Incest/Taboo Destruction and Rebirth

My name is Nathan Hal; at the age of thirty-seven, I thought my life would be on the path I had set out, but that wasn't meant to be when I came home one day early from work (where I'm a rising bank manager for a well-known bank so I won't be giving their name), given it was our anniversary. How stupid I was. I never fucking saw the signs until it was right before my very eyes as my now ex-wife and her then boy toy intertwined on my fucking bed! I will never utter her name again, so let's call her 'Bitch'! The whore has to have a name right and the shoe fits. The nerve of the cunt to tell me to get out so they could finish! Well, I got out alright, right to a fucking motel. Fuck ever sleeping in that bed again or that house; there was no telling how many men she's been fucking behind by back.

A little about our former marriage before I go on. We married very young; that is what two stupid kids do when they're supposedly in love. I knew I loved her at that point in time; now, I wonder if she ever loved me in the first place. Anyway, a year into the marriage, our daughter was born, then two years after that, our son. I know what you're thinking. They aren't mine, given her whoring ways. But hate to burst your bubble they are, had them tested the week after I left their mother.

As I was saying, there I was in my motel room, paid cash. Didn't want that Bitch to know where I was if she looked online at the charge on our shared card. Well, it was ours until tomorrow when I paid the damn thing off and canceled it. I couldn't do much at the moment with my finances given the late hour of the day. So I knew I had to move fast once the sun came up tomorrow to protect what I had worked my ass off for. I wasn't letting her get one damn cent that I didn't have to give in the divorce settlement. Fuck forgiveness! I wanted the bitch to burn! So there I was, making call after call and internet searches for the best divorce lawyer in the city. Money wasn't a problem, I made six figures, and with a promotion looming, I could easily absorb the hit to my account. Plus, being in the banking industry, I knew all the loopholes to keep the courts from laying a finger on my money, yet that would have to wait till tomorrow when I went into the office if I went in. I was contemplating on heading home and packing my belongings while she was at work. Now whether or not the Bitch would notice my things gone, I didn't fucking care!

I know the Bitch tried calling me repeatedly, but I never answered. Then the texts started to come in, telling me I could come home now. That she's cleaned up, and it meant nothing. That this didn't have to mean anything if I didn't make a fuss out of it. Did the Bitch not fucking know me?! Then it got to begging when the hour struck six that night, and I knew the kids would be home inquiring about me, no doubt seeing how I'm usually home by then. Wondering when I was going to come home so we could go out to dinner for our anniversary. At this, I suspected the Bitch had lost her damn mind! Did she really think I'd want to celebrate our wedding anniversary after finding her fucking another man in my bed! She really has to be fucking stupid! That was when my daughter called, I did hate lying to her, but I wasn't going home not that night or ever again unless it was to pack my belongings.

"Hi, honey," I answered after steeling myself.

"Dad? Where are you, Mom's freaking out?!"

"Good!" I thought. This meant either she couldn't find me or that she was worried I already told the kids about what a slut she was. Both were plausible. "Sorry, baby, I had to go on a business trip at very short notice. But don't worry, I'm not alone; you remember Ms. Tyler?"

"Yeah, she was a nice lady, but why are you on a business trip with Ms. Tyler?" An evil grin spread across my lips at the sound of the Bitch's 'What!' that I could hear over the line. I knew the Bitch hated her guts. I never knew why; Kris, her first name, was a very kind woman and a lesbian, so I don't know why the Bitch always felt threatened by her. Now that I think about it, maybe she was afraid someone would sweep me off my feet and steal me away from the slut. As I thought on that, I wish someone had, then I wouldn't have wasted seventeen years on the cunt.

"Oh, the presenter for the conference which I wasn't going to since today is such a big day," my sarcasm was clear not that my daughter picked up on it, I said it in case the Bitch was listening in, "came down with food poisoning and had to drop out, so being one of the few managers who know the material my boss asked if I would fill in, and Ms. Tyler was already going so we're traveling together."

"But when will you be home?"

"I don't know, maybe a week, Ms. Tyler wants to explore the city while we're there so..." Just then, I heard the phone being snatched from my daughter's hand.

