“Are you happy, pumpkin?” the older man asked Claire.
“Happier than I’ve ever been, Daddy.”
“Then I’m happy, too.”
Claire launched herself into her father’s arms, and they held each other while Luke looked on. His relationship with his father had been a disaster, and he worried when the time came that he wouldn’t know how to be a father to their child. But he would give it everything he had, and if he was very lucky, maybe someday his son or daughter would look at him with as much love as Claire had for her father.
When they pulled apart, Claire stayed next to her father, her hand always touching him, and Luke’s heart did a curious flip at the push pull of loving someone who was destined to leave. Where before he’d only seen the pain, today he saw the love, too, and it suddenly started to make sense. Claire and her father talked about due dates and weddings and what she’d been like as a baby. They cried together for her mother and said how happy she would have been to be a grandma.
As the afternoon wore on and Claire’s father seem to grow tired, it took him longer to answer, and even Luke could feel him starting to slip back into the place he went when he wasn’t here. Claire sensed it too and stood. He wanted to get her out while she had these memories of her father before the disease stole them away.
“I love you, Daddy,” she said leaning in to kiss her father good-bye. “I’ll be back to see you soon.”
“Love you too, pumpkin. You take care of yourself and that little one.”
Claire nodded, her eyes shining with unshed tears, and walked out the door. Luke hung back for a moment and waited until he was sure he had the older man’s attention.
“I’ll take care of her,” he said. “With everything I have and everything I am, I will take care of her and our child. You don’t have to worry.” It was almost as if the air rippled around them. Like the words he spoke were more than just words. It was a vow more important than any other he’d ever made.
Claire’s father took Luke’s hand and nodded. “I know you will, son.”
