YOU CAN'T TAME ME.

PARKER'S POV:

"Sweet cheeks, you have to eat this." Josh's voice echoed in the whole house. I tried to suppress it using my pillow. "No! No! Sophie will not eat. Sophie wants donuts. Sophie wants donuts."

"No, sweet cheeks. You cannot have donuts." Urgh! Will this father-daughter duo let me sleep or not? I again tried to use another pillow. Slowly silence spread throughout the space. Finally, some peace. When I thought it was peace, chaos barged into my room. "UNCLE!!" 

"What the..." I almost jumped on the bed when Josh came behind Sophie, "Mind your tongue, Parker." I rubbed my forehead and let my eyes adjust to the scene in front of me. Josh, my childhood friend was standing with a mixture of angry and helpless expressions. While the two and a half feet chaos was standing just beside me. Her big brown eyes had big tears in them looking at me like a lost puppy. I took a deep breath, and asked, "What happened Sophie?" Sophie was waiting for this one specific question. Tears started to roll off her cheeks and her cries echoed in the whole room. I closed my eyes and covered my ears protecting them. I did not want to be deaf at such a young age. "Stop crying, princess. Come here." I forwarded my hands and she took it. After making her sit on my lap, her small chubby hands clunged onto me. "Uncle.." She was again about to cry when I caressed her head and asked, "Tell uncle, what happened?" 

The tears which stopped a few seconds were again on the edge of her eyes. "Uncle, uncle, daddy is bad. He scolded me." 

Josh who was watching her daughter's drama gawked at her daughter. "Me? Sophie.." he was about to say something when I paused him and again asked, "Why did your daddy scold you?" Sophie was now a little calm. She started sucking her fist and replied, "Sophie wants a donut but Daddy said no."

"That's because donuts are full of sugar. It is not healthy for you, sweet cheeks." Sophie shot a glare at him, "Daddy is bad. Uncle is cool. Uncle will give donuts, right cool Uncle Parker?" Sophie used her deadly weapon, big puppy eyes. I knew what she was up to. She was still a baby yet her brain matched with the cunning brain of her dad. "You want donuts?" I again asked. Sophie nodded her head. After thinking for a moment, I answered her with a smile, "Okay then, what my princess, she gets."

"Yeah!"

"No!" Both the father-daughter duo exclaimed at the same time. 

"But...You have to do one thing for me." Sophie's sparkling eyes lost some of their sparkles yet she did not fear to ask, "What, uncle?" 

"I want you to go to the school for the whole week. I will give you one donut for each day you go to school." Sophie blinked twice as if she was confused about my offer. I cleared my throat and tried to explain, "That means, if you go five consecutive days, then I will give you five donuts at the weekend. Can you do it?" Sophie now understood as the sparkles in her eyes returned. "Okay, uncle. I accept your offer." 

"That's like my good princess." I let her down and she straight ran out of the room singing her recent favorite song, "Yeah! Baby crap du du, mommy crap, daddy crap du du, crap!" I chuckled at her mispronunciation. Josh who was holding his breath finally let released. "Damn, sometimes she can be stubborn as hell." I rolled my eyes off and commented back, "I wonder where she gets it from." 

"What? Me?" He asked passing a glare in my direction.

"Then me?" I shot back. 

"Whatever, I am just worried for Sophie. A day before yesterday she asked about her mother. What should I say?"

Fuck, that was something to be concerned about. "Do you intend to tell the truth?" I asked with suspicion. "Are you gone mad? How will explain that she is adopted and her mother passed away just before the day we planned to take her home? Even if she understood, I don't know how she will take it." I took a deep breath. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I stated, " Forget about the past. It will hold you from living the present with the gift that you both chose for yourself."

"I know but...every time, I come across her room...our room. I..." Seeing your childhood friend was not something anyone would like. Taking a deep breath, I again tried to convince him, "Even Aria would not have liked seeing you in this state. She would have wanted you to enjoy every moment with your daughter. Yours and Aria's daughter."

 His whole body started to shiver. "Parker...I want to..believe me...every time I see Sophie, I find Aria in her. Her big brown eyes, her smile, everything. I always try to put the past behind but her one memory shatters it all down. I don't know if I can be a good father to Sophia. I feel so fucking alone, Parker."

I took him in a hug, rubbing his back continuously. Josh broke down two times in his life, when her mother died and when Aria died. Aria was the twilight that brightened his life again after her mother passed away but that merciless God even snatched that light. "You are not alone, Josh. I and my whole family will be at your side. Don't you ever fucking forget that?" 

Like Josh, Aria was also one of my dearest friends. Josh was a fucking mess when he met her. The loss of his mother left a deep scar on him. They hated each other at first but then slowly they started to fall for each other. There was a time when Josh's father did not approve of Aria just because she did not belong to our status. I mean, we are living in the first century, and people are still stuck on such standards. Shit happened and we almost lost Aria but in the end, they got married. Fuck, if that accident would not happen, they still would have stayed together with Sophia but the fucking fate or destiny whatever the world calls it snatched it all from my dearest friends. 

Everyone fears fate but I don't. I challenged this fate, but I can assure you that if I don't win, I won't let it win either.