“Why are you sharing all of this?” he asks, though there is a divine wisdom giving him pause. An intuition that stops him from attacking.
I suck in a fast breath.
“Because…you used to call her Skylittle. Kane did. You fell in love with her in the asylum, but Kane loved her since they were small children. Because you’ve never metme. Not really. Though I have dreamed my entire life of meeting you. Because…don’t you see it when you look at me? When you look into my eyes? Don’t I remind you of the woman you fell in love with? Don’t I remind you of yourself?”
I’m on the precipice of hyperventilating as I sob the next words.
My father takes an unsteady step away, dark mahogany eyes falling to my feet then back to my face. He’s stunned and unsure if he’s gone completely insane.
“Because I have loved you my entire life without knowing you. Because I live in a cottage built around a red oak tree. Because my mother is Skylenna Winter Ambrose. My brother is Krimson Arthur Valdawell. Because my name is Sapphire S. Valdawell. The S stands for Sophia and Scarlett. And I am livingwith my family twenty-one years from right now.”
His face falls, the muscles in his jaw slacken, and his features hallow with realization.
“No…” Another step back, though he wavers. “You’re trying to get in my head…”
“You are my dad. I’ve come a long way to talk to you,” I cry.
My father shakes his head, but he can’t unsee it, can he? My face is everything he could have ever imagined his child would look like. Astonishment ripples through his very core.
“Prove it. Tell me something only your…motherwould know and tell you about us.”
Everything he knows is in question, but he can’t bring himself to stop staring into my eyes.
I don’t have to think very hard for this request. “Until hell freezes over.”
The look hits him before he can hide it.
Every look of composure deserts him. What’s left is naked shock.
“And even then,” I add in a whisper.
My father turns away from me, holding a fist over his mouth, and closing his eyes. When he pivots back in my direction, he removes his fist and asks, “Your name is Sapphire?”
I sniffle and nod my head.
He releases a devastated breath.
“Can I hug you?” I ask, and the question causes me to bawl.
It’s as if I’m dreaming. A lovely, heavenly, wonderful dream.
My father opens his arms and says, “Come here.”
I throw my body into a sprint, barreling into my dad’s hard chest. He folds his arms around me and holds me tight as I wail against him.
“I’ve got you, kid. You’re safe now.”
I am drowning in bliss and years of childhood grief all at once. My sobs jolt and shake my upper body so hard, I don’t know how my father keeps us so still. This is the warmest embrace I’ve ever had in my life.
Krimson, I wish you were here to meet him.
I can’t tell if it’s several minutes or an hour before I finally let go, wiping my eyes and holding his shoulders to steady myself.
“I have to tell you something.”
“Do I pass away in the future, Sapphire?” he asks calmly.
My eyes prickle with more tears.
