Days of Our Lives

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Love.

It was a word Danielle had heard many a time in her life, but she really wasn’t sure what it meant. Her father had sometimes told her that he loved her, but she didn’t really know what that meant. Her mind tried to find the meaning in those words, but she could not find the truth hidden within. It was almost as if… as if he was a robot.

As she lay in the grass outside, watching the clouds roll by and fiddling with her fingers, she couldn’t help but notice the father figure walking in her direction. She looked over in his direction and said nothing as he sat down next to her, following her gaze up into the clouds. “Cloud watching again?” he asked without preamble.

She nodded. Her eyes went back up to the clouds, and she lay down in the grass. Her finger began tracing one of them in the sky, and her father observed her with great interest. She was growing up so fast, and he knew it. The problem was how to slow down her growth so he could teach her more. He knew he couldn’t do that, though. He had rushed the research near the end.

And now here he was with his daughter, who was counting the clouds in the sky and tracing the outlines with her index finger. He tried to appear interested. “So, Danielle- what do you see up there?”

Danielle didn’t look away from the cloud she was proceeding to trace. “I see a lot of things, Dad. Like elephants and hippos and stuff.”

“So, what are you tracing right now?”

Her voice was quiet. “A heart.”

Vlad looked surprised. He hadn’t expected her to be saying that. Cocking his head and looking up to where she appeared to be tracing, he blinked and tried to follow the lines in the sky that she drew with an unsteady finger. The billionaire said nothing for several long moments before suddenly reaching out and grabbing her hand. She winced, ready for a slap from her father before realizing that he was guiding her hand.

He was tracing the heart with her hand, looking up and smiling genuinely. Danielle blinked. “What is it, Dad?”

“I’m just thinking about the days we’ve had together,” he replied. “How you’ve grown into the girl I wanted you to be.” He sighed. “I can’t believe it- these past couple of months have flown by, and I haven’t so much as thought about it.”

Danielle didn’t say anything.

They both sat there, watching the clouds roll by and taking in each other’s comforting presence. Danielle looked down at the earth and sighed in the quiet. She moved closer to her father and slipped her arm into his. “I love you, Dad.”

Vlad nodded, mostly to himself. “I love you, too.”

Danielle tried to find sincerity behind the words he spoke.

There was a hint of it.

Sure, it was small, but it was a start.