The Journey to Freedom: Path to WW3

Chapter LX

The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence - Denis Waitley

"Eve, is everything packed?" I ask her.

She then replies that everything was at my mom's house. I completely forgot. I tell her that we should get going then if we're to wash everything and get ready for the trip back to the house. We wash up and check out of the hotel. We get to the truck and drive to my mom's house. When we get there I notice that everyone is gone. We go inside and wash our clothes. I pack up some clothes for the twins for the trip.

"You hungry?" Eve asks.

I tell her that I wasn't really hungry. I was more concerned about how the girls would act with my mom.

"We behaved well that day dad. We went to the movies, we went to the zoo, we ate at a restaurant called The Jaivita, and finally, we went to JCPenney to buy some dresses for the photograph that you said that we were going to take. We had fun those two days. There was a lot of stuff that we wanted but you said that you were going to buy us things. So we just used the money to buy the stuff we wanted. When we got to DC, that was more fun." Lydia tells me.

Once the clothes were washed and everything was packed up. We sat in the living room talking about how the sleeping arrangements were going to be. I tell her that we just needed to buy two twin bed sets so the girls could sleep in different rooms. She agrees and tells me that there was a place that we could buy the beds from but the place delivered a few days after. I tell her that if that was going to be the case then maybe we should just rent some movers to get the beds and I would assemble them the same day. She tells me that it was a good idea and we agreed to go with that plan. It was 5 pm and I call my mom to see where she was at and she tells me that she was at the mall getting ready for the photographer to take pictures. I tell her that the plane leaves at 9 pm but that we needed to be at the airport by 730 pm. She tells me ok and that once they were done, that they would be going back.

It was 630 pm and my mom was pulling up the driveway. I had already put all the bags into the suburban. I see everyone get off my mom's truck and the twins run to me and jump into my arms. They were dressed so beautifully. They looked like little living dolls. The girls were dressed like young ladies. They were gorgeous and any man that would ever get to marry them, would be the luckiest men on the planet.

"Hey, dad!" I hear Jasmine say.

Something inside of me breaks and heals at the same time. I cry tears of joy. My oldest child had called me "dad". Lydia looks at me confused why I was crying. I put my twin dolls down and walk up to Jasmine and hug her and kiss her on the forehead. I get on one knee and tell her that I was so happy that she called me "dad". She said that she didn't mean to, it just sort of came out. I tell her what my grandfather always told me "La sangre llama a la sangre de tus hijos." She looks at me and tells me that she guesses that I was right. I just look at her and tell her that if she wants to call me dad, then she could do it. If not, then it was fine also.

"It is ok. You are my dad after all and you are here. So it's only fair that I should call you that." She tells me.

Lydia walks up to me and asks if it was ok if she could call me dad also. I stick my hand out and she takes it. I pull her towards me and give her a hug also.

"My princesa hermosa, you can call me dad if you feel it in your heart. You don't have to, but it must be born inside of you if feel it." I tell her.

Belen looks at me and starts to tear up. She tells me that I am a good father. I tell her that I promised to be better than the one I had and that's why I do the opposite of what he does. She tells the girls that they have to call me dad from here on out. I stop Belen and tell her that forcing them to call someone their dad won't be the same if it's not in their heart. The love behind the word will be empty and useless. She looks at me and nods.