Say It Back|| a.i

Prologue

December, 2023

"Daddy!" I heard and turned around to see my baby girl running towards me, drawing a huge grin on my face.

"Hi princess, did you have fun in school?" I asked her, lifting her up.

"Yes." she nodded, grabbing my chin as she always did, making me laugh.

"Did you play with your friends?"

"I played with Max and Sarah and Tim and Anna and Jenny."

"Oh, that's amazing." I said and she nodded.

"What day is it today?" I asked excited.

"Mommy's birthday!" she screamed, giggling.

"Yes! Do you want to go to bring her flowers and then go to Pizza Hut and have the biggest pizza in the world?"

"We do that every year, daddy."

"Don't you like it?" I frowned.

"I do!" she giggled.

"Then what?" I laughed, confused.

"You're talking to me like I'm 4 years old."

"You are 4 years old!" I laughed again, putting her in her seat and belting her seatbelt.

"I'm almost 5!" she argued.

"No, you've just turned 4." I said, sitting on my own seat, starting the car.

"I said almost."

"10 months is not almost." I chuckled, looking at her at my mirror, only to see her rolling her eyes.

"What colour will the flowers be this year?" I asked.

"Pink!"

"They were pink last year!"

"I want pink." she whined.

"What if we brought her yellow this year?"

"Yellow is nice." Naomi smiled.

"It is, isn't it? It's mommy's favourite colour.

"It's mine too!" she said and clapped.

"I thought your favourite colour was pink?" I smirked.

"No daddy, it's always been yellow!" she argued, even though we both knew it wasn't true. She was my treasure, my everything and she made me smile and love the world every single day.

"We're here! Let's get the flowers."

We got a bunch of yellow tulips and put them in a car, driving them to our next spot. We stepped out of the car and Naomi ran to me, grabbing my hand. We took the flowers and started walking.

"Seven, eight, nine! Here's mommy!" Naomi smiled as she counted the grey stones.

"Here she is." I smiled.

Naomi Rose Irwin

1994-2016

I sighed. I didn't cry, because I've already cried everything out in the morning when I dropped Naomi at pre-school. And I have cried years before.

"Daddy." Naomi whispered, getting my attention. I looked down at her.

"Will you give her the flowers today?"

"We can share." I smiled, kneeling down so I was about her size. I split the flowers on somewhat half and gave half of them to Naomi.

"Here." I said. We both laid them down on Naomi's grave and watched it for a few minutes.

"Daddy?" Naomi said.

"Yeah?"

"I wish I knew mommy."

"I'm sorry, baby." I said, looking at her.

"Where did she go?"

"To the angels, sweetie, I've told you that plenty of times."

"So does that make mommy an angel?" she said. I smiled.

"Yeah. Mommy's our angel."

I remembered all of the beautiful memories with my Naomi as the cold winter wind blew in my face. I closed my eyes, knowing that the wind was Naomi, and that she was then, right in that moment, smiling down at her husband and her amazing daughter. I took a deep breath.

"Are you ready to go, princess?" I asked my little Naomi after a few minutes.

"Yes. I love you mommy, happy birthday." she said, touching the grave like we always did, then ran away.

I kissed my fingers and put them on Naomi's stone.

"Happy birthday, baby. I love you so much." I said, my eyes watering. I blinked a few times to hold the tears from slipping down my face. I smiled, then walked away as well.

"Naomi!" I called and she quickly ran to where I was standing.

"Let's go get pizza, daddy!" she said, making me laugh.

-

When we finished with pizza, we drove back home and set fire at the fireplace, lying together on the couch like we always did on Naomi's birthday.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Was mommy pretty?"

"Oh Naomi, she was the prettiest girl in the world. And so are you. You're just like her." I said, pinching her cheek and making her giggle.

I wasn't surprised by Naomi's questions about her mother. She was older with every day and with every day she understood more. I was willing to answer every single question she would ask about her.

"Can you tell me a story?"

"What story?" I asked.

"About you and mommy."

"You mean how we met?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I thought I first saw her in the hospital."

"What do you mean you thought?" Naomi asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Let me tell you the whole story, from the whole beginning, to the whole end." I smiled.

"Okay." Naomi nodded.

"So, as I said, I thought I first met her in the hospital."