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Mandy would be going back home that late afternoon, so Amy agreed that they would tell her beforehand.
Now that the time had finally arrived, the redhead was full of anxiety. This would not be as difficult as it had been to tell Adam the truth, but it would be hard nonetheless.
The tall blond man seemed so full of anticipation, but he hadn't really given much thought to the little girl's inevitable reaction. Amy could only imagine what it would feel like, even for a child as young as Mandy, to be told one man was her father when she'd lived her entire young life thinking another was.
They congregated in the redhead's hotel room to do it. It was still morning, and Amanda was barely awake. In fact, the child was still on her bed.
Amy knelt at her daughter's beside, her heart pounding nervously as she reached out to shake the girl awake. Adam stood directly behind her, still and silent as he eyed his daughter. He still could hardly believe she was actually *his*... It absolutely took his breath away.
"Mandy, sweetie... wake up, honey." The redhead gently, lovingly stroked the little girl's soft, fine blonde hair from her forehead.
A pair of large but sleepy hazel eyes opened and blinked up at her.
"Mommy..."
"Good morning, baby," she said softly with a smile. "It's time to get up."
Little Amanda yawned and rubbed at her eyes as she pushed into a sitting position. Her stuffed dog was right by her side, partly on the pillow. And then she removed her hands and realized her mother was not the only person in her room.
"Uncle Adam!" she exclaimed. Her little face brightened at the sight of the tall blond man.
Adam smiled brightly and came to kneel beside Amy at her bedside.
"Hey, blondie... Good morning."
"Good morning!"
Amy bit her lip anxiously, her stomach in knots, yet doing flip flops as well. How was her daughter going to react? And of course, there was only one way to find out for certain.
"Mandy," she began, "we have something to tell you... something very, very important." She reached down at her side for Adam's hand and gripped it tightly. Lord knew, she needed all the support and love she could get from him right now.
The tall blond man glanced at her tenderly as he gave her much smaller hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. And just by that contact alone, she felt somewhat better - definitely more confident.
"Sweetheart, what we're going to tell you might be hard for you to understand..."
Mandy cocked her head as she looked into her mother's eyes. Amy couldn't even imagine what she must be wondering. "Well, I need you to listen very carefully, okay?"
The girl nodded wordlessly.
The redhead swallowed hard, all her unease flooding back to her. Her mouth seemed suddenly dry as ashes. She was downright fearful of being struck incapable of speaking at all.
Adam gazed at her, knowing just how she was feeling. He could tell by her voice and how it had begun to waver slightly, but even more so in the way she was suddenly shaking - not full out spasms, but she was shaking ever so slightly regardless. My God, she was positively terrified. Yet he knew it had a lot more to do with Matt Hardy than it did Amanda.
"Let me," he said gently. He focused his gaze on Mandy and heard Amy release a deep sigh. "Mandy, I'm your real daddy."
That was it... He just let it out so quickly and more calmly than Amy could believe, as though he himself hadn't just learned of being a father. He said the words unbelievably easily, effortlessly. Where he got such comfort in admitting such a shocking confession, she would never comprehend.
Amanda blinked, her face not showing any signs of surprise. She didn't even speak, ask any questions as the redhead had imagined she would.
"Mandy?" she asked.
"Mommy... U-Uncle Adam...?"
"Do you understand, blondie?" Adam asked, one of his large hands snaking out to gently caress the girl's hair. "Matt is not your real daddy... but I *am*."
The little girl looked at him quietly for a beat. Then, "You're my real daddy, Uncle Adam?" She asked the question as though it were a foreign concept - which it no doubt *was* for a six-year-old's little mind.
"Yes," he replied with a nod.
Amy interjected as she grabbed the little girl's hand, a look of concern on her face.
"Mandy, it's true - Adam is your daddy. I know you don't understand, but someday, I will explain it to you. Okay, sweetie?"
The girl picked up her stuffed dog and nodded.
"Baby, I want you to do something for me. Can you do something for Mommy?"
Amanda nodded again.
"Don't say anything to Daddy about this, okay?"
Adam's guard shot up at the mention of 'Daddy,' as he knew she was referring to Matt. But of course,
he was who Mandy had known as being that role for all her young life. However, he also knew that, from
here on in, things were going to change. He only hoped it would all be a smooth process.