"Nat, you come home right this instance?!"

"It's Nathan or Mr. Hal to you, cunt!" I could hear she was taken aback by the tone of my voice. "You lost all rights to that name when I found you fucking another man on my god damn bed!"

"Nat... Nathan, I know you're upset; we can work this out. It meant nothing?!"

"It means something to me, you stupid bitch!"

"Fine! If you want to act like a hurt little child and not talk about this like reasonable adults, go right ahead. If you want to stay away, fine! But know this, I am going to be fucking every man I can from now on in this house!"

"Go right ahead, Bitch, you're dead to me now anyway," I heard her gasp as I cut the line.

And so it went downhill fast from there, especially after she came home the next day to find the house empty of anything that belonged to me. I had movers in to pack everything in a few hours so I wouldn't have to ever return to that house. I had it stored in a storage unit across town, paid in cash for three months until I could find an apartment in the city. My marriage might be over, but I wasn't about to disappear on my kids. I had an appointment with a lawyer the day after I moved out. I also had our shared bank account closed and half the money transferred to one set up in her name and moved what cash I wanted to keep out of the court's greedy hands offshore where she could never touch a cent of it; I was so amused. I made a big spectacle of hammering that worthless gold band into nothing but junk in front of everyone at work before tossing the hunk of metal away. If that didn't start rumors, I don't know what would. So after talking to my lawyer, she had a P.I. following the Bitch's movements; I don't know why but whatever. Don't really care; I simply wanted that cheating cunt gone!

However, things really, I mean, really blew up the moment the Bitch was served! I wish I could have been there! I bet the look on that cunt's face was priceless! I have to admit the lawyer's P.I. did get some very juicy tidbits, and I so was a vindictive bastard. Hey, if you fuck a married woman, expect fucking consequences. From what I heard, later on, none of those men that couldn't keep their dicks in their pants made it out with not a penny to their names. Especially the Bitch's boss! I heard his wife took him for everything, a whole twenty million! I rolled on the floor laughing hysterically when I heard that. It seemed his wife was one smart cookie and had a prenup with an infidelity clause in it.

Nonetheless, I missed my kids. The Bitch was messing with my court-appointed visitation days, which my lawyer handled. I didn't need to be there, but I heard the judge told her if she heard about one more missed visitation, she would throw the Bitch into the lockup for defying a court order. The first visitation or any others after that did not go as well as I hoped. My kids blamed me for breaking up our family. I told them I wasn't the one that broke us up. That was their mother, not going into too much detail, yet I did explain to them that I had walked in on their mother with another man in our bed that was why I couldn't be with their mother. Then the day my world came crashing down around me happened.

"Dad, do we have to keep doing this?" my sixteen-year-old daughter, at the time, asked.

"What do you mean, honey?" I asked, curious as to what she meant as we had lunch at a Hardees. I kind of found it odd that the Bitch was still sitting in the parking lot.

"I mean, do we have to keep coming on the weekends?" I felt my heart dropping to my stomach at those words as they left my daughter's lips.

"Do you not want to see me?" I asked as calmly as I could as I set my drink down.

"I don't mean that just on the weekends, we can still see each other on birthdays and holidays..."

"This what you want, too?" I asked, looking at my almost fourteen-year-old son.

"Dad, why do you have to make a big deal out of it. It's just sex?! Can't we just go back to the way things were?" My eyebrow twitched when my own son couldn't be bothered to look me in my eyes.

"So, I'm just, what, the giver of presents to you? Is that all I'm good for? See, that doesn't work for me, I'm your father, or I am not. Choose," I said sternly. I so hoped they wouldn't buy into their mother's bs. Apparently, I was fucking wrong?!

"Well, mom's boyfriend is nice; he takes us places when you aren't...."

