Chapter 20 - Daddy
One year after the wedding that never happened, I stood in the same ballroom.
Not for a wedding.
Hale Development had rented it for a scholarship dinner.
I almost refused the venue.
Then Emma said, “Why? It’s just a room.”
Seven years old and already smarter than me.
So we went.
She wore a blue dress.
Ava toddled beside her.
Olivia walked with us.
Emma stopped halfway down the aisle.
“This is where I yelled Daddy.”
“Yes.”
“Was I loud?”
“Very.”
She looked pleased.
Then she asked, “Were you scared?”
I thought about lying.
I didn’t.
“Terrified.”
“Because of me?”
“No.”
I crouched.
“Because I realized I had already missed six years.”
Her face softened.
“You didn’t know.”
“I know.”
“And now you know.”
“Yes.”
She took my hand.
That was Emma’s gift.
Children can accept a truth adults spend years arguing with.
You didn’t know.
Now you do.
What matters next?
The scholarship dinner honored employees’ children.
Halfway through dinner, Olivia sat beside me.
“You’re staring.”
“At what?”
“Us.”
“I’m allowed.”
She smiled.
Emma climbed into my lap even though she was getting too big for it.
Ava immediately tried to climb up too.
Olivia laughed.
I held both girls.
Then Emma whispered, “Daddy?”
The same word that had stopped my wedding.
This time, it did not shock me.
It grounded me.
“Yeah?”
“Can we go home?”
Home.
Not my mansion.
Not Olivia’s apartment.
Not a trust.
Not a company.
Wherever the people who told the truth to each other were going next.
I stood with Ava in one arm and Emma holding my hand.
Olivia walked beside us.
We left the ballroom together.
No music.
No applause.
No dramatic announcement.
We didn’t need one.
May you like
The thousandth time, it simply meant I was there.
And this time, I planned to stay.
