Dream: Little Spiderling

Date: 8/21/2019

I was seeing through my own eyes but what I assume to be a parallel world's version of myself. I was holding a little baby girl named Daphne. Well more like toddler as she was a bit over a year old now. She was a little peach ball of curiosity with a thick mop of curly dark brown hair and beautiful amber eyes. She was my goddaughter and had been put in my care for the time being. Daphne's mother had been put in a psych ward for reasons I couldn't be told. All they told me was that they were looking for Nathan, Daphne's father, to see if he could provide for her. I knew Daphne's mother quite well. Was there from Natalya's first week of pregnancy to the moment she held baby Daphne in her arms. Daphne was the love of her life. I babysat Daphne on many occasions. Natalya and I being neighbors certainly helped with that. I was there through many of Daphne's firsts. The day she first held herself up when sitting. The day she first crawled. The day she first stood. Her first bites of big kid food. I was invested in this little girl almost as much as Natalya was. However, when Natalya got laid off from her day job… she took on a different job. She became an escort. Which sometimes meant she was out all night with the men or women who bought her services. To anyone on the outside, she was a party girl who cared more about having fun than caring for her own kid. I was on the inside. I knew better. She was counting the days till she could stop escorting. Even looking for day jobs that could help her get out of that service. She was making a decent amount of money from escorting though. Money which she put a decent chunk into a bank account for Daphne for when she was older. A bank account I had co-signed for because she trusted me with her little girl. Natalya then had me come over one night and take Daphne for an immeasurable amount of time. She told me to protect her baby girl as the cops came in and took her away. Arresting her as if she'd actually committed a crime. I've been watching Daphne since. Had to talk things over with my boss to get myself a week of at home work so I could still be with Daphne. At least until I could find a babysitter for her. The poor girl tossed so much in her sleep now that her mother was gone. Instead of just leaving Daphne with me and giving me the ability to just adopt her… those cops were looking for her father. A man who never once came by to see her. Who wasn't even there when she was born. His name only got put on her birth certificate because Natalya had only ever slept with one man before Daphne was born. Nathan Vitali. That damned smooth-talker who strung her along until he was done with her. When the day came that I was to bring Daphne with me to a domestics court, I did my best to prepare for the worst. To prepare for the chance that Daphne would be taken from me and given to Nathan. That I would never see her again. I held her in my arms when we were led into the court. She sat in my lap as the judge spoke. Her amber eyes watching in awe. She watched the judge use the gavel and took one of her toys to mimic him. Even the judge couldn't fight back his small smile at her mimicry. Nathan and I were both to stand. I was to make my case first. They tried separating Daphne from me when I went to the stand but she screamed and wailed until given back. "I'm sorry your honor but after her mother, I'm the only family she knows. With her mother gone she is quite clingy to me and has separation anxiety. She's barely calm with the babysitter and I had to sit in on many occasions to get her used to the new sitter first." I explained to the judge as the woman who tried taking Daphne gently gave her back to me. Daphne trembled and quietly cried. I did my best to coo her into a calm state again. "To the stand, Miss Vernon." The judge said and I did as was told while holding Daphne. I sat down and pledged to tell the whole truth. They asked me what I knew of Natalya before she was arrested. I gave a small sigh. "Truthfully, I knew she loved Daphne with all her heart. I knew she worked hard at her job until they laid her off. I know she job-hunted like a madwoman and I helped her cover her rent that first month she was unemployed. I know that after many rejections she turned to being an escort and I was made Daphne's caretaker for the hours that she was gone." I stated before the man interrupted me. "So she was negligent in her care of her child?" The man asked. I scoffed at him, "Absolutely not." "But you just said--" I cut him off, "I never once said she was negligent sir. I said I was Daphne's caretaker when Natalya wasn't home. As in I chose to watch Daphne for free while Natalya worked." The man representing Nathan just paled at my words. I continued, "When she wasn't working, she was with Daphne. They slept in the same bed. They got groceries together. They ate together. They played together. Daphne is Natalya's world. I know this for a fact because of everything I saw her do for this baby girl. She hated being an escort but it gave her money to pay the bills with a little extra that she put in a bank account for Daphne. Something I can easily prove as I had to sign for it as well. I even put some of my own money in it when I had a little extra." The man blanched at my outburst while Daphne giggled in my arms. "And what, Miss Vernon, did you know of Mr. Vitali, Daphne's father?" The man asked. I raised a brow at the question and looked to Nathan. "I know that Natalya fell head over heels for him when they met. He was charming and sweet. He made her feel important. I know that