"You fucking knew!" I yelled, slapping my drink off the table, causing my kids to jump in startlement. "Fine, you don't want me as your father any longer, so be it. Then I no longer have any children, have a nice life." With that, I walked out of the restaurant and their lives. Did I hear them calling after? Of course, I did, but I wasn't about to turn around so they could stick another knife in my heart. Not that I wanted to, but when your kids no longer want you, you don't really want to stay in the same city. Because I was a fucking wreck! I raised those kids. I went to every damn boring game they had and cheered. Why? Because that's what a father does, be there for their kids, at least the ones who appreciate them.

So when the promotion I was up for came in, I didn't even blink when they told me I would have to move to Charlotte, North Carolina, to take over the regional manager position for the southeast there. I had sold off the bedroom items I had bought for my kids, thinking they would want to be with me when I found a big enough apartment for us. Why keep things around when you know it's just going to make you feel even more miserable than you already are? Did the kids try to call? Of course, did I answer? Nope, if they didn't want me, it would be better on my heart not to hear their voices. A person's heart can only be broken so much before it's irrepairable. So when the time came to sign the divorce papers, the Bitch had the audacity to bring the prick she's been fucking behind my back along with her.

"This didn't need to happen N... Mr. Hal," the Bitch said with a smug look on her face which quickly faded when she noted my anger. "We could have worked out an understanding between us. But you had to throw away seventeen years...."

"No, whore, you did, the moment you allowed that prick between your legs, so don't blame this on me. And I wasn't about to let you string me along any longer so you could have a live-in babysitter while you slut yourself out."

"Alright, I'll admit I did, so what? I fucking had a blast doing it!" I looked down as my lawyer placed her hand on my arm, keeping me from doing something stupid.

"Ms. Smith, we aren't here for you to antagonize my client. If that's all you're here for, then I think this meeting is over, and we'll see you in court," my lawyer said, gathering up her papers as she rose.

"Alright, alright," the Bitch sighed.

The good thing that came out of all this was no fucking alimony! The Bitch thought that asswipe loved her and was planning on marrying him before the ink was even dry. Well, I say keep the fucking whore, at least make her turn tricks, then she would have earned that name. Pulling out my checkbook, the one check I was really looking forward to signing. Writing out the full amount for the child support for the next six years and giving it to my lawyer with a comment in the memo section that said: 'Eat shit, choke on it and die!' After signing the divorce papers and seeing the slight smirk on my lawyer's face as she read what I wrote, then sliding the check across the table as I rose. I no longer wanted to be in the same fucking room with the Bitch. I felt fucking soiled.

"What's this?!"

"That's the full amount for your child support, don't expect another check." I heard my lawyer say as I continued my exit from my former life.

"He can't do that!"

"There is no law preventing Mr. Hal from paying the full amount for his child support all at once."

"Nathan!" I heard the Bitch scream, yet I didn't give a damn. That was the last thing she would ever get from me. I gave my lawyer my new address to the condo the company had supplied for me in Charlotte so she could mail the divorce decree to me when it came in. Personally, I'd say burn the damn thing; I no longer wanted a reminder I was married to that low-down type of a person. I was gone an hour after the divorce signing. I no longer had a reason to stay in that city.

I heard from my parents, ad nauseum, how broken up the kids were when they found out I no longer lived in that apartment when they went over to it a few days after my departure. I'd like to say I didn't care, but they were still my kids even if they no longer wanted me as their father. I did find it strange that they would bother to go there in the first place. Maybe it was because I hadn't taken their calls in over three weeks, or maybe I hoped they saw the error of their ways. Either way, it was too late. They made their bed; it was time to get on with my life. Although they did implore me to speak with them to at least give them my new number, which I had changed the moment I left the city. Which I flatly and firmly said no. They wanted this I did not. It was time for them to learn actions have real consequences, even if it tore my heart out.

Seven years later...

I'm forty-four now; I'll admit even my wife will agree I was a bitter asshole for the first two years I was in Charlotte. Seeing how I arrived in my new home city with no wife or kids. I really didn't have much of a social life during those years. I threw myself into my work. With no social life, I also hit the gym. Granted, I did get a little pudgy, but I put my family or did, in this case, first before heading to the gym; how stupid was that given the way things ended? I met my second wife, Catalina, after my second year there. I have to say she had some balls marching into my office like she did and demanding that I pull whatever crawled up my ass out of it. I couldn't help myself. I nearly fell out of my chair, laughing my ass off, at the audacity of the woman. I had seen Catalina around the building but only in passing at the time.

