Chapter 1

"Hey Dad. Good morning" Kimberly greeted her dad while making pancakes for breakfast, as he walked into the kitchen. "Morning sweetie." her dad replied, giving her a kiss on her cheek before sitting on one of the breakfast stools. "Here you go." Kimberly said, placing a plate of pancakes, bacon and fried eggs with a cup of coffee before him. "Thanks love." he thanked her then began eating. Minutes later, she joined him with her own breakfast. Kimberly stole glances at her dad while they ate in silence. Her dad was her world, he was her everything and the only family she has after the death of her mom. Actually, she never had the opportunity to meet her mom in person because she died after giving birth to her, so the only memory she has of her mom and the only way she knew what her mom looked like were through the photo albums her dad gave to her. Kimberly always wondered how her dad has managed to live these twenty six years without remarrying or even dating once, even after she had tried hooking him up with someone on several occasions. She ought to be grateful but she couldn t be, she feels sad that her dad dedicated his time and years taking care of her without thinking about himself even once, and to make matters worse, she was the spitting image of her mom. She didn t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing because she knows how heartbroken her dad is from seeing her face every single day and being reminded of the love of his life. She sometimes wished she had her dad s strength, because just being away from her fiancé, Ian Gareth who joined the Navy and spends almost the whole year at sea makes her miserable, so she could only imagine what her dad was going through deep inside while trying to conceal his hurt on the outside, and to think she was the reason behind his pain. If only she wasn t brought into this world, then her dad wouldn t be this lonely. "Honey, aren t you going to the hospital today?" Mr. Wright asked, bringing his daughter out of her train of thoughts. "I m on a night shift today." she replied and he nodded in understanding. Kimberly just then remembered that she hadn t mentioned anything about Ian s return. "Um… Dad?" "Yes sweetie." Her heart flutters whenever her dad calls her by any of her pet names, she never seems to grow up in his eyes and she won t deny that she loves being treated like a little girl, it helps her sometimes to forget about the real world and the fact that she was an adult. She feels so lucky to have a father like him. "Um… Ian would be coming back home tomorrow. I know I should ve told you about it earlier but I totally forgot about it. I'm sorry." she hurriedly explained, making her dad chuckle at how fast she spoke. "It s okay. I m actually happy to hear that, at least you won t have that worried look on your face anymore." her dad replied, causing her to smile timidly. How did her dad know she was worried about Ian? She thought she was hiding her emotions pretty well. Oh well, she guess she was an open book. "I better leave now or else I ll be late." Mr. Wright said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Oh, okay." she replied, standing up from her stool to give her dad a goodbye hug. "See you later, honey." "Bye dad." she said as he placed a kiss on her forehead. Kimberly saw her dad to the door and watched as he got into his black Acura MDX crossover and drove off. She couldn t help but feel bad for him because for a professor, he was over working himself. She knows he is using his work as a distraction from the hurt he was feeling inside. Letting out a heavy sigh, she walked back into the house. All she needed to do now was rest and then later make dinner for her dad before leaving for the hospital.