BONUS CHAPTER :"When She Called Me Daddy"16Please respect copyright.PENANAHblG3RA15s
(Matteo’s POV, 3 years later)
She was three.16Please respect copyright.PENANA1DBBpbct17
Wild curls.16Please respect copyright.PENANARs61R0kNkz
A scrape on her knee from chasing butterflies barefoot.
“Arielle, not so far!” he called out.
But she just laughed—16Please respect copyright.PENANAsrGjpxUEAj
That same sound her mother made when she was teasing him in bed.
Matteo sat on the steps of their little home.16Please respect copyright.PENANAmKa0XL7rCR
Arielle ran in circles around the garden like she was chasing ghosts only she could see.
She stopped.16Please respect copyright.PENANAoOqTVQM88L
Turned.
Held up a half-crushed flower.
“Look, Daddy!”
His heart stopped.16Please respect copyright.PENANAPggzBjWg7q
Not because of the flower.16Please respect copyright.PENANAWH1hIkDPMl
But because—
That was the first time she said it.
“Daddy.”
Not "Tatay."16Please respect copyright.PENANAH1Fz3A7Dhw
Not "Papa."16Please respect copyright.PENANArtMPbpRRpH
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.16Please respect copyright.PENANACXHbMhazy3
She knew what that word meant to him.16Please respect copyright.PENANANfeR3lYd19
What he never thought he'd deserve.
He kissed Arielle’s forehead.16Please respect copyright.PENANAW4CoSxDPRV
Held her too long.16Please respect copyright.PENANAsBQUAN6glC
Too tightly.
“Daddy’s not perfect,” he whispered.
“But I’ll never stop trying to be.”
That night, while their daughter slept between them,16Please respect copyright.PENANAyVGS3LG9cH
he whispered to his wife:
“She saved me.”
“No,” she said softly.16Please respect copyright.PENANAKsCTXeNPdE
“You saved her. And that saved you.”
In a world full of clinics, sinners, blood and scars—16Please respect copyright.PENANAUzEFzOsunv
This was his healing.
A tiny voice.16Please respect copyright.PENANA99koyYOXo1
A broken flower.16Please respect copyright.PENANAHFxyWGd73c
And the first time she ever said:
ns216.73.216.12da2“Daddy.”