"So you can laugh and smile." Catalina had this exotic, alluring tone to her voice as she smiled. I won't ever tell her this, but I kind of think she knows; I was smitten with her. I mean, no one ever talked to me like that, at least not at work. I kind of had an aura around me that said piss off and die. Yet, here was this five-foot-one-inch Hispanic woman that couldn't weigh more than a hundred pounds dripping wet mouthing off to the regional manager of the banking side of the business. Catalina has this fine ebony hair that's as smooth as silk. Those warm brown eyes of hers never held an ounce of anger in them. Not like mine did at the time. Those lush lips of hers just beckoned to be kissed. I tried to keep it professional; nonetheless, my eyes didn't heed my brain's command as they took in that petite body of hers, and I did like what I saw.

"Nathan Hal," I introduced myself after I rose from my chair.

"Catalina Rodriguez," she returned the greeting with that dazzling smile of hers.

And so, that began the rebuilding of my life at the age of thirty-nine. Don't get the wrong impression Catalina didn't automatically jump into my arms. Took me three months to build a rapport with her before she would even consider going out on a date with me. She got to know about my story and what brought me to Charlotte as I did with hers. Seems people who supposedly love you are the ones who are your worst enemies, can cause the most damange, given how she had caught her then-fiancée in bed with another man. Which took me aback a bit, but cheating is cheating, be it either man or woman. I felt for her, but I tried to reassure her that she found out then and not seventeen years down the road like I did. Ever so slowly, that anger I felt was no longer there. I made sure with HR that Catalina and I dating wouldn't cause any problems, which it wouldn't, seeing how she was in a different department.

It was around our fourth date that we finally had sex. Not that I didn't want to way earlier before then, yet Catalina was apprehensive in getting that involved with a man again. I can't blame her; it took me two years to trust a woman again. Dating Catalina was like night and day compared to the Bitch. When the topic of children came up, I grew silent; she knew I was holding something back. She does choose the weirdest of times to ambush me like she did when she asked me why I wouldn't speak about children when she was riding me hard and fast, and I loved it!

"They disowned me," I looked away; the hurt was still fresh even after all that time.

"What?!" Clearly, that took her aback; it wasn't something anyone would have done in her family. Catalina comes from a very close knit family. By that time I had met them, they were a very nice bunch of people even though I knew they were talking about me in Spanish. I didn't tell Catalina I was taking Spanish classes (because that's something one does for the one they love), so when she got angry, I could understand what the hell she was calling me. Let's face it, I'm a guy; I'm an idiot sometimes. I'm going to stumble. I am human, after all. "Oh, honey," Catalina cooed down at me as she took hold of my face so I could look at her. "I'm so sorry they tossed you away like that." Hey, I did not hate the fact that she buried my face in those firm breasts of hers when I told her everything that happened that day. "Have you ever thought of having more?" My eyes went wide while still in that heavenly valley.

"Catalina?"

"I know, I know, but we've been dating for a year now, yet I'm not getting any younger...." She was thirty-three at this point in time. "I love listening to you talk about anything. I love that you listen to me rant without you feeling you have to fix something. That you just let me vent." Trust me, that woman can vent like it was nothing. Don't tell her this, but sometimes I irk her a bit just to see her mad and let me tell you, she is hot as fuck when she's mad. And the angry sex? I thought I had died the first time we had that form of coitus. "I know we've both been hurt so deeply, but I want this. I want you."

"What are you saying, Catalina?" I asked after she had released my head. Although, in truth, I so wanted to be back in that valley.

"I'm saying...." She was so cute when she blushed as she was at that moment. "I want to have a baby, and I want you to be the father."

"Umm... honey, is this the right time to be talking about this?" I inquired while still hilt deep inside of her. Like I said, she chooses the weirdest of times to bring up very important topics. I had to bite my lip as she shook her head in a child-like way.

