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"Hi, mummy!" Dawn chirped, a burst of sunshine in a pink princess dress.

"Hey, my little princess! Do you miss Mama?" Kimberly cooed, her voice thick with the emotion.

"Yes!" Dawn nodded enthusiastically, bouncing in her booster seat.

One look of disapproval from her governess and she stopped bouncing and adjusted in her seat.

"How was your phone call with Jamal?" Kimberly asked, suspecting that the phone call with Jamal the previous day was the reason Dawn seemed so uncharacteristically excited.

Dawn launched into a detailed narration of their phone call and all Jamal had said about learning to ride a bike, her tiny voice punctuated by enthusiastic gestures. Kimberly listened patiently, her heart brimming with love.

Seeing the excitement on her face and hearing how she kept going on and on about it, Kimberly could tell that Dawn liked Jamal. Perhaps he was her first crush. Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

Finally, taking a breath, Dawn tilted her head. "I want a bike," she said, her voice hushed with importance.

"Why? Because of Jamal? I thought we didn\'t like him. Why do you seem so happy to have heard from him? Or do we like him now?" Kimberly asked with a teasing smile and laughed softly when Dawn bobbed her head.

"So, what do you like about Jamal?" Kimberly asked curiously.

"He is my friend and he makes me laugh," she said and Kimberly laughed.

"That\'s good. It\'s nice to have people in our lives who make us laugh. Now, mummy have news to share with you," Kimberly said and Dawn gazed at her, wondering what she wanted to say.

"What?" Dawn tilted her head, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Taking a deep breath, Kimberly plunged into the news. "Mummy is getting married!"

Dawn\'s brow furrowed in confusion. "Married?"

"Yes," Kimberly explained, "like Aunt Sandra and Uncle John. Remember? They wear matching rings and live together."

Dawn\'s face lit up in realization. "Oh! So, you\'ll have a ring too?"

"Yes, honey," Kimberly said, her smile widening. "And guess what else?"

"What?" Dawn bounced again, barely containing her excitement.

"I\'m coming to pick you up soon, and you\'re going to come live with me!"

Dawn\'s eyes widened further. "Live with you? Like, all the time like before?"

"That\'s right," Kimberly confirmed, her heart swelling with the thought of having her daughter close to her once again. "And you\'ll get to see your new home!"

A thoughtful silence descended on the screen. Kimberly waited, a touch of worry creeping in. Then, Dawn\'s brow furrowed again.

"Will that mean we\'re moving?" Dawn asked, her voice small.

"Yes, sweetie," Kimberly said softly. "After the wedding, we\'ll all be living together in a new home."

"With grandpa and grandma?" She asked hopefully and Kimberly\'s heart broke.

"No, hon. But we can visit them whenever you want to. It will be just me, you, and your daddy," Kimberly explained.

Dawn\'s lower lip trembled slightly. "Daddy? I get a daddy?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Kimberly\'s smile faltered for a brief moment and her heart ached. "Yes, honey. You get a daddy." She wasn\'t entirely sure Ryan would embrace the role wholeheartedly, but she hoped he would be decent enough for Dawn\'s sake. Although she wasn\'t entirely convinced.

Just then, Kimberly\'s mom knocked on the door and walked in, holding a small gift bag. "Delivery for you, Kim," she announced, oblivious to the conversation on the phone.

"Hold on, one sec, Dawn," Kimberly mumbled, muting the microphone as she rose to take the package from her mom.

Looking inside the bag, she saw a velvet box and she took it out, knowing what was inside. Nestled inside the box sat a dazzling diamond ring.

"Honey, don\'t you think you\'re rushing into this?" Her mother\'s voice, usually laced with warmth, held a note of concern.

Kimberly glanced back at the screen,  where Dawn was now happily babbling to Lucy, her stuffed panda about having a new house and a daddy.

"Were you talking with Dawn," her mother asked and as she approached the bed where the iPad lay to say hello to Dawn, Kimberly quickly picked up the iPad and ended the call with a promise to call her back soon.

"Did you have to end the call? I wanted to say hello," her mother said with disapproval.

"You can call her yourself if you truly want to say hello to her," Kimberly said flatly her voice devoid of its usual warmth, as she took out the ring from the box and slid it down her finger.

The ring felt heavy and foreign on her finger. A cold weight symbolizing a future she wasn\'t sure she wanted.

"Really? Couldn\'t he even manage a decent proposal?" Her mother asked as displeasure etched lines around her eyes.

Kimberly took a deep breath, her gaze meeting her mother\'s head-on.  "What is it with that tone? I thought this was what you wanted?"

"Kim, I just feel there is something off with this. First he puts out the news of your engagement without your knowledge or ours, and…"

"And what, mom?" Kimberly cut in, her voice right.

"You said I should do this for Dawn, remember? I told you the kind of person Ryan was, but you insisted. This is who he is, so deal with it. I\'m not looking for romance. All I want is a home for my daughter which you and dad have denied her…"

"You know very well I don\'t agree with your father\'s decision," her mother countered, her voice defensive.