they had broken up a week after Natalya found out she was pregnant. I don't know if she ever told him or not. I wasn't with them when they broke up. I was taking my little sister to get school supplies. What I do know is the break up was hard on her and the pregnancy harder. She kept Daphne alive because it was 'their child' she would say. Over and over. But Nathan never came around to see Natalya or to see Daphne. Not in the past year and a half she's been alive has he ever attempted. Those are the things I know of him." Nathan seemed to blanche at my words. He asked me a couple questions about my work and how I intended to provide for Daphne if given custody. I answered honestly and earnestly. I wanted to keep her safe after all. "Thank you Miss Vernon, you may be seated." The judge told me. I held Daphne close and went back to my seat. She played with one of her quieter toys, a little stuffed spider doll that she was infatuated with. Nathan was called up to the stand next. He pledged to tell the whole truth and I waited to see how they'd go about his side. "Now, Mr. Vitali, did you or did you not know of Miss Corsair's pregnancy?" The woman from my side asked. Nathan glanced at me then back to the woman. "I knew of it. Natalya told me before we broke up." "Then why did you not make yourself a presence in your daughter's life?" She asked him. Nathan bit his lip, "I wanted to but Natalya… she wouldn't allow me near them after the breakup. She was still pissed about it. Even though she was the one who called it off." He looked to me, "I told her she should stay with her parents through it. That her job wouldn't make her enough money and her parents would be more than willing to help if she said it was for her baby. She told me very eloquently to go fuck myself." I blinked in surprise, "of course she would. Her parents nearly strangled her to death as a child. She wouldn't trust any kid's life with them." Nathan's eyes widened in surprise at my words.  The judge turned his eyes to me. "Miss Vernon no more outbursts. We'll take your words into consideration but no more." I nodded my head as I just lightly bounced Daphne on my lap. She was still clutching her stuffed spider doll. "Did you not know of this?" The woman asked Nathan. He shook his head. "I wouldn't have suggested such a thing if I'd known. Natalya and I… we had been dating for a couple years but she was pretty guarded. I knew there was a lot she kept locked up but she only ever told Ash about that stuff. Ash's family was basically her family. Hell, her equivalent of 'meeting the parents' was introducing me to Ash's dad. Said he was her parent too. That her birth parents were too rich and annoying. Never knew that was code for psychotic." I couldn't help but chuckle at his wording. They asked him a couple more questions. Asked about his job and health. How he planned to care for Daphne if given custody. Then he was called off the stand and the judge called our attorneys to come into the back with him. We were left with just a security guard to keep watch of us. "Ash… may I hold her?" Nathan asked after a long silence. I walked over to his side of the pews and set Daphne up on the table in front of him. "She probably won't let you hold her but you can talk to her. I'm sure she'll listen." Nathan nodded and looked to Daphne. He genuinely seemed like he wanted to communicate with her… just he couldn't find the words. Daphne was holding onto my fingers with one hand while holding her spider with the other. She smiled at him, "Hi hi." "Daphne, sweetie, this is your papa." I told her sweetly. Nathan gave a sheepish grin at that. He was definitely nervous. "Papa pirer?" Daphne asked me. "Pirer?" Nathan questioned. "She's calling you papa spider. Natalya was called Spider by my family. So it was Mama spider, Ashy spider, and spiderling or baby spider. Depending who said it." I explained and looked to Daphne who tugged my fingers, "Yes sweetie he's papa spider." "So that's why she has that doll?" Nathan asked and pointed to the spider doll. "It was Natalya's gift to her for her birthday. She's gone everywhere with it since." I explained. Nathan looked to Daphne and smiled, "Hello little spiderling." Daphne grinned big at her nickname. "Papa pirer!" She let go of my fingers and clapped against the stuffed spider. Nathan looked ready to weep. I heard the door open and picked up Daphne. I carried her back to our seat as she waved bye to Nathan. The judge came back out and looked between us. His eyes seemed softened by the whole ordeal. "Miss Vernon, if given custody to you, would you still allow her father to visit her?" The judge asked. "As long as he was willing to work with Daphne's schedule. She's a busy baby right now." I said with a small smile, "But I would certainly do what I could to allow it." The judge nodded and looked to Nathan, "If given custody, Mr. Vitali, would you still allow Miss Vernon to visit?" Nathan nodded, "She's been a big part of Daphne's life. I don't see any reason to keep her out of it now." The judge seemed happy with this. "We have decided that joint custody would be the best action. You two can work out a schedule accordingly. We will get papers filled out as proof of all this." I nodded at that. Nathan seemed to as well. Fast forward several months and we'd been working together to keep Daphne well cared for. It was a party for her second birthday and Nathan was there, so was his family, as well as mine. Little Daphne was laughing and running around in the yard just having a blast. It was a grand little slice of happiness for all of us. I woke up after that.