"There's no time like right now to talk about it after all..." Squeezing her folds as she glided forward on my cock, causing me to moan loudly in bliss as I fell back onto the bed. "It's why I stopped taking my birth control. I know that woman hurt you. I know it's taken a long time for you to trust me. I didn't let on that I knew you held doubt in your heart about my faithfulness. I never condemned you for that. As, I'm sure, you felt my aloofness at taking things further with you. Yet, have I not proven to you that I am in no way, shape, or form like that woman?"

"No. You are definitely not like her, that's for sure," I agreed. "But won't your parents be angry if you have a child out of wedlock?" I knew they would be, they were very devout Catholics, and I knew they would not approve of this white man knocking up their daughter without a ring on her finger. That was when I saw that devious grin appear, and I knew I had walked right into that trap of hers.

"What are you trying to say, Mr. Hal? Are you saying that you want to marry me?" As she asked this, she was still riding me, not as hard as before but well enough to keep me at that edge. Her face filled mine as she leaned forward, placing her hands on either side of my head. That curtain of ebony hair closed me in, so the only thing I could peer at was that angelic face of hers. "If you are, know this, I will be the most perfect wife you've ever had. You will want for nothing, this..." The way she just massaged my cock with only her folds nearly had me erupting in that hot, wet, love tunnel of hers, "will always be taken care of, because I'm never going to give you up, ever?!" Did I really want to be married again? Was I even ready for that kind of commitment? Honestly, I didn't have a fucking clue. However, as I stared up into those brown eyes of hers. I couldn't see a future without her in it. I knew if I said no, that would be the end of us. The thought of her walking out of my life, forced to see her every day at work and know what I had thrown away, oddly, hurt more than finding out my first wife was nothing but a cheating slut.

"Si," I uttered in Spanish. I didn't want to let on just yet that I could speak more than just yes or no. I wasn't fluent in it yet, but I understood what they were saying. I watched how those eyes softened and moistened and quivered all at the same time. Then she proceeded to fuck the ever-loving shit out of me, and I enjoyed every fucking second of it!

That weekend, at Catalina's monthly family get-together, I saw her clustered around her mother, aunts, cousins of the female gender, and her two sisters, talking about something in rapid Spanish that I couldn't hear from my vantage point, seeing how her Uncle by marriage was a very loud talker even when you were standing right beside the man. Not that I could hold it against the man; the man was going deaf due to years of working construction jobs without adequate hearing protection. As I was taking a sip of my Corona, not my brand, but guests can't complain when you're offered a free beer; that would be rude and disrespectful to the host, and Catalina would have my hide if I was ever rude to her family without a very good reason. That was when I saw those women's faces going from a range of intently listening to shock then downright joy as they surged from their seats and embraced Catalina. That was when her mother came rushing towards me, speaking rapidly in Spanish, not that she couldn't speak English, which she could; however, those from another country normally revert back to their native language when they're either happy or pissed off. So I didn't catch everything; I was still at an intermediate level. However, I did catch 'My son, my son' as she repeatedly kissed both of my cheeks with tears in her eyes.

"I'll only move forward if I have your and Hector's (her husband and Catalina's father) blessing," I said in the best Spanish that I could. I could see how everyone's head turned towards me in shock. They had no idea I could speak their language, granted, not well at the time, but I could speak it; I understood it better than my ability to pronounce it.

"Nathan, baby, when did you learn Spanish?" Catalina asked in English with a mix of awe and happiness. Since I think she knew I did it so I could understand her heritage and not be an outsider in her family.

"The moment you said yes to our first date," I replied in Spanish. Watching her hands flying to her mouth, how her tears of happiness reamed her eyes as she gazed at me.

"Are you fluent?" Her mother asked, not bothering with speaking in English.

"No, I'm still learning, I can understand you, yet I can't pronounce everything correctly... yet," I replied, keeping to their language.

"You'll get there, see Catalina; this one is definitely a keeper. Much better fit for you than that last one," her mother said with an approving nod.

"And I'm never letting him go," Catalina said dreamily and meant every word she spoke.

