I told myself the tight feeling in my chest was just relief.
Every day after that, another update.
A lunchbox plastered with stickers Harper insisted were “strategically placed.”
A photo of the two of them reading before bed.
A plate of peas arranged into a smiley face.
Dani wasn’t just keeping me informed, she was filling the space I pretended wasn’t there.
I didn’t realize how often I checked my phone until I caught myself doing it between rounds, between tasks, between nothing at all. By day three, one of the guys nudged me.
“Girlfriend?”
“Not exactly,” I said.
The words came out easy. Too easy.
The FaceTime calls with Harper became the best part of my nights.
She’d prop the phone on the kitchen table and talk a mile a minute while Dani moved in the background. Sometimes cooking, other times cleaning, and a few time just listening.
The calls always ended the same way; with Harper half asleep, and Dani’s voice softening.
“You can tell Daddy goodnight,” she’d whisper.
“I love you, Daddy.”
“Love you more, bug.”
“She’s the best,” Harper would mumble.
Then it would just be Dani and me.
At first, she stayed long enough to give me the rundown. Lately, the calls lingered longer. We found ourselves drifting into moments where words weren’t necessary, where a lookor a shared half-smile carried thoughts that didn’t need to be spoken. We talked about nothing important, but somehow, it felt important. During those pauses, lit by the slight curve of her lips or the way she breathed in sync with me, there was something unspoken hanging between us. Which somehow made it important.
There were pauses now. The kind that didn’t rush you. The kind I usually avoided.
When the calls ended, the quiet felt sharper than before.
That bothered me.
It was the ninth night when everything shifted.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed, laptop open, pretending to work, when my phone buzzed.
Incoming FaceTime: Harper’s iPad.
I answered immediately.
Harper’s face filled the screen, sleepy and half-buried in a pillow. “Daddy…”
“You’re supposed to be asleep.”
“I waited.”
Behind her, I heard Dani’s voice. “Say goodnight, superstar. It’s already way past bedtime.”
