Page 13

But I was with her in this new life. And here with Liam.

I was together with them and for a moment, I felt drunk on the simplest thing: gratitude.

Gratitude that I was given this chance to heal the damage that Old Me had done, that his countless fuck-ups hadn’t completely destroyed this family, yet.

While Violet gathered everything she needed for her science fair projects, I climbed the stairs.

Liam had taken refuge in his room after our tense exchange, a silent barricade that felt familiar.

I stood outside his door, the hallway dim, the upstairs quiet but for the creak beneath my feet.

I took a few deep breaths to collect myself before I knocked; a gentle tap, enough to say I’m here.

He was thirteen now. Caught in that brutal, restless in-between stage of boy and man. The sharpness in his eyes lately wasn’t teenage moodiness; it was weariness. A kind of mistrust that didn’t grow overnight.

The truth was, he’d grown up too fast and I knew exactly why. My mistakes had seeped into the floorboards of his childhood. The lies, the fights, the absences? My wreckage had left fingerprints on his life.

And now I stood outside his door, hoping that it wasn’t too late to repair the damage that had already been done. I needed to show my son that he didn’t have to bear the burden I'd given him.

“Yeah?”

“Hey,” I said, pushing the door open a fraction.

He was laying on his bed, headphones in, lost in whatever storm raged inside his head. His eyes flicked up, but he didn’t pull the headphones off, didn’t speak. That silence, that cold, distant silence, was more painful than any angry words he could’ve thrown at me.

“Mind if I sit?” I asked. He shrugged, the closest thing to permission I was going to get.

I sat on the edge of the bed, unsure how to start. What could I say?

I really fucked everything up, Liam. Your mom is broken and I destroyed the trust you have in me?

No, I couldn’t say anything like that. He didn’t need me to pile more weight onto his shoulders.

Instead I said, “Violet’s excited for the science fair.” I tried to sound casual, tried to bridge the gap with something neutral. “We're going to start working on her projects. You wanna join us?”

Liam barely moved, but I saw his lips twitch. He probably remembered the countless times I’d helped him with his own school projects. I used to be there for him. Hell, I used to be there for all of them.

“Yeah, maybe,” he muttered. “I don’t know.” He yanked the headphones out, tossing them onto the bed, then sat up, crossing his arms.

“Do you still like Echo Forge?” I asked.

For a second, something shifted, a flicker of connection between us. Liam’s gaze sharpened, a hint of curiosity breaking through his usual indifference. “Yeah. Why?”

“Wanna try to catch a show together? I think they’re touring near us soon.”

I felt awful for offering the boy something I knew would never happen. His favorite band was on tour, and they did plan to come through later this year; but I knew that the world would shut down in a matter of weeks. Everything was on the brink of collapse right now.

But, in that moment of us being father and son, I said it anyway.

Because the concert wasn't what it was about.

It was about the offer. It was about showing him I gave a damn.

It was about wanting to be near him, about hearing him laugh, about remembering how to have fun together.

Above all, it was about my son not flinching every time I entered a room.

Liam watched me like he was trying to figure out if this was real or another moment that would fade. When he spoke, I thought I heard the tiniest bit of hope in his voice. “Yeah, okay. I’d like that. You should check out their songs.”

I nodded, my heart aching because I already had.

In my previous life, Liam had clung to that band like a lifeline: angsty, bitter lyrics shouting about broken families and lost futures.

It was the soundtrack to his downfall, a reflection of everything I failed to protect him from: drugs, crime, prison sentences.

The truth was, I had failed him. Over and over.

He’d been a kid once, before the constant indifference and carelessness of the narcissistic asshole that was Old Me broke him.

A lengthy series of reckless decisions led to a version of Liam I couldn’t recognize anymore…

and Old Me had stood there, barely watching, aggressively pretending he wasn’t the cause or catalyst for any of it.

This time, I would do better. This time, I’d be different. I refused to make the same mistakes Old Me had made. I wanted to be there for him, hear those songs with him, hold his hand, and show him that not all families are beyond repair... that we could heal together.

I watched Liam for a moment, trying to read the way his eyes shifted and listen to everything he didn’t say. He was too damn much like me. I could see the walls he’d built around himself; walls I had no idea how to break down.

“I'd love to,” I said, “Maybe you’ll show me a few of their newer songs? I can take a look at tour dates. "

Liam nodded. "Only if you aren't too busy."

I leaned back, trying to hide the ache that had taken root in my chest. I loved him so much it burned.

I was grateful, maybe even to the point of madness, for the cruel twist of fate that brought me back and gave me this opportunity.

Being here with him, with all of them...

it was the only thing that mattered anymore.

But even as I had that thought, I felt the weight of it, the suffocating responsibility of fixing a broken past.

“Of course," I said with a nod. " I'll make as much free time as you need me to. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

Liam stared at me for what felt like an eternity. His gaze searched for something in my face, some proof, I was being honest. I kept my expression as neutral as I could while he studied me.