From that point forward, English was banned from the gatherings all so they could help me improve my Spanish skills, and Catalina took her lessons to a whole different level. I think, if the way Catalina taught me was done in school, learning another language wouldn't be so hard. Then again, I don't think Catalina's way would be appropriate for school given how her lessons were taught in the bedroom. Trust me, I learned a whole new set of curse words that I am going to enjoy using!

When it came time to tell my parents I was getting remarried. I dreaded going back to that city after three and a half years. I knew my daughter would be in college, if she went to college. After what happened in the restaurant, I had to keep myself away from them. Otherwise, I'd kill myself at the loss of my children, who had meant the world to me before they ripped out my heart. It wasn't that they didn't know I was dating again. They just didn't expect my arrival at my childhood home with Catalina standing beside me. Were they happy to see me? Of course, did they pester me to contact my children again? Yes. Did I? Not a fucking chance! I wasn't opening that can of worms. While they were happy for the two of us, I saw the disappointment at my refusal to reconnect with my children. We stayed 'til that Sunday afternoon before we had to drive to the airport. I thought I saw my daughter passing us in an old '96 style car as we headed for the airport. However, the slamming on of their brakes did raise the suspicion that it was indeed my daughter. Did I stop? Nope.

Six months later, Catalina and I were married. I flew my parents in for it; they were not happy I didn't invite my kids. But they chose a side; they didn't want me in their life, so why should I include them in mine? What no one knew at the time was that Catalina was already a month pregnant. We honeymooned on a cruise line. It was nice, not my cup of tea, but nice. Then married life settled in. I knew what to expect Catalina did not. Did she make some screw-ups, of course, as did I, but we are human; we are fallible. Did her out-of-control hormones drive me crazy; oh yeah, as I am sure some of my quirks did as well. Yet we talked, we worked through all of that like man and wife should. Not hiding, no fooling around on the other, or any of the crap the Bitch pulled in the seventeen years I was unfortunate to know her.

Then the big day came, the day Catalina's water broke while she was at her desk one day. I got the call immediately and rushed with all my haste to get to her. Our daughter, Alondra Hal, was born at two am the next morning crying to the heavens with fine ebony hair like her mother. As I stood there with bated breath watching the two of them, as Catalina held Alondra in her arms, I couldn't think of a more beautiful sight than how Catalina gazed lovingly down at our daughter in her arms.

"I love you so much," Catalina cooed as she held my hand. "You've given me the most perfect gift I could ever ask for." Even covered in sweat due to the pain of child birth Catalina was still the most stunning woman I've ever had the most fortunate of fates to know.

"And I love you, too, now and forever," I whispered as I pressed my forehead against hers before kissing her and my daughter.

"Will you get them? They have to be dying to know what's happening?" Catalina asked, brushing her thumb along the back of my hand.

"Sure, honey," I said with a warm smile on my lips.

The women in her family clustered around the bed, cooing to my daughter while the men congratulated me. I thanked them, of course, but said Catalina did the hard part; all I got was a fractured hand. Which, to my amazement, got a hoot out of them. So life moved on, like it always does. I think I went without sleep for a month one time during the first year after Alondra's birth because all I remember was a waking haze. Then again, I did experience that taking care of my other children. Alondra was not once brushed off or ignored; she was spoiled rotten; Catalina's relatives saw to that. I'm guilty as well, but I'm the dad I'm supposed to spoil my daughter. It's in the unwritten code of fatherhood.

Three years had passed, and Alondra was in daycare. I was watching the feed that the daycare supplied to those with children in their care. I know Catalina watched it as well, seeing how she would call me to tell me to turn the feed on if Alondra did something she found adorable. We had taught Alondra both English and Spanish when she started to talk. I wasn't going to deprive her of that. After all, her mother sings to her in Spanish, and what child doesn't want to know what their mother is singing to them? Although I have no idea where Alondra learned Spanglish from, over the past few months, she's gotten into the habit of using all three in a conversation.

