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To love so in the world “I love you so ain Even as a child, I never cried There were only a handful of times it had occurred, and it was all because of Claire Sometimes the tears were bittershen I dropped her off at kindergarten for the first ti of the two of us for Father’s Day…and I just lost it I lost it now

“Don’t be sad, Daddy” She pulled back to look at my face

My hands cupped her little cheeks, seeing those freckles on her face, her blue eyes identical to mine, her messy blond hair “I’m not, sweetheart Just happy…to have you hoain She looked nothing like Beatrice, didn’t have a scar in sight, not a single bruise, and she didn’t seem emotionally disturbed either Beatrice was an ehter came back exactly the same

After a couple ry”

I s missed those words I used to hear her say it all the tiot home from school, even after dinner soot to e

“Constance, you wanna cook with us?” Claire looked at the woman who now had a name, the woman who had the same moisture in her eyes that I did

I turned to look at her, wondering why she was still there “I’m sure Constance wants to head home too Probably has a lot of people that she missed”

Constance stared atto the floor

I turned to Claire “Cooodbye”

Claire closed the fridge then hugged Constance around the stomach

Constance gave a strained smile before she kneeled and e to her hard, her eyes closed, enveloping her with invisible love that I could see with the naked eye “You were right, baby Your daddy did come for us”

“I kneould” She pulled away “He’s the best”

“You were right about that too”

“You want to coet ice cream with us?” Claire asked

Before Constance could answer, I intervened “We’ll talk about it later, sweetheart” I appreciated what this wohter, but that relationship was over noas a paranoida relationship with er I didn’t know this wohter didn’tabout her except the things Claire hadfor dinner, and I’ll walk Constance out”

“Alright See you later” Claire did as I asked and turned back to the kitchen

The second Claire turned away, Constance got to her feet, a wince on her face—like she’d been punched in the gut She stared at the floor for a moment before she looked at me

I entered the hallway, ducked into a bedroorabbed a wad of cash, and then met her in the foyer