Chapter 22 - DANIEL BECOMES A FATHER AGAIN
Our divorce did not erase Daniel from Lily’s life.
His parenting time expanded slowly.
Therapeutic.
Then supervised community visits.
Then unsupervised afternoons.
No Margaret.
No Mark initially.
No trust discussion.
At nine, Lily spent one full Saturday with him.
They went to an aquarium.
She called me once.
Not frightened.
“To tell you Dad thinks stingrays are cute.”
“They are.”
“They look like pancakes.”
“Also true.”
Daniel shouted in the background:
“I can hear you.”
Ordinary.
That was the goal.
At ten, overnights began.
I checked my phone obsessively.
Dr. Grant asked:
“Safety check or anxiety check?”
Both.
I learned to distinguish.
May you like
Daniel earned trust in pieces.
Never demanded that past love purchase future access.
