Father's Love

The tick-tick-tick of the turn signal was almost drowned out by the rain pounding on the roof and windshield of the car. It couldn't quite cover the sound of quiet sobbing and hitched breaths coming from passenger seat.

The light turned green, he turned left towards home, and his heart broke alongside his daughter's as she cried.

"I don't want to go back." Her voice cracked with tears. "I hate school. I don't want to go back EVER." Her back was turned as much as possible away from him, hunched and stiff, but he could see her eyes reflected in the door window. They were shut tight against the world.

His heart ached.

"Honey..." What could he say? She had to go to school. Her mother had her heart set on their baby girl going to this one. She had been happy there as a girl. In this case mother was nothing like daughter however, and their girl was miserable. With good cause.

The rain was letting up. She was no longer sobbing as her back shook with trying to hold it in. Another red light. He reached out, hesitant, and put his palm on her back, large and warm and he hoped comforting. She was still so small, still months away from her thirteenth birthday. Still his baby.

Another sob ripped out of her at his touch. He made up his mind. As the light turned green he turned left again instead of straight home. She didn't seem to notice. Not until he parked the car ten minutes later and she realised they weren't outside their house.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." He smoothed his hand over her frizzled hair before unbuckling and braving what was now only a drizzle. When he returned she was sitting up, her eyes dry but red, red like the mark on her cheek. He ground his teeth at the sight of it. He handed her a milkshake.

"Chocolate mint. Your favourite." His words were terse and he took a large swallow of his own strawberry milkshake to cool his anger.

They sat in silence for a minute, sipping milkshake through straws and looking out at the rain tracing rivers on the windshield.

"You have to go to school." Her shoulders hunched in and he hurriedly added, "But maybe not back there. Not back there. I'm so sorry, honey."

"I tried, Dad. I really did." Her eyes were wet again but she was calm.

"I know you did, sweetheart. And I'm so proud of you." Again his hand coasted over her dark frizzy hair and she leaned into the touch. She scooted as far over she could and leaned her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and squeezed.

"What about Mom?" she asked, fingers fiddling with the straw. "She's going to be mad."

"Not at you." He'd already had a long text message battle with her mother over this. "I'll handle your mother."

"I'm not like her. Why can't she see that?"

"I don't know, sweetie. I guess because your brother isn't like her either she hoped you would be. It's made her a little blind. She'll come around. She loves you so much. Just like I do."

She was quiet for one, two, three... "Does this mean I can go to the same school as Annie and Mike?"

He smiled at the shy excitement in her voice. "Yeah. That's what this means."

Her smile lit up his world. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too."