SHE STARED AT her phone blankly. She had three missed calls from him and two texts that entirely shifted her day. She took a deep breath and lifted her phone. She gulped and opened the chat.

Dad: I want to talk to you

Dad: I will be waiting for you alone at Rusty's at 4

It was already past 3 p.m and she didn't know what to do. She thought she was done with her family the moment she stepped out of the house back at Underhill but the past still haunted her. She looked over at Ryker from her bed. He was hunched over and typing something on his laptop.

"Ryker?"

"Mhmm?" He turned around and rested his arms on the head of the couch. Laavanya got down the bed and walked over to him. His gaze followed her as she put his laptop aside and sat on his lap, facing him. He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Is everything okay?"

"My dad wants to meet me. He is waiting for me at a cafe."

"Oh," he answered. "Do you want to go?"

"No." Laavanya circled her arms around his neck and dipped her head into his shoulder. He tightened his arms around her and breathed into her hair. "Maybe." She sighed. "I am curious to see what he wants to say but what if it leaves me even more bruised?"

"Would you regret it if you don't go?"

Her shoulder's sunk. "I don't know." She pulled back and tucked her hair behind her ear. "When I think of him, this picture keeps flashing in front of my eyes. It's a memory, I think. I used to have nightmares after ma left so one night after he read me a story, he asked if I would be okay and I said yes and I went to bed. In the middle of the night, I woke up thirsty and saw him sleeping in the chair. He was whispering something in his sleep and I think it was my name."

"What happened then?"

"The memory ends there but—then this voice inside of me recalls everything that happened the other night and I just...it ruins me again."

Ryker took a deep breath and looked at the space between them. "Remember I told you I didn't want my daughter to be a Morris..." When she nodded, he continued. "It was because, um, my father...he, uh. He had a bad temper. Whenever things didn't go according to his plan, he would throw lamps and plates or scratch himself. He wanted to release his anger by breaking something or harming whatever was around him." He ran a finger on the crooked line that etched on his chest. "You once asked me how I got this scar and it wasn't because of a swimming accident..."

"No..." She said in disbelief after she connected the dots.

"He prided on the fact that I was a swimmer. I got a college scholarship on it too but during last year in high school when I told him I wanted to pursue something else...he got mad."

A gasp left Laavanya's mouth.

"If your dad is trying to do something about the past, maybe he deserves to be heard because my father never even tried to make things right. He simply pretended that nothing happened."

"What about your mom?"

"She, uh..." he laughed without humour. "She didn't want to ruin their reputation."

"Ryker..." She grabbed his face and made him look into her eyes. "I am sorry you had to go through that but you are a great father. Rain is lucky to have you. The world needs more of you."

"Thank you." He kissed her.

"And I am going to give my father a chance to be you."

***

He was sitting at the cafe. She recognised him from the back of his head. She took a deep breath and held her purse closer to herself. She approached the table and sat across from him. As soon as his eyes met hers, a tiny—almost relieved smile formed on his face.

"Laavanya, hi. You came."

"How does it feel like to be a freebird now?" She asked instead.

"Doesn't make much of a difference." He said. "How are you?"

"As fine as I can be," she answered coldly. "Why did you want to meet, dad?"

"I wanted to make things right." Laavanya opened her mouth but her father raised his palm, stopping her. "I know you don't want to hear it but please, let me speak." He sighed and looked past her. "You thought I didn't love you, you are wrong. I love you, you are my daughter. Of course I love you but I didn't know how to love you right."

"You screwed up, dad."

"I know, baby. I know." He met her gaze. She had the same eyes he did and the way the water circled in his pupils, she found herself to be close to crying as well. "I am not here to defend myself or your mother. Neither of us tried to love you right but you...you don't deserve to have a past that hurts you so much."

"It doesn't matter anymore."

Henry lunged forward and grabbed her hand. "It does. Look, your mother and I—we loved each other but both of us knew we couldn't be together. Your mother had to go back to India eventually. She stayed for as long as she could but—"

"Why do you defend her so much? She hurt you and me and everything around us."

"Because you don't know her. You weren't her first child. She had a miscarriage two years before you were born. And the reason she wanted to abort you was because she was scared she would kill you too. She didn't want you because she was afraid to lose you. And the only reason she ran away was because—" Henry sighed. He left her grasp and pulled out a photograph from his pocket. It was a picture of them, as a family, standing in their backyard. Laavanya was dressed as a flower and both of her parents as bees. Henry pointed at Laavanya's head. "Do you see that scar?"

Laavanya was in tears.

They were a family once.

"Your mom always played loud music when she was cooking food. She danced and sang and oftentimes you would stand on the counter and try to dance like her. One day, she was making lunch with music, of course and you were upstairs. You heard your favourite song and came running but you slipped and hurt yourself. With the music on, your mom didn't hear a thing. I came inside after gardening and found you lying on the floor with blood rushing out of your head. We took you to the hospital and the doctor said you barely made it through. Your mother blamed herself for that incident. It triggered her. She thought she almost killed you too—that's why she left."

"W...why?" Her lips quivered, tears down her cheek. "Why did she never tell me this?"

"She didn't think she deserved to be forgiven." Henry was crying too. "Laavanya, it was our first time being parents too. I am sorry we failed you but I request you—would you please talk to her? Just talk. We couldn't be a family then but we want to be now."

She nodded—not saying a word for a while. "I guess...we could try."