《DNF Parent AU》

《My Stepfather》

Prompt: If someone really tries to be a father, your child will meet you halfway.

(TW: Smoking)

Clare's POV

I was really mad at my dad.

When he told me he started seeing someone.

After a whole year and a half my mom passed away.

I thought he loved her.

I thought he needed her.

I thought she was his whole world.

Her body couldn't contain her terminal illness any longer.

Which left my dad and I into devastation.

It was hard for me to see him crying while driving both of us home.

With all the stuff my mom used in her hospital days on the backseat of the car.

My dad was really struggling back then.

I can tell when he started smoking a lot beside our front door to release his stress, when he thought I'm upstairs asleep.

But I only stood there quietly, watching how his voice got hoarse and his throat getting sore from every puff he takes.

It wasn't new to me when he started doing that almost each day.

But soon, he stopped doing it.

I noticed him finally throwing away all his cigarette boxes.

It was like he was a new person.

He started cleaning the house, cooking some of my favourite meals and other chores in the house mom used to do.

Though, there was one thing I also noticed about him.

His wide and beaming smile whenever he gets a notification from his phone.

When I asked him about it, he said it was just a meme or a funny video he saw.

I believed it at first, but then it got to the point that he was smiling everyday at his phone.

I suspected something about it. Turns out I was right.

One night, I saw dad wearing a full on suit while spraying cologne; looking at himself in the mirror.

When he saw me, he smiled shyly in his reflection.

He sat me on his bed, where we also share when we sleep and explained it to me.

He was going on a date.

I didn't really know how to feel about what he said.

But it's not like I can do anything about it.

Dad assured me that he was really nice, charming and very attractive, too.

"He"?

I received a nod in response from him.

He told me that he won't be out that late and that I have Uncle Sapnap to babysit me, while he was gone.

What I didn't expect was for him to go out on this "date" every few weeks.

Until the day came when he told me he wanted to introduce me to this guy.

I was a bit nervous. A part of me felt happy when I saw my dad finally breaking out of his habit and spending his time properly with me.

The other part? I was still furious at him.

For replacing mom.

For someone working in the same office as him.