That kind of threw me for a loop for a while before I read up on Spanglish. Were our lives perfect up to that point? No. Nothing is perfect, yet if you work together, stick with each other through thick and thin, and talk to one another, it could be damn near perfect. That was when my cell phone rang, I didn't know it at the time, but my past was about to catch up to me. Picking it up and answering it without bothering to look at the caller ID. If I had, I might not have answered it.

"Hello?" I answered, smiling as I watched Alondra playing with her friends.

"Dad?!" My heart was in my ears pounding so loudly it almost drowned out my daughter's voice. "Dad, please talk to me?!"

"Who is this?" I asked, knowing full well who it was.

"Don't you remember the sound of my voice, Dad? It's me, your daughter?!"

"The only daughter I have is four years old," I said before ending the call. How I fucking hated to do that. I watched for a minute as my phone rang again and continued to ring and ring. "Yes?"

"Please, Dad?! Please talk to me?!" I could hear the tears as she pleaded with me.

"What do you want, Amber? Is your new stepdaddy not making you feel all warm and fuzzy now?" I asked my bitterness was very clear. "What could you possibly want from the man that helped to bring you into this world, raised and cared for you when you disowned him for something new and shiny?"

"Please, Dad, can we not fight? Please?!" I heard the tone of her voice. I knew she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Then tell me what you want so I can go back to watching my daughter."

"I'm getting married...."

"Well, lucky you, let's hope you didn't take after your mother, or whomever it is your marrying doesn't have a wandering eye. Because you know some of us take marriage vows very fucking serious." I arched an eyebrow when it sounded like someone had taken the phone from Amber.

"Mr. Hal, I know you don't know me, but I'm your daughter's fiancée..."

"Again, I have to reiterate; I only have one daughter, if you're speaking about the woman that was on the phone. I'm not her father anymore. Not my doing, that's on her. So what do you want from me?" I asked, tapping my finger on my desk.

"Well, she was wondering if you would walk her down the aisle."

"And why can't her stepdaddy do that?"

"If you're referring to the man your ex-wife married, that didn't last."

"Why am I not surprised."

"So... what do I tell her?"

"Tell her to find someone else. I only have one daughter," I repeated. "And don't call me again." Was I purposely cruel? Maybe, I'm not sure; I think my hurt, that's never gone away from their rejection, worked itself into my words. I shouldn't have answered my phone again, yet I did. I did miss hearing my daughter's voice. "What?" I sighed.

"Please, daddy, don't hang up! I'm sorry, I was stupid; I shouldn't have listened to Mom. She thought if we did that, you would come back home, but you didn't, and I lost my daddy." I leaned forward, resting my elbow on my desk; my fingers kept my eyelids closed in hopes it would keep me from tearing up. Yet that proved futile because here was my little girl, whom I helped teach how to walk, talk, build pillow forts, and every other childhood lesson one learns growing up, balling her heart out over the line.

"And what do you want from me after all this time?"

"I want to be your daughter again. I want to talk with you like we used to..."

"I don't know if that's possible you hurt me very deeply. Do you know how bad it is to know your own children don't want you any longer?"

"I know, and I can't begin to apologize for that. But I've missed you so much. I go to Papa's every Sunday hoping that you called or left some message for us, but nothing, never a word. That's when I knew how much we really screwed up. They always tell me you don't want to talk to us. But, daddy, it's been seven years, I've missed so much of your life, and I don't want to miss any more!"

"And what of your mother?"

"Screw what she thinks! She's the one that caused this mess in the first place!" Okay, I had to chuckle at that.

"And where was this fire seven years ago?"

"I was a kid! You know I never had a serious boyfriend at that time, so I never saw what Mom did as anything wrong since I had no clue what sex was really like." I couldn't help myself; I did smile. "Neither of us understood the consequences we would be facing if we went along with Mom's plan. We just wanted you back?! We tried to call after you as you walked out, but you never turned around. If you had, you would have seen how devastated we were. We would have taken it all back right then and there and told you the truth, but you kept walking."

"How's your brother?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Oh, Carson is doing great! He joined the army to get away from Mom."

"He did?" Fear built in my heart at the thought of my boy dying on some foreign soil, far from home.

