BONUS CHAPTER :"When She Called Me Daddy"19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfKQiSwULG
(Matteo’s POV, 3 years later)
She was three.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HJ4XFw4Y5
Wild curls.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdj7iF83w5
A scrape on her knee from chasing butterflies barefoot.
“Arielle, not so far!” he called out.
But she just laughed—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12JpOwEyN7
That same sound her mother made when she was teasing him in bed.
Matteo sat on the steps of their little home.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhlMP2amlc
Arielle ran in circles around the garden like she was chasing ghosts only she could see.
She stopped.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkI0YMp4V7e
Turned.
Held up a half-crushed flower.
“Look, Daddy!”
His heart stopped.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb87y4cUDje
Not because of the flower.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzpT8jKfv1
But because—
That was the first time she said it.
“Daddy.”
Not "Tatay."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lRlQGt6kN
Not "Papa."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jaT4nWEyH
But Daddy.
And it wasn’t just a word.
It was a key.
A spell.
A final absolution.
He dropped to one knee, arms wide open.
“Come here, baby girl.”
She ran into him full force, the flower crushed between them.
“You like it?” she asked, holding it up again.
“I love it,” he said. “Almost as much as I love you.”
“You’re my favorite Daddy,” she said proudly.
He laughed through his tears.
“I'm your only Daddy.”
“But if I had ten, I’d still pick you.”
Her mother watched from the window, hand pressed to her lips.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMLYtUqvU3
She knew what that word meant to him.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgImLGxMSW
What he never thought he'd deserve.
He kissed Arielle’s forehead.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbRp2lxu02
Held her too long.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5yiGflvFN
Too tightly.
“Daddy’s not perfect,” he whispered.
“But I’ll never stop trying to be.”
That night, while their daughter slept between them,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgjbXjYmz9
he whispered to his wife:
“She saved me.”
“No,” she said softly.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YMxVBeobi
“You saved her. And that saved you.”
In a world full of clinics, sinners, blood and scars—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bvKrwFZHh
This was his healing.
A tiny voice.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49TAXVo9jy
A broken flower.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDS7glhssK
And the first time she ever said:
ns216.73.216.239da2“Daddy.”
