BONUS CHAPTER :"When She Called Me Daddy"27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4A2cMioDV5
(Matteo’s POV, 3 years later)
She was three.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmmnj1nXy1
Wild curls.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL55tuPheBE
A scrape on her knee from chasing butterflies barefoot.
“Arielle, not so far!” he called out.
But she just laughed—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKOfgkXeyL
That same sound her mother made when she was teasing him in bed.
Matteo sat on the steps of their little home.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiFzRDpM5b
Arielle ran in circles around the garden like she was chasing ghosts only she could see.
She stopped.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkxTeXJmnW
Turned.
Held up a half-crushed flower.
“Look, Daddy!”
His heart stopped.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6IUHzY1CJ
Not because of the flower.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbHtegpb2P
But because—
That was the first time she said it.
“Daddy.”
Not "Tatay."27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjbzyCZev5
Not "Papa."27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX98WGaOKUA
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNpuySA59P
She knew what that word meant to him.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXREkyJBZr
What he never thought he'd deserve.
He kissed Arielle’s forehead.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXdLZg3IQU
Held her too long.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkaoxse42R7
Too tightly.
“Daddy’s not perfect,” he whispered.
“But I’ll never stop trying to be.”
That night, while their daughter slept between them,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhgvWasL4A
he whispered to his wife:
“She saved me.”
“No,” she said softly.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohqN2t0WcP
“You saved her. And that saved you.”
In a world full of clinics, sinners, blood and scars—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9FCY1E3kM
This was his healing.
A tiny voice.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0KnSgeikx
A broken flower.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLX5yd6lNN0
And the first time she ever said:
ns216.73.216.169da2“Daddy.”
