The Father Lily Needed
Chapter 14 - The Father Lily Needed
Elena slept in the guest room because Dante refused to let her use the servants’ wing while injured. The doctor left instructions. Samuel took the teddy bear’s copied recording and the guardianship documents for legal review.
Lily sat on the staircase in pajamas, holding the repaired teddy bear while Dante worked on the music box at the entry table.
Lily watched.
“Mommy could fix things.”
Dante smiled sadly.
“Your mother could fix almost anything.”
“Can you?”
“I am trying.”
Lily came down one step.
“Were you going to send me away?”
The screwdriver stopped in Dante’s hand.
“No.”
“Vanessa said you wanted quiet.”
Dante looked up.
He wanted to deny that he had ever valued silence, but children remember patterns better than excuses. Lily remembered closed office doors, postponed breakfasts, and adults lowering their voices whenever Dante entered. Vanessa had built her lie from truths he had left unattended.
“I did ask for quiet too often,” he admitted. “But I should have asked what you needed.”
Lily studied him carefully, deciding whether honesty could be trusted.
He remembered every time Lily tried to speak while he was on a call. Every time he asked Elena to handle bedtime because business could not wait. Every promise to be home by dinner that became another message after midnight.
“I have been too far away,” he said. “But I never wanted you gone.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“Then stay.”
Dante set the screwdriver down.
He sat beside her on the step and opened his arms.
May you like
Lily climbed into them.
For once, he did not check his phone.
