Page 122 of Relentless Oath

It could have been minutes or hours as Mya delivered our baby. All I knew was that it was an intense and emotional experience. One moment, I was holding Mya’s hand as she pushed over and over and the next, she was screaming as she brought our daughter into the world.

Dr. Kali was crying, and so was Mya, but I just stared at the baby that Mya nestled against her chest. A baby that was the most remarkable, precious gift in the world.

I would give my life for this little girl. For this little girl, I vowed to do better and be better. It was time to fully let go of the life I had known and embrace the new challenge of fatherhood.

“My baby girl…” I touched her cheek, and her eyes met mine. A wave of emotions seized me. Awe. Fear. Love. I reached out a finger, and she gripped it, never taking her eyes off me.

“I knew it,” Mya said dozing off. “She’s a daddy’s girl.”

Epilogue

Mya

I couldn’t stop smilingas 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.

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