“Daddy, what’s this shirt say, again?” she asked, pointing at the words.
“It says ‘I’m purr-fect.’”
“I am!” she said and did a quick spin.
“Yes, you are.” I hoped on everything that she would never lose that confidence in herself. I wanted her to grow up with a strong sense of identity, and I knew she would need a woman to help her with that. I hoped Anna would be that woman.
After she got dressed, I grabbed her bag and told her to put some toys in it that she would want to play with while we were there. I then went into my room and put on the clothes I normally wore to train and work out at the gym.
We got into the car, and Margie asked, “Did you call Anna yet?”
“Not yet,” I said and pulled out my phone and dialed Anna’s number. She answered on the first ring.
“Hey, you. What are you doing?”
“Margie and I are driving to the gym. Would you like to come with us?” I asked
“Hmm,” she said. “I don’t have any clients today, and that sounds like fun.”
“Great. Margie’s going to be so excited,” I said.
“I can’t wait to see you both,” she said.
I smiled at the phone. I wasn’t too sure what her feelings were for me, but I hoped that maybe they were becoming something real. She was so beautiful, so perfect, and I was sure my daughter loved her more than I did, which just made things so much better.
“We can’t wait to see you either,” I said.
“I’ll see you in about ten or fifteen minutes?”
“Yeah, that’ll work,” I said.
We both said goodbye, and I hung up the phone, tossing it into the cup holder.
“Is she coming?” Margie asked.
“Yes, she is going to meet us there,” I said.
Margie squealed. “Yes! I’m so excited.”
I pulled up to the gym and helped Margie get out. We walked in, and Artie greeted both of us.
“Margie is here to cheer me on today,” I said.
“I’m glad to see you here on a day you don’t normally come in. It shows me you’re committed,” Artie said.
“I am very committed. I know I need to train harder,” I said.
I started doing some warm-ups, jumping jacks, and push-ups while Margie played with her doll and occasionally yelled, “Go, Daddy, go!”
She was cheering me on even though I was just warming up, and I thought it was the cutest thing ever.
I stepped into the ring with Artie, and we started with some boxing moves. He was covered in mats, and I was told to hit him like I would an opponent. This always made me nervous because I didn’t want to accidentally knock him out.
I threw a left hook, right hook, upper cut, and repeated these hits a few more times.
“Harder!” Artie demanded.
I threw my next one harder, and Artie tumbled a little bit.