Monday came faster than Darnell expected. The way she was feeling she wanted to just sleep in and let the day go by, but she knew she couldn't. She had kids she had to take of and make sure they got to school on time.

She sat in the bed a little longer before deciding to get up and get the day started. She made her way to Kaydence's room first to wake her up. She knew that it wouldn't be easy since they had a eventful weekend.

Before all the bullshit with Don, she promised the kids that they would take them to the circus. By the time Sunday rolled around she really didn't want to see Don's face. She tried her hardest to get her children to stay in and have a movie date with her but the weren't having it.

For the sake of her children, she sucked up all the hateful feelings she had towards Don and spent the day savoring time with her kids. She tried her hardest not to show that being around Don was like a nagging pain that no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop it's aching discomfort. Through everything she couldn't deny that he was a great father and seeing the smiles on her children's faces brought a smile to hers as well.

Darnell made her way into Kay's room to start their morning routine. She woke her up and picked out her clothes and told her to wait for her in her bathroom. Afterwards she went into little Don's room and tried her hardest to wake him. It took her a good 20 minutes to get him to at least open his eyes.

After fighting with him to at least stand up on his own, she gave in and picked him up. He wrapped his arms around her and snuggled his face into her neck. Times like this she wished Don was there to help her. She went into his closet and picked an outfit for him as well and decided to just make up his bed when she got back from dropping them off at school.

Heading back into the bathroom, Darnell helped Kay and little Don brush their teeth and wash their faces. When they where almost done they heard Don's voice that boomed throughout the house.

"Hey. Where y'all at?" He yelled coming through their bedroom he once shared with Darnell.

At the sound of his voice Kay and Don got excited by the presence of their father.

"Daddy!" They yelled from the bathroom with their toothbrushes hung out of their mouths.

At the sight of Don Darnell rolled her eyes. She couldn't deny how good he looked in just a pair of Adidas stripped joggers and a wife beater. It seemed as if his tattooed muscular arms glistened under the bright bathroom lights. In other words the man was fine as hell.

Darnell cleared her throat when she brought her eyes up and they met Don's. She turned back to the the bathroom's sink to finish washing up herself.

"Y'all all done?"

"Yes sir!" The two said.

"Alright let's go get y'all dressed then."

Kay and little Don ran out of the bathroom and down the hall with Don trailing behind them leaving Darnell alone in the bathroom frazzled by the appearance of her estranged husband. She had to get herself together. She couldn't risk Don seeing her drooling over him. She needed to make it hard for him and for him to understand that he lost one of the best things that ever happened to him.

Darnell collected herself before getting dressed. She dressed in a pink Champion tee, black ripped jeans, and her black Air Max Theas. She let her wild curls hang and she did her normal make up routine.

She didn't do anything too fancy. Today was the day she was going to be doing interviews for the rec with the help of Naree. She had spoken to her contractor over the weekend and he estimated that she could open up within the next month. It was finally time to gather employees and start taking registration for kids.

When she was done she headed to the kitchen. She pulled out two bowls and cereal for little Don and Kay. When they came down she let them eat while she gathered their book bags and made sure they the had everything they needed for school.

She ignored Don's presence the best she could as she moved around the house. Every time she looked up she found him staring at her. He looked like he had something that he wanted to say, but what was there to say? She was tired of the 'I'm sorries' and 'Forgive me's'. It was only one way she would consider taking him back and that was him taking the DNA test and she she didn't know if that would be enough.

Darnell checked the time on the stove after fixing Kaydence's hair throwing it in a sleek ponytail. She was dreading this car ride, but like everything else she sucked up how she felt to focus on her kids. She refused to miss out on dropping her kids off at school because of what was going on between her and Don.

The time for them to go came and they all got into Don's truck and headed out. The car ride was filled with mostly of Kay's and little Don going on and on about how they where gonna tell their friends about their trip to the circus.

After dropping the two off Don headed back to the house to drop Darnell off and then her was heading to the club. These days he was distracting himself with work for the clubs and restaurant. He tried not to think about his current situation with his wife and at least do something he knew he could do right.

He missed waking up and going to sleep with Darnell in the bed with him. He missed her fruity smell from the conditioner she used, the way they played around when they where alone, or just hearing her sweet voice telling him she loved him before they went to sleep. He realized that he missed all the small things all because they where now gone.

The truck was filled with an awkward silence as they sat in morning traffic. Darnell typed on her phone as Don kept his attention to the packed interstate.

"I set the appointment for us to do the DNA test tomorrow."

"What time?"

"10:00. Why?"

"I want to be there."

Don wondered why but didn't ask. He was just glad that Darnell was talking to him again.

"Aight. We can head over there when we drop the kids off tomorrow." Darnell nodded her head acknowledging she heard him.

"Have you met the little girl?"

"Naw I haven't seen her or Jennifer since she came to the club."

"I want you to set something up with Jennifer for her to spend some time with Kay and little Don. If she is your daughter I want her to at least to know who we are."

Don sighed. The thought of speaking to Jennifer made his head hurt, but he knew Darnell was right and he was in no way in a position to go against what she said.

"Okay" he said and the car went back to silence. When they made it back to the house Darnell got out of his truck without saying a word and went back into the house. Don sighed the silence was getting to him and he hated every second of it. He hated himself for what he had did to his relationship.

Before leaving the driveway he grabbed his phone out of one of the trucks cup holders and dialed Jennifer's number.

