Room Sixteen

6/Father daughter reunion.

Iris's pov'

"Oh my god, I've missed you so much, we need to see each other more often please." Armanita squeezes the life out of me and tells me repeatedly how much she's missed me.
I missed her too, and I do admit that we need to start seeing each other more often.

"I know, I missed you so much," I mumble into her beautiful long black hair.
She's an inch or two taller than me and she's so pretty, I would definitely mistake her for a princess because she is one.

She wears dresses and that didn't surprise me, I guess it runs in the family because I love dresses too, especially nightgowns because they're so comfortable.

"Let's sit," She pulls my hand to sit at the table we've been sitting at since we met and starts talking about our plan today.
"I haven't told him about you but I told him that I have a surprise for him so he's getting prepared for you. He's nervous like I've never seen him before, I think he senses you coming, Iris." She says and I see a tear rolling down her cheek, she's an emotional girl just like me.
I grab her hand in mine and squeeze it.

"I'm nervous too and I'm scared and don't know what to think, but I am going to do this because I want to meet him and I want to see what I've missed my whole life." I smile but tears burn my eyes and I can barely see her face.

"I am so happy that you're finally ready to see him, Iris, he loves you so much and he's told me that since I was a little girl. He would tell me how when he finds you he's going to treat you like a princess and grant all your wishes. When he realized he couldn't find you he started treating me like his own daughter because he knew I needed the comfort of a father too but I didn't have a father so he took that title for me, he wanted to see a smile on my face and he always succeeded." More tears stream down her face and mine follow too, I wipe her cheeks and try not to sob as she tells me her story.
Her father was a soldier and he died in a war my family started against their rivals, My father has a lot of enemies, and that gets them into a lot which makes me scared to return.

My uncle and Armanita's father were young but he would give his everything for his family and that's what he did.
He left a three-year-old with his poor wife in the hands of my father and grandparents.
What Armanita told me about him I've gathered that he's a good man, he was just misunderstood.
He deserves better and I hope that me getting to see him today will make all my mom did to him better, I hope his heart will heal and he'll be able to move on because he deserves a happy ending too.
Everyone deserves a happy ending.

...

"I'm so nervous I feel like I'm going to pass out, Mani," I call my cousin by her nickname that I've created for her and she snaps her head at me to grab my hand.

"Everything will be fine Iris, I'm here with you." She says and I nod taking a couple of deep breaths.
We're in front of my father's estate and I am so scared I can't even step out of the car.
The house is so beautiful and big, I've only seen mentions on TV, never in my life did I think I'd be walking into one and not especially one that my father owns.
"You're going to be okay, now let's go in there he's been waiting too long."
I nod and open the door but it takes me a couple of minutes to step out and with wobbly legs walk up the stairs that were all built by hand and were so picture-worthy.