Groundhog Day

You couldn’t help but have a look of panic on your face. You heard her clearly.

‘You were supposed to pick us up today’. More importantly, she called you an ‘asshole’... just like she did yesterday.

Your heart starts to beat faster in panic. If she’s saying yesterday is today, that would mean everything that happened yesterday didn’t happen — your father-daughter talk with her, the movie with Cassie, fucking Tanya with the help of magic.

None of that happened?

Wait. Magic... The app... Fuck!

Maybe all of it was just a dream.

Jesus, your brain is a mess.

You look at Stella, wanting to apologize just like in your vivid dream, and you see her face scrunched up; like she was in physical pain from holding something back. Before you can enter parental panic mode wondering if she’s hurt, she busts out laughing. A loud genuine, guttural laugh. It even forces her to bend over with her hands resting on her knees, as she can’t help but dying from laughter. You let her ride the wave of laughter as you really have no fucking clue what’s going on right now. When she’s just about done, she wipes tears from her eyes.

“Oh my god, the look on your face.” Stella says in between breathy laughs.

“Hey, Bill Murray, relax. You’re not in a time loop. I’m just messing with you.” Stella finally tells you once she’s calmed down from laughing. Even after Stella tells you outright she’s messing with you, it still takes you a while to connect the dots in your head. The movie you watched last night was about time loops.

She’s just messing with you.

The look of relief on your face becomes obvious, which Stella responds to with, “Good. You’re finally getting with the program.” It makes you bend over, your head lowered and resting in your hands, trying to calm down your panicked heart.

“How much did you end up drinking last night? Do you have a hangover?” Stella asks with concern.

“No. Not a hangover. Just… calming myself down. I kinda panicked when I thought that everything that happened yesterday just happened in my head” you answer her honestly.

“Would that be so bad?” Stella asks. You lift your head from your hands to look at her, and she looks genuinely curious about what you’d answer.

“As long as you’d always forgive me for flaking on you? Then no, repeating yesterday wouldn’t be so bad”, you answer her with a smile. She smiles back, happy with your answer.

“How about a timeline where you actually don’t flake on us?” Stella jokingly asks.

With your head much clearer, you respond by leaning back, hands behind your head, and raising your feet on the couch. “Nah”, you respond, shaking your head jokingly.

Stella pounces on you. You let out an ‘oof’ as you suddenly feel her weight on your body. She shifts her body to the side of the sofa with the backrest so that you’re both laying on the couch squeezed together. Then she punches your chest playfully. “Jerk” she says jokingly. She proceeds to rest her head on your chest and hugs you with one arm.

You remember laying like this with her since she was a kid, having her head sleep on your chest as you stared at the ceiling trying to think of a way to break out of the countless writer’s blocks you’ve experienced. It’s comforting to know she still enjoys doing this with you. You guys lay there peacefully, savoring the moment, and just enjoying the fact you’re back home together again. You weren’t really able to do it yesterday due to having to clean up the mess that became your apartment.

You look away from the ceiling and down to your daughter, her eyes closed resting on your chest. She takes a deep inhale through her nose, almost as if she was taking in your scent, and lets out a moan as she exhales. She hugs you tighter.

“I’ve missed this”, Stella admits to you.

“Me too baby.” you reply. “More than you know.”, you add in a quieter tone, almost under your breath so Stella won’t hear.

“No, Dad. I know. I’d know more than anyone.” she replies in a somber tone.

She is still resting her head on your chest with her eyes closed, while you go back to staring at the ceiling. You hate to admit it, but despite wanting to learn more about how she was coping with the divorce yesterday, you really weren’t able to learn much; but what she told you right now spoke volumes.

She does understand more than anyone. You both lost the same person. Not that Diane’s dead, but you’re both acting like she is. Hell, Diane’s doing the same thing. She hasn’t contacted you since the divorce and Stella most likely doesn’t want to hear from her mom based on what she last told her. You may have lost someone you’ve been with half your life, but Stella lost someone she’s known for the entirety of hers. It makes you return the hug she’s giving you and kiss the top of her head. She moans again like before.

“I’m sorry you had to babysit me yesterday,” you tell her. “But I’m doing much better now, now that you’re here. Much better than I’ve been in months. So it’s time I start acting like I’m the parent around here, and not the other way around.” “Dad—” “Yes. Exactly. Dad. I’m your Dad. So you need to listen to me little lady”, you jokingly tell her while booping her nose. She just smiles, and goes back to resting her head on your chest.

“With that being said, as supreme father, patriarch of this apartment”, you say in a fake booming voice to make her laugh and soften the blow of what you’re about to say next. “I think you need to make amends with your mother.”

Stella immediately pushes off of you and stands up from the couch. “WHAT THE SOYBOY BETA CUCK SHIT IS THAT!?”