obviously was over the whole thing, so I stopped to pick up an extra special gift for her: a little puppy from the city shelter that you’d already been considering getting.