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Mya

I couldn’t stop smiling as she took one step and then another toward me.

Her little legs were pumping so fast. She squealed with joy as she collapsed into my arms, and I hugged her to me tightly. She smelled like innocence and joy….and the strawberry jelly that she had apparently gotten stuck to her hair somehow.

I laughed as I wiped it off. “You’re supposed to eat jelly, not wear it.”

She giggled. I wasn’t sure if she understood what I was saying, but I think she just liked my tone. I amused her.

I adjusted her toddler hat and leaned back in my chair when suddenly someone scooped her up.

I looked up at that someone and smiled. It was my father. I still couldn’t believe he was there. I couldn’t believe I knew him.

It was an unbelievable feeling to spend time with him. To have met him.

Knowing that this kind and wonderful man was related to me was something I couldn’t even describe.

We had the same eyes and chin. It felt silly to acknowledge those things, but I did.

I loved to look at my little girl and then look at him and see the hints of me that were actually from him.

He’d instantly became a part of our lives. I came home one afternoon from library story time with my baby girl and saw a man sitting with Dario on the porch.

Initially I was terrified, scared that one of our enemies had found us, but then Dario had said, “Surprise.”

He’d found my father! My father!

We went from spending an hour together to meeting up every now and then to long weekend visits. And then, eventually, he just didn’t leave. And now I got the chance to share my daughter not only with the most amazing man in the world, but also with a kind and loving grandfather.

If it weren’t for Dario, I wouldn’t have tried to find my father.

He said that he didn’t even know about me. He and my mom had met in high school. She’d conceived when she was very young. He’d lost track of her after she left high school, assuming she went off to college.

She hadn’t. She’d been sent to a distant aunt’s house to have me.

It didn’t matter, though. I didn’t hate him. I had loved him. Instantly.

He was the only parent I had left, and that was all that mattered. His presence was enough.

I had a family. A real one. A loving beautiful family and friends. Everything had worked out…thanks to one man.

I reached for the hand of the man who made all this happen…oh Dario, how much I loved him…

He smiled and gripped my fingers. He smiled more these days, but it never stopped being special to see him happy.

We might never be able to completely forget the horrible things that had happened to us, but we rejoiced in our newfound happiness and never took anything for granted.

Dario

My life was perfect , I thought as I took her hand in mine. I didn’t take for granted that now she sought my affection. When she smiled at me, it felt like the world’s greatest gift.

How this woman had grown to trust and love me, I would never know. After all, I hadn’t made it easy. I tried not to think of how it all began and instead focused on how we had built this life together.

It hadn’t been easy, but it had been worth it. Honestly, money could buy so much, it had bought us new lives and new identities.

Robert, my father-in-law, was holding Lily Grace in his arms. She was named Lily after my mom, and Grace after Mya’s. It seemed fitting that we named her after the people we had both loved the most.

We were adjusting perfectly to our new lives. The only regret I had was that I hadn’t married Mya sooner.

I didn’t know what happiness could look like until we met. Now that’s all I knew…and it was beautiful.

She leaned over at that moment and kissed me right on my lips. Unable to help myself, I pulled her into my lap and hugged her close.

Lily Grace toddled up to us then. She was holding a shell in her hand.

I took it from her tiny fingers. It was cracked, and so beautiful.

Another imperfect item to add to my collection. But now my collection was for holding onto memories. Memories of the life we were building together that was filled with love.

The end.