Chapter 11 - THE NIGHT EVERYTHING FELL APART AGAIN
The trouble began when Lily overheard an argument.
Emma and Daniel were discussing school schedules.
A disagreement about travel.
Nothing dramatic.
But their voices rose.
Lily stood at the top of the stairs.
Her face was pale.
“Are you leaving?”
Emma froze.
Daniel turned.
“Lily?”
The little girl began crying.
“Daddy, are you going away?”
Daniel's expression collapsed.
He knelt.
“No, sweetheart.”
Lily shook her head.
“Mommy said people leave.”
Emma covered her mouth.
Daniel looked at Emma.
Then back at Lily.
“Sometimes grown-ups disagree.”
Lily sniffled.
“But that doesn't mean I'm leaving.”
He held out his arms.
She ran toward him.
Daniel hugged her.
“I'm your daddy.”
His voice broke.
“And I'm going to keep showing up.”
Later, after Lily fell asleep, Emma sat at the kitchen table.
Daniel joined her.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Then Emma whispered:
“I've been so afraid.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Of what?”
“That if I let myself love you again, you'll leave.”
He closed his eyes.
“Emma.”
She began crying.
“I know it's not fair.”
Daniel took her hand.
“You don't have to apologize for being afraid.”
Emma looked at him.
“I hurt you.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
“I kept your daughter from you.”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
She swallowed.
“And you still came.”
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
“I came because Lily deserved to know me.”
He paused.
“And because I never stopped caring about you.”
Emma cried.
Not because everything was fixed.
May you like
It wasn't.
But because, for the first time, she was willing to stay in the room when something hurt.
