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Her name played over and over in my mind while I watched her dress her dolls in hospital scrubs. She was smiling and talking so fast that I could barely understand what she was saying, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her.

I used to think there was no one on Earth as beautiful as Piper. I was wrong. Lilliana had Piper’s dark brown curls that fell unkempt around her face. She vibrated with natural energy and her bright blue eyes were the spitting image of her mother’s. At a quick glance, Lilliana was Piper in miniature. They looked exactly alike. But, as I watched her mannerisms and the way her smile stretched across her face, I saw small likenesses between her and me.

Lilliana didn’t have my hair or my eyes, but she had my features. Her nose was small and round, just like mine and her cheek bones were angled the way mine were. She wasn’t just a miniature Piper, she was a perfect mixture of the two of us. The longer I watched her, the bigger my smile became.

“What’s her name?” I asked, picking up a blonde doll and smoothing her hair back.

“That’s Michelle,” Lilliana told me. “She’s a nurse, but she training to become a doctor.”

“Oh?” I chuckled. “She’s in school?”

“Of course,” Lilliana rolled her eyes. “Everyone should be in school.”

“She just thinks that because she isn’t old enough to go yet,” Piper explained from behind me. I turned around and gave her a smile.

“Is that true?” I asked Lilliana.

“I start in September,” she said sadly. “Which is months away.”

“It’s not that much longer,” I said. “The more you think about it, the slower time will pass.”

“Mom always says that, too,” Lilliana grumbled.

“Who do you think I got it from?” Piper asked with a chuckle. I could hear the happiness in her voice and it filled me with a warmth I hadn’t felt in a long time. Sitting there, playing with my daughter and listening to Piper’s soft breathing behind me, I felt more at peace than I’d felt in years.

“What’s your favorite thing to do?” I asked Lilliana.

“My favorite thing?” she asked with a frown.

“In the entire world,” I nodded. “It can be anything. Anything at all.”

Lilliana thought about it for a second. Her forehead was furrowed as she considered all her options. It was amazing to watch the wheels in her head turn. I’d never seen someone so young think so intensely.

“Walk in Central Park with Mom on Sunday mornings,” Lilliana announced. “That’s my favorite thing.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because it’s just the two of us,” Lili explained. “During the week, Mommy works a lot. So, I stay home with Mrs. Tucker. We play and she teaches me stuff. It’s fun, but I like it better when I’m just with Mommy. When it’s just the two of us.”

I glanced behind me and saw tears sliding down Piper’s face. She’d cried on and off since we arrived at Audra’s. I couldn’t blame her. My own emotions were threatening to burst free. It took all my strength to keep my voice steady and my eyes dry.

“That’s sounds amazing,” I said. “I like spending time with your mom a lot, too.”

“How come you stopped dating her?” Lilliana asked. She was busy playing with her dolls. Her question was so off-handed it almost seemed like she didn’t know what she was asking. When I hesitated, though, she glanced up and fixed her blue eyes on me.

“I had a few things to figure out back then,” I explained slowly. “I really, really wanted to become a Navy SEAL. So, when I got the chance to do that, I couldn’t pass it up.”

“Kind of like when Mommy got the chance to be a lawyer, right Mom?”

“Exactly,” Piper answered. She walked over and sat down with us on the floor. “Sometimes adults have to figure out what they want to do with their lives before they can be together. Does that make sense?”

“Are you going to be together now?” Lilliana asked.

I inhaled and waited for Piper’s response, but she didn’t speak. Instead, she just looked at me. The expression on her face was one of confusion and worry. She didn’t want to give the wrong answer and hurt Lilliana, but she also didn’t want to get her hopes up if we weren’t going to try again.

“That’s something your mom and I need to talk about a little bit,” I told her. “But, I can promise you that I’ll be around a lot. If that’s okay with you?”

“Like a real daddy?” Lilliana asked. Her face lit up with happiness and my heart melted instantly.