An irrational part of my mind feared that being haunted by the specter of knowledge would show. That Liam could see in my eyes the memories of a life unlived, of twelve years of horror, of a future already unfolded.

“Why?” he asked. His voice was low and hesitant, as if he was afraid to push too hard.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out at first. Honesty is best here Levi.

“Because I don’t want to give up on this,” I said, gesturing to the empty space between us.

“On you. On Violet. On Mom. I know I fucked up, Liam. But I’m still here.

And I promise to continue to do everything that I can to be a better father… a better person. For all of you.”

We sat quiet for a moment before the door creaked and Violet poked her head in. Her usual excitement lit up her face as her eyes flitted between me and Liam. “Hey, Daddy," she said, "can we work on my project now?" Her voice, high and bubbly, hit me like a wave .

“I’d love to, baby girl,” I said, standing up to ruffle her hair. She giggled, the sweet sound contagious and I couldn't help but smile back.

Liam rolled over on his bed, his eyes flicking to me for a second before he grabbed his phone from the nightstand.

He didn’t say anything more. But Violet?

She bounced off to her project in a flash.

I watched her skip down the hall, the innocence of a child still untainted by the mess I’d made of everything.

I followed her to the dining room where she’d set up her project, an elaborate display of graphs and diagrams she’d clearly put a lot of effort into.

There were colored charts and tiny plastic models lined up, each one artfully crafted.

She had an intense fire in her eyes, the same one that made me fall in love with her mom before Sloane had ever spoken a word.

“Is Liam okay?” she asked.

I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure myself. “Yeah. He’s got a lot on his mind, but he's okay.”

Violet beamed. “I’m glad. We’re a family again, right?”

“Yeah. We’re a family again.” I said it with all the certainty I could muster, but even I wasn’t sure if it was true yet.

Violet bounced over to the table, “I was thinking I could make a cool display with glitter for the solar system! Then I have to show volcanos over here in this other project,” she said, her little hands working quickly to arrange the planets and plaster figures.

“Sounds awesome,” I said, pulling up a chair next to her. I wanted to feel like me again, like the dad who would’ve done this without hesitation. The dad who didn’t walk out. I cleared my throat, unsure how to tread through the waters. “Hey, kiddo, what’s your favorite planet? ”

She looked up at me, eyes wide, then burst into a smile. “It’s gotta be Mars! It’s so red and… fiery! Almost like a volcano.” She paused for a second, her face turning more thoughtful. “Why?”

I shrugged, giving her a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “Just wondering. We’re a team now, right? You think we can make these projects amazing?”

"Uh, obviously! I've got the best Daddy ever!" Her excitement was enough to pull me back in, back to the feeling of purpose I used to have.

I helped her arrange the planets while she talked, asking me about different colors she could use and if I could help her with the measurements for the presentation.

And though I answered as best as I could, part of me was distracted, wondering if this was enough.

If my presence, even now, could begin to heal the cracks in her perception of me.

Would she look back at this moment and remember that I tried?

Or would she remember the time I wasn’t around?

As Violet put the finishing touches on her volcano, I sat beside her, my hands restless, my mind stuck in a loop I couldn’t cease.

There was a question that had been burning inside me ever since I woke up in this new life, and I had to ask it.

I kept my voice casual, even as my pulse drummed violently against my ribs.

“Hey, Violet… have you been playing any online games lately?”

She didn’t look up right away, simply shrugged, twirling a marker between her fingers. “Yeah, I started this new one. You build stuff and make your own worlds. You can even share them with friends. It’s called Robot Blocks .”

The name sent a jolt through me. It sounded harmless. But it had sounded harmless in my previous life as well. My throat tightened, but I forced a smile as I said, “Oh yeah? How do you talk with these friends? ”

She grinned. “There’s these public chat rooms. Liam helped me make my own account. I only play on the weekends, but there’s this girl in my class who’s helping me build a dinosaur world. It’s awesome.”

"That sounds awesome,” I lied. I was unraveling. This was it. This was the rabbit hole she’d fallen into in my previous life: a game, a stranger, a trap that I had been too distracted, too selfish, too absent to see coming.

Not this time. Not this life.

But how could I stop it without sounding paranoid? Without coming across as crazy, without scaring Violet, without revealing the unbelievable truth of what I'd already lived through?

Step one: be a cool dad.

“Maybe we could play together sometime?” I offered, as casually as I could.

She laughed, scrunching up her nose. “Daddy! You’re way too old.”

I laughed with her. But in my mind I was already planning firewalls, account monitoring, lockdowns. Whatever it took. She was still here. I would keep her here.

And that "friend" of hers? The one who took her away from me? Prince_Harming? I would find that monster, no matter what name they used, no matter what mask they wore. And when I did, I wouldn’t call the cops or look to the system for justice.

I would bury them myself, pour their screams into concrete, and let them rot beneath the foundation of my next project.

A fitting tomb for the kind of monster that tears little girls from their families and leaves nothing but silence behind.

This time, they wouldn’t get the chance. Not with mine. Not again.