BONUS CHAPTER :"When She Called Me Daddy"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsfMQd3l2P
(Matteo’s POV, 3 years later)
She was three.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRH03KMwlj
Wild curls.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QmEMBM0kR
A scrape on her knee from chasing butterflies barefoot.
“Arielle, not so far!” he called out.
But she just laughed—17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4KzvZdbpX
That same sound her mother made when she was teasing him in bed.
Matteo sat on the steps of their little home.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJc8Sc4OKLc
Arielle ran in circles around the garden like she was chasing ghosts only she could see.
She stopped.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbKtA8bg5S
Turned.
Held up a half-crushed flower.
“Look, Daddy!”
His heart stopped.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrw6Qt3k2i
Not because of the flower.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6zZMqribF
But because—
That was the first time she said it.
“Daddy.”
Not "Tatay."17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Rj4BkXmhj
Not "Papa."17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkr5aGFLh0R
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.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FKWdzeRas
She knew what that word meant to him.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuzlexGSIN
What he never thought he'd deserve.
He kissed Arielle’s forehead.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLv8gebYJJ
Held her too long.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq34sbTRwmU
Too tightly.
“Daddy’s not perfect,” he whispered.
“But I’ll never stop trying to be.”
That night, while their daughter slept between them,17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2M8UrCBFHj
he whispered to his wife:
“She saved me.”
“No,” she said softly.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgItBst8HU
“You saved her. And that saved you.”
In a world full of clinics, sinners, blood and scars—17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvD4KOCLvg
This was his healing.
A tiny voice.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBrgA4GR0c
A broken flower.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdvWO3kCim
And the first time she ever said:
ns216.73.216.203da2“Daddy.”
