Alright, here it is. My story is ready to be revealed! (well, the Prolouge anyway!) So get ready to read! I hope every single one of you likes it! And now, I present to you...
“Dear Dad…”
“Sweetie, I love you and your mom more than words can say. You always have to remember that,” he said, pushing the hair out of my face as I lay in my bed, half awake and listening, half in my own little world. I wondered a little bit why he had woken me up this late at night to tell me all of these things I already knew.
“I know that Daddy. You’ve always loved me,” I mumbled with a sleepy smile.
“I know I have,” he said, kneeling beside my bed, “But it’s important for you to know that whatever may happen in our lives, I’ll always be there for you. Through anything.”
Then, unexpectedly, he wrapped me in a hug. The warmth that it held comforted me, unlike anything else in the world. He placed a kiss on top of my head. The only thought I could think was how important my father was to me. How his hugs could heal everything, how happy Mom was every time she saw him, how he brought that special light to her eyes. And most importantly, how lucky I was I was that he was mine. My Dad.
He released me from his warm embrace, and I nestled myself under my blankets once more. “My darling Madeleine, my pride and joy… don’t forget what I’ve told you,” he spoke, looking into my eyes in that fatherly way. I nodded, and he stared at me a little longer before breaking our gaze. “Goodnight my angel…” he said softly, walking out of my room.
“Dad?” I asked suddenly. He stopped in the doorway and turned towards me, giving me one of his sweet smiles that made my lips curl up into one as well.
“Yes?”
“I love you Daddy.”
His smile grew. “ I love you too, Madeleine.” Then he disappeared.
But not just out of my room.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When I woke up the next morning, he wasn’t sipping his coffee at the table while reading the daily newspaper. He wasn’t watching sports on TV in the family room either. And he wasn’t in the kitchen; cooking his special pancakes he shaped to be like flowers. I only found Mom, who looked like she hadn’t slept at all. I wondered I Dad had woken her up in the night too.
When I asked her where Daddy was, she spoke to me calmly. “Your daddy needs some time to live his own life.”
Being only five, I didn’t understand. All I knew was that he was going to be home tonight and be there for me, just as he’d promised. So I waited. Waited for him to appear in my doorway like he had every night. Waited for that hug I’d always received. Waiting for him to keep his word.
But that promise and more were left un-mended, broken. And Mom and I were the ones to pay for it.
But mostly me. For I had to grow up without the one person I had always needed so much. And live a life without Daddy.
