Chapter 13 - THE LITTLE GIRL WHO ASKED THE BIGGEST QUESTION
Six months later, Lily asked Giovanni something neither of us expected.
We were having breakfast.
She sat between us wearing purple pajamas.
Giovanni was reading the newspaper.
I was making pancakes.
Lily looked up.
“Gio?”
He lowered the paper.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Are you going to leave?”
The room went silent.
Giovanni looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
She stared at her plate.
“Like Tyler.”
My heart broke.
Giovanni set the newspaper down.
He moved his chair closer.
“Lily.”
She looked up.
“Sometimes adults leave,” he said carefully.
She nodded.
“But I want you to know something.”
Her eyes widened.
“You have never done anything to make someone leave.”
I closed my eyes.
Giovanni continued.
“And I care about you very much.”
Lily looked at him.
“Like a daddy?”
His expression changed.
For a moment, he couldn't speak.
Then he nodded.
“Yes.”
Lily considered that.
Then asked:
“Can I call you Daddy?”
Tears filled my eyes.
Giovanni looked toward me.
I nodded.
He turned back to Lily.
“If that's what you want.”
She smiled.
“Okay, Daddy.”
Then she returned to her pancakes.
As though she hadn't just changed his entire world.
Giovanni sat perfectly still.
A tear slipped down his cheek.
May you like
And I knew that the man everyone feared had finally found something he wanted more than power.
A family.