"Mmmhmm, but he said he was only going to do four years, so he should be out by next year." I heard the hopefulness in her voice. "Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you get remarried?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Don't be mad, but I found you on Facebook." It wasn't my Facebook page. It was a family page that Catalina had set up so her relatives back in Mexico could keep up to date with how we were doing and how Alondra grew over the years. "I wish I could have been there; I bet it was a beautiful ceremony." I heard my daughter sigh. "So... Dad, what's my sister's name?"

"Alondra Hal," I stated proudly.

"She looks so adorable. I'd like to meet her when you're ready, no pressure." I heard the fear in my daughter's voice that if she pushed the subject, it would be the last that she would hear from me. Honestly, I couldn't really say on that subject. I was kind of torn at the moment. "Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"I want you to meet David. He's a good man. He reminds me of you. Would it be okay if we came to see you? We promise we won't impose on you or your new family. I'd really like to get to know them."

"I don't know... I'll have to discuss this with Catalina."

"I understand. Please, Dad, don't forget about me."

"Amber, I've never forgotten about you," I admitted. "How could I? You're my daughter; I could never forget you."

"Oh, daddy." I heard her sigh before breaking down again. Then I heard the rustling of something over the line.

"Mr. Hal, would it be alright if we called you back. Amber's going to need a moment." I looked at the clock noting it was time to get Alondra from daycare, and it was my day to do so. Catalina and I switch off so one of us can have a few hours of peace before heading home to a rambunctious four-year-old. Don't get me wrong, I love Alondra to death, but sometimes she can take it a little too far. Then again, that is the point of growing up; to test the limits of one's life.

"I have to pick up my daughter from daycare; she can call in an hour," I said, gathering up my things and shutting my briefcase as I rose.

"I understand; I'll let her know."

Pulling out my cell phone, opening up my files on its hard drive, and selected the one file I hadn't opened in years because it would just hurt too much. I did feel a tear forming as the picture of my daughter, who was fourteen at the time the picture was taken, filled my screen. Wondering what life would have turned out like if I had turned around that day in the restaurant as the pad of my thumb ran down my daughter's face. I won't deny it; I missed them so much. Closing out the picture and pulling up my wife's number.

"Si, Amor?" Catalina's alluring voice filled my ear when she answered.

"You won't guess who I got a call from just now," I replied in Spanish. We always talked in Spanish when we were at work so that no one could eavesdrop on our conversations.

"Who?"

"My daughter." I heard her gasp over the line.

"Are you okay?" I heard her worry in her voice.

"Honestly, can't say," I admitted as I walked towards the elevator so I could take it down to the fifth floor where the daycare was located.

"What did she want?"

"To tell me she's getting married and that she wants to meet you and Alondra," I stated as I waited for the cab to arrive.

"I see; we'll discuss this when I get home. Are you on your way to pick Alondra up?"

"Of course, dear," I said with a smile on my lips.

"Good." Catalina had this sexy little purr to her voice. She always did when she watched me doing my dad thing with Alondra. "I'll be home soon; will tacos be okay for dinner?"

"Honey, if you're making them, you know I'll eat six of those things," I joked, which was true. I might not like refried beans and a few other Mexican dishes, but I loved Catalina's cooking. A smirk rose the corner of my lips at the sound of my wife's soft giggle.

Setting my briefcase down and kneeling on one knee as my daughter came racing towards me shouting 'Daddy!' when she saw me. I held Alondra very close to me as her little arms wrapped around my neck, reminding me how Amber would do the same thing when she was Alondra's age.

"You ready to go home?" I asked to which my daughter vigorously nodded her head. Scooping up my four-year-old in my right arm as I rose, nodding to the man who was in charge of the kids that day, he switched off every other day with his wife, as I rose to my feet. "Did you have fun today?" I inquired as we exited the daycare and headed for the elevator. A warm smile was plastered on my face as Alondra chatted away rapidly about how her day went as I carried her to my car. Normally, Catalina and I share a car if Alondra wasn't in daycare; if she was, I went in early so I could be off when it was time to pick Alondra up; it was the same with Catalina when it was her day.​