Page 66 of Fast Forward

Dad shrugged.

“But I thought the opposite. I thought you wouldn’t want to continue this paternal facade now that the truth was exposed. I thought you’d be glad to see the back of the daughter who will always remind you of your wife’s infidelity.” Kasey swiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Kasey, no. I may not be your biological father, but I raised you. Even though we don’t share genes, I’m one hundred per cent sure you’ve carried on my propensity for hard work, for persisting with something until you’re satisfied, for never giving up. When I see you the only thing I’m reminded of is the amazing young woman you’ve become, nothing else. As far as I’m concerned, you’ll always be my daughter.” Dad’s voice faltered on the last word and he cleared his throat.

Kasey’s bottom lip trembled. “I don’t want to lose you, Dad. I still want you to be my father.” Her eyes pleaded and my own bottom lip trembled too, as Dad shuffled his chair closer to Kasey and enveloped her in his arms.

“I’ll always be here. I’ll always be your father,” he said, stroking her hair as her head rested on his chest. “Let’s make that a given, huh? I’m sure there’ll be more emotions to deal with, but as they come up, we’ll deal with them together, okay?”

Kasey nodded, more tears flowing down her face, until eventually she sat up again and wiped her eyes with the tissue I handed her. “I’m sorry, Kelli, it’s supposed to be a happy day for you and here we are crying,” Kasey said.

“Oh, it is a happy day, sis, it really is,” I replied, a smile widening on my face. “This is the best birthday present I could have received. Well, besides the vase, Dad.” I winked.

Dad smiled and Kasey said, “Oh, I didn’t have your birthday present with me, but I’ll bring it tonight. You really want to have a party on the beach instead?” she asked.

“Yep. Oh, and could you bring some wood and branches from your backyard, I want to make a small campfire.”

Kasey’s eyes brightened. She practically lived outdoors when she wasn’t holed up in the university laboratory or lecture halls. “Consider it done. I’ll bring some newspaper for kindling too, and matches. Hey, do you want me to drive us both there?”

“That’d be great, thanks.”

“So anyway, what’s new with you, sweetheart?” Dad asked.

Actually, I just returned from the future where I was married with grown children and ran a successful company and didn’t look one bit like a model anymore.

“What’s new? Oh, not much… except that, I’m going to get back into my creative pursuits. Start drawing and designing again.”

Dad sat up straight in his seat. “Really? I’m so glad to hear that, you always had a knack for all things artistic. It was such as shame to let your talent go to waste after–”

“After Mum literally ripped my confidence to shreds?” I interjected. “It’s okay, I’ve forgiven her now. I know she didn’t mean to hurt me. I’m really excited about what I could do with my skills. I’m actually planning on setting up a business eventually, once I’ve worked on a decent portfolio and done a course or two.”

Dad’s face beamed. “If you need to run anything by me, I’m here. I’d like nothing more than to see you follow your dreams.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“And hey, maybe you and I could go into business together, huh?” Kasey laughed. “Although I’d have to be a silent partner because unless you’re designing lab equipment, I’d be hopeless.” She winked, not knowing she’d be playing a very important role in the realisation of my dream.

“Who knows? You never know what might happen around the corner.” I winked back and noticed Dad staring at his hands. “What’s wrong, Dad?”

He flicked his hand in the air. “Ah, nothing. It’s just… I wish I’d been able to help your mother more. I should have got more help for her. If only she hadn’t shot you down like that. I’ll never forget your face after that dreadful day.”

I held my palms in front of Dad. “Stop, Dad. Don’t go there. You did everything you could, it wasn’t your fault.”

“But if I’d taken her to a different psychiatrist, got a second opinion, maybe she would have had a better chance.”

“No, Dad, you can’t waste time or energy wondering what might have been, you can only change what’s in front of you right now. You did your best and Mum made her own choices in life. Her happiness wasn’t your responsibility.” I grasped his arm with my hand and he brought his other hand up and patted mine.

“You’re right.” He nodded. “What’s important is what we choose to do now.”

“Dad, promise me we’ll never let life get in the way of our family? Promise me you’ll never go away, that you’ll always stay close?”

“I promise. I’m not going anywhere,” he replied, his eyes unblinking and fixed on mine.

Only the future would tell me if that was true and although he would eventually leave us of course, at the end of his life, I hoped and wished that that day would not come for a very, very long time.

After wandering around admiring the delights of the city, basking in the pleasure of not needing to be anywhere right now and just walking where my feet took me, I remembered something. I dashed back to my apartment, flipped open my laptop and typed FastForwardExperiences.com into my web browser.

The webpage cannot be displayed. Damn. It didn’t exist yet. Oh, I wanted to submit my experience! Unless… I searched for domain name registration and then typed the web address into the ‘search for a domain’ field. This domain is available! Click here to register this domain.

---