"Hello." Jennifer answered sounding like she was out of breath. He could hear crying in the background and wondered what the hell she was doing.

"Yeah hold on." She said before she set the phone down to tend to her daughter who was screaming her head off.

A couple of seconds later she came back after giving the little girl a pack of teddy grahams.

"Hello?"

"Yeah. You know we have the DNA testing tomorrow morning right?"

"Yes Don we will be there." Jennifer said irritated.

"Aight. Check this out. I want to get the baby for the day. My wife thinks it's a good idea for her to meet our kids."

"She thinks it's a good idea. What do you think?"

"I think whatever what my wife thinks." He said sternly.

"Mhm sure. You can come get her right now."

Don looked at the clock on his truck. It was almost 9:30 am.

"She ain't in daycare?"

"No Don shes not."

Don looked at the phone skeptically as if Jennifer could see him. What the hell did she do all day?

"Just send me the address and I'll be there to pick her up before I pick my kids up from school."

Before Jennifer could say another word Don hung up the phone. He knew this was for the best. This could potentially be is daughter and he needed to start bonding with her.

-

Darnell pulled up to the Center and waited for Naree to show up. She was so thankful that her friend was helping her today. She knew how busy Naree was and for her to take time away to help her with her business showed how much of a great friend she was.

A couple of minutes passed before Naree pulled up beside Darnell in the parking lot. They got out and hugged and made their way into the center. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. There was a cafeteria, gym, basketball courts, computer labs, indoor and out door pool, and individual quiet rooms so the children could have a space to focus on their school work.

They headed to Darnell's office to wait until the possible employees showed up. They had at least 50 people scheduled to interview. Darnell knew it was going f to be a long day, but she was excited and expects nothing but the best for the center.

"So how you been holding up?" Naree asked as they sipped on their coffees from Starbucks.

"I don't know how to feel Naree. I just feel numb like I'm going through the motions." Darnell sighed twirling a curl with her finger.

"I still can't relive did something like that. I would have never thought he would do some stupid shit like that."

"Who you telling? I feel like I don't even know that man anymore. If he did that then it's no telling what else he's hiding from me."

"Right. Then the bitch had the nerve to step to you like everything was cool!"

"Something about her ain't sitting right with me. The way he told me she came at was him was like she the fact that she was just now telling him he had a three year old daughter wasn't a big deal."

"Like bitch you've waited all this time. If that really was his child then she would have said something as soon as you found out."

"Plus her timeline ain't adding up. Don said they slept together two years ago. But she said the baby is three now."

"Either she was pregnant before she slept with him or the bitch just can't count. We should confront the hoe."

"Naw. Imma let her keep stacking up on these lies. Cause what's down in the dark will come to the light."

-

Two hours of interviews had Darnell ready to throw in the towel. She only had a few people left and just wanted to just get everything together so she could get home. Naree walked in introducing the next candidate knocking her out of her thoughts.

"Darnell this is Carter McCoy. Carter this is Mrs. Taylor."

Darnell stood up from behind her desk and extended her hand to shake his hand. Carter gave Darnell a stern but gentle shake and sent her a smile showing off his gleaming 32.

Darnell couldn't help but to check out Carter. Standing at least 6'5, he had the smoothest looking mocha skin, bulging muscles that filled out his long sleeve button down, and a great smile.

Darnell had to catch herself. She was still a married woman. Even though her and Don was going through somethings right now, she wouldn't even think about stepping out on him. She cleared her throat offering Carter a seat.

"Please sit." She said sitting in her chair.

"It's nice meeting you Mrs. Taylor." Carter spoke up.

"Like wise Mr. McCoy but you can address me as Darnell. I'm just going to ask you a couple of questions." She looked down at her watch. "Shouldn't be that long."

"Okay. No problem."

Darnell looked down at Carter's resume.

"I see that you used to play basketball at Georgia State."

"Yeah. I've been playing ever since I was a little boy. I got a scholarship to play for GSU, but a knee injury took me out early. So after that I decided to stay and get my degree in Physical Education."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. I'm glad you where able to take advantage of a college degree."

"I believe that that was one of the best decisions I've made in my life."

Darnell nodded moving on to the next question."And your applying for the coaching job?"

"Yes." Carter replied.

"What do you expect to accomplish if you receive a job here?"

"I believe that with my experience in play ball and having the education behind it is a plus. But also the life experiences I've had, I can give advice and relate to the kids more. I can help them to know how to avoid the pressures of manhood especially with the older kids."

Darnell was sold at this point. The vibe Carter was giving off showed that he was a down to earth kind of guy and would be a good role model for the kids. Darnell asked him some more questions about his availability, outside responsibilities, and future goals if he was hired.

"It was nice talking to you Carter. I'll be in touch soon with an answer."

Carter smiled and help out his hand for another handshake. His hands where so big and soft Darnell thought. They shook hands again.

"Likewise Mr. McCoy."

With that Carter left out her office and Naree returned.

"Girl he was cute." Naree sung.

Darnell rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair.

"I can't lie he was."

"Alright missy. Don's acting like a fuck boy right now but watch yourself. Don't get caught up." Naree eyed her.

"Whatever. I was just stating the obvious."

"Mhm."

After a couple more interviews, Naree and Darnell locked up the center and went their separate ways after saying their goodbyes.

During Darnell's ride home she tried to prepare herself as much as she could. She was about to meet her potential 'stepdaughter'. As crazy as the idea was, it was her reality until the truth came out.