BONUS CHAPTER :"When She Called Me Daddy"20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIF70oSF7wI
(Matteo’s POV, 3 years later)
She was three.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgg6BeSee63
Wild curls.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBR5TC64jm
A scrape on her knee from chasing butterflies barefoot.
“Arielle, not so far!” he called out.
But she just laughed—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxIbg9Rc0a
That same sound her mother made when she was teasing him in bed.
Matteo sat on the steps of their little home.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRQfiesRq5
Arielle ran in circles around the garden like she was chasing ghosts only she could see.
She stopped.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRe1n7MhKe7
Turned.
Held up a half-crushed flower.
“Look, Daddy!”
His heart stopped.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9x73t3BGLT
Not because of the flower.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4SDsfqzkD
But because—
That was the first time she said it.
“Daddy.”
Not "Tatay."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pOzR3gXcD
Not "Papa."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBF5sBeJLxN
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HaYechqOw
She knew what that word meant to him.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWBxUDESZr
What he never thought he'd deserve.
He kissed Arielle’s forehead.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMGo15eJmj
Held her too long.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBo16ZJquzS
Too tightly.
“Daddy’s not perfect,” he whispered.
“But I’ll never stop trying to be.”
That night, while their daughter slept between them,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ViSa5pfPA
he whispered to his wife:
“She saved me.”
“No,” she said softly.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDIes7jkPu
“You saved her. And that saved you.”
In a world full of clinics, sinners, blood and scars—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Jvle9qypM
This was his healing.
A tiny voice.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVloxL8UW55
A broken flower.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmulst9HwUu
And the first time she ever said:
ns216.73.216.239da2“Daddy.”
