BONUS CHAPTER :"When She Called Me Daddy"14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGPFO9qUzN
(Matteo’s POV, 3 years later)
She was three.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8oLifWtmoj
Wild curls.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqnkqLzWNm
A scrape on her knee from chasing butterflies barefoot.
“Arielle, not so far!” he called out.
But she just laughed—14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrQcxvldRB
That same sound her mother made when she was teasing him in bed.
Matteo sat on the steps of their little home.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMR2VRdx7d
Arielle ran in circles around the garden like she was chasing ghosts only she could see.
She stopped.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaj730Nw5NQ
Turned.
Held up a half-crushed flower.
“Look, Daddy!”
His heart stopped.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAVktOJFev
Not because of the flower.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpqJZfauMp
But because—
That was the first time she said it.
“Daddy.”
Not "Tatay."14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzJub2wh2L
Not "Papa."14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi268vpmElA
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡln7Qw0gmX6
She knew what that word meant to him.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYNRvDB0Um
What he never thought he'd deserve.
He kissed Arielle’s forehead.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawGzmMmgmP
Held her too long.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMP7cu1ylE8
Too tightly.
“Daddy’s not perfect,” he whispered.
“But I’ll never stop trying to be.”
That night, while their daughter slept between them,14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRDKIImb7l
he whispered to his wife:
“She saved me.”
“No,” she said softly.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4duNfeZLux
“You saved her. And that saved you.”
In a world full of clinics, sinners, blood and scars—14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9jLeet6I9
This was his healing.
A tiny voice.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KXS5rGK2N
A broken flower.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZS5HM4lZ5
And the first time she ever said:
ns216.73.216.209da2“Daddy.”