"Yet not once have you called your granddaughter whom you so much adore," Kimberly shot back, the words laced with hurt.

Her voice hardened. "Put your worries to rest, mom. I\'m going on with this arrangement since that is the only way out at the moment. If I had my way, I would cut both you and dad off and go live alone with my daughter, but I can hardly do that because I have no access to my money, thanks to dad. So, please, do not get in my way. I want this wedding to hold in two weeks so that Dawn can be with me," Kimberly said firmly and her mother\'s shoulders slumped, a defeated sigh escaping her lips. Without another word, she turned and walked out of the room.

Kimberly slumped back on her bed, a wave of frustration washing over her.

Her mother had woken her up earlier that morning to ask if she was the one who put out word of her engagement, and when they saw Ryan\'s post confirming the engagement, they knew he was behind it.

Of course, Ryan would be the one to announce their engagement without even discussing it with her first. It was just like him – impulsive and self-centered.

Kimberly glanced at her phone when it buzzed with a call from Ryan and she sighed as she stared back at the ring on her finger, a million questions swirling in her mind.

She glanced at the picture of her smiling daughter on the screen and knew deep down, she would do whatever it took to give Dawn the happy life she deserved, even if it meant taking this step with someone as selfcentered as Ryan.

Before the call could disconnect, she received the call, "Hello, Ryan," she said, her voice betraying none of the turmoil within.

"Hey! Did you receive the ring? Is it to your liking?" He asked, going straight to business.

"It\'s fine. It will do," Kimberly said, staring down at the offending jewel on her finger.

"Great! Mind sending me a picture of the ring on your finger? I need to upload it on my social media page. You will be doing the same, I presume?" He asked, oblivious to her reservations.

"Yeah. Sure," she mumbled, not bothering to call him out on releasing news of their engagement without first talking to her.

"Do you have any engagement for dinner? My parents would like both families to meet for dinner today…"

"That\'s sudden," Kimberly interjected with a frown.

"Sudden? Getting married in two weeks is sudden, darling. We have to fast track everything. It was your idea to do it on such short notice, remember?" He reminded her.

The reminder stung. It was true, she had pushed for a quick wedding, blinded by the desperate need to provide a stable home for Dawn, Kimberly thought with a resigned sigh.

"I will check with my parents and get back to you. Where would we be meeting?"

"My place, of course!" Ryan declared. "You haven\'t seen it yet, have you? Perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. We can chat wedding details, get everyone on the same page so that everything can be set in motion."

Kimberly closed her eyes, picturing the whirlwind she\'d gotten herself into. "Alright, that\'s fine by me. We will be there by five," Kimberly conceded.

Just as Ryan was about to launch into another monologue, Kimberly cut him off. "Hold on, Ryan," she said, her voice firming slightly. "There\'s something I need to ask."

"Shoot."

"Will you really be okay with my daughter living with us? You realize that means you\'re going to be her stepdad, right? Are you willing to play such a role?" She asked and Ryan smirked.

"Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I was going to ask…" He trailed off, leaving Kimberly hanging.

"Ask what?" she pressed, a flicker of curiosity sparking in her eyes despite herself.

"Adoption. Would you like for me to adopt her? I mean, considering all that drama over her paternity," he dropped the bombshell, surprising Kimberly.

Kimberly\'s heart skipped a beat. Adoption? From this self-centered man? The idea seemed absurd, yet a sliver of hope flickered within her. "Adoption?" she echoed, her voice barely a whisper.

"You would like to adopt her?" She asked, not expecting that from a selfish jerk like Ryan.

"Of course. If that\'s okay by you. And I would like to meet her soon. I know this is a loveless arrangement, but the kid knows nothing about it, so I have to do my best for her," he said and she smiled.

A hesitant smile tugged at the corners of Kimberly\'s lips. This wasn\'t what she expected, but it was good. Maybe, just maybe, there was more to Ryan than she initially thought.

And if it meant a stable home and a good father figure for Dawn, then perhaps this crazy, whirlwind plan wouldn\'t be so bad after all.

"That\'s… that\'s nice of you," she finally managed, her voice softer now. "We can talk more about it when we meet."

"Sounds like a plan. See you at five," Ryan said before hanging up.

Having done that he turned to look at his mother, "You heard that, right? They will be here by five. I told you I\'m perfectly capable of handling the situation."

"Have you told her yet?" His mother asked, and he shook his head.

"There\'s no need to tell her that."

"There is every need. You know about her daughter, she deserves to know about yours," his mother said and he shook his head.

"She deserves to know only what I tell her, mom. Don\'t butt into my business…"

"How can I not? How do you plan to introduce the kid when she moves in and sees her?" His mother asked and he shrugged.

"I have a plan. And I will appreciate it if you don\'t ruin it. No one can know that  Genevieve is my biological daughter. She is the daughter of my housekeeper who passed away and I\'ve taken it upon myself to care for her. That\'s all there is to it…"

"You will deny your own daughter and adopt that of someone else?" His mother asked in disbelief.

"Yes. Kimberly\'s daughter has a lot more to offer me," he said with a smirk.