Fighting for Life | ✓

32 | Father-daughter time

"Where are we going?" I asked when my father drove us out of the town and heading towards the Northside. But I wasn't sure where he was taking me.

"Tell me about yourself, Arianna," he said softly, ignoring my question.

Arianna.

He never calls me that. No one except my friends calls me that. They call me 'Arianna' out of affection, and right now, I can clearly hear love and care in his voice.

That's the first time I heard him call me that, and with that soft fatherly tone he used on me for the first time, it makes me want to cry.

But I held back my tears for both or our sakes.

I turn to look at him; his face did hold love and adoration and guilt on it. Just as I was about to ask him what he meant, he spoke again.

"I know I haven't been the best father, but I just wanted the best for you. And in that, I forgot to play my role as a father, thinking it was the best for you, but it wasn't," he said

"Our argument a couple of months ago made me realize how I had failed my duty as a father, and a couple of days back, someone made me realize how I can fix it. How all of our family can fix it," he continued, "So, here we are having father-daughter time as much as we can while you're in town. So, tell me about yourself,"

Is he serious?

I couldn't stop those rebellious tears from flowing down my cheeks. But I wiped them immediately. But those weren't stopping anytime soon, so I just let them flow.

"What do you mean to tell me about myself, you know me," I said.

"I know what you want me to know, who knows, even if it's really you or not. I want to get to know my daughter, the real her. And this time, please don't be afraid of anything, because I will be there by you to pull you up, not to push you down," He assured me.

"Dad..." I trail off, not knowing what to say as the cars halt, and we get out.

I scanned my surroundings and still couldn't pinpoint where we were. I could smell salt in the air, meaning we were near the coast.

"Come," My father said and led me to an entrance of a tunnel. He surprisingly put his hand on my back protectively.

We made our way through the tunnel to a pier. It was a little high, and below was water flowing, the sea. My father sat on the edge and gestured me to take a seat beside him too.

"I don't know how to do this, but I'm trying to be the father you want. I want to be there for you; I want to support you in whatever you do. And I want you to be you and carefree with me, I don't want you to hide because you don't want to upset us. Just be you," he said softly.

"It's just you will get disappointed every time I open my mouth, so it's better to keep it shut," I shrugged, stating the fact. I've been waiting my whole life for this. So, why don't I feel that happiness in me?

"You don't know that, AJ,"

"I do, father, I do. How would you feel if I say I want to get a tattoo? Or piece my belly or my nose? Or even a lip?" I asked

"It's your body, and you can do whatever you want with it as long as you are comfortable with it. If you really want one, we can right now and get it inked or pierced," he said, surprising me.

For a moment, I thought he was joking, but the look on his face told me he was dead serious. If I say yes, I'm sure he would drive us to the best tattoo parlor to get me whatever I want.

"So, you wouldn't get disappointed if I tell you that I have a very active sex life?" I asked slowly

My father didn't hesitate one second to answer me. As if he knew I was going to say something about it.