The Dutiful Wife [COMPLETED]

16.

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2 years and 8 months later...

Wednesday | 1:13 p.m.
August 28, 2019

Shiloh "Lo" Mackey

"There she go. There go daddy baby." I smiled, stepping out into the backyard to see Shyanne standing at her playhouse. My baby girl had just turned 3 years old a little over a week ago. The party me and Ann had thrown for her was so expensive and extravagant that it would've had adults lined up to attend like a free entrance into a club. On the dark days between me and her mother, she was the bright spot in our lives. The passing years had been one hell of a ride especially after she'd found out I'd cheated with Charmaine just weeks after she'd gone "missing".

"Papa!" She ran towards me with open arms and I squatted down allowing her to run into mine. I embraced my baby and held onto her as if this would be our last time seeing each other.

"My big girl." I kissed her cheek. She giggled and pulled back, staring into my face before pinching my nose.

"Ahhh." I pretended to be in pain and she thought it was the funniest thing in the world. "Oh no ShyShy you're gonna rip papa's nose off. Help!" I yelled and she laughed even harder. She let go of my nose in the middle of laughing and I stood, swooping her up in my arms. I spun around with her and the happy giggles and squeals I earned from her nearly sent my heart into overdrive.

She'd been living with me for the past year now and I was doing my best to raise her right. I hadn't been shit in the husband department but I was a damn good father. I'd always be in her life even if it meant taking her from her mother to keep me out of prison. I'd kidnapped my own kid but was it really kidnapping if we were still married and both had custody?

I genuinely loved Ann but we could never get back to us. Almost 3 years ago I'd tried getting back to the decent guy/friend she remembered but damn. It was draining to be on my best behavior when chaos seemed to thrill me. For example the toxic relationships with women I'd been involved in in the past. After what she'd pulled the night she'd found out I'd cheated she was lucky I hadn't put a bullet in her when I'd tracked her down a year ago.

I stood in the middle of Shyanne's bedroom walking back and forth in my arms as she slept. Ann stood in the doorway frozen watching my every move. The gun on my waist was mostly what she kept her eyes on. I hadn't seen my kid since she was 3 months old. She was now a 2-year-old toddler who'd been stripped away from me.

It had taken me almost 2 years to track Ann down and I couldn't help but wonder how she'd managed to fall off the face of the earth. She wasn't smart enough to disappear like this on her own. How'd this muthafucka manage to stay hidden from me when she'd only been living only 2 hours away?