Spoiler! :
I was sixteen when Savannah's mom died.
We met in high school and I fell in love with her. I just had to prove it to her so, junior year, she was pregnant with Savannah. Nine months later, my daughter was coming but I never knew that her mom was leaving too.
The experience was horrendous yet beautiful. I watched as my daughter appeared and the nurse put her in my arms. I gave her to her mother who was still panting from labor. Then her skin color dropped a few more shades, until she was as white as the pillow. The nurses took Savannah from her arms and rushed me out of the room. I kept banging on the door, demanding to see my daughter and her mother, but they wouldn't let me in. When I finally managed to make it inside the room, a sheet was put over my Ariel's body. The nurses didn't need to tell me anything. I was very well aware of what happened.
Savannah was born during the summer so I didn't have to worry about school when I went through a stage of depression. My mom took care of my daughter, but kept bothering me about school and taking responsibility. The more she nagged, the more I shut myself in. I wanted to die
One day, I decided to join Ariel. I decided to poison myself with the gas from my mom's car. She was a single mother but I had brothers. I won't be missed that much. I sneaked out of my room in the night but the sound of crying held me. Savannah was crying. I went to her room and rocked her to sleep. I had slept in her room with her in my arms and then I realized it. She had a striking resemblance to her mother.
From that day on, I raised Savannah with ten times the care of an overprotective father. I loosened up when she got older but whenever I noticed that she got attention from a male figure, a wave of jealousy took over me. She looked just like Ariel and the way I lived with my daughter, made me feel like that was how I would feel if Ariel was still alive.
I held no sexual attraction towards my daughter, oh God. But as I hold her hand now, walking her down this aisle, I can't seem to let go. She reminds me of Ariel so much. The smile, the hair, the eyes; everything.
Her fiancee, Daniel, could break her heart countless times. I wanted to take Savannah and run away from here. But then again, even when I thought I let go of Ariel, I never did. If I wanted to, I had to let go of Savannah. It was only healthy.
"Dad, are you okay?" Savannah whispered to me
I looked at her and realized I had never let go of her when we got to the front of the aisle. I let out a nervous chuckle and the church laughed with me.
"Just, be safe darling," I told her "Just be safe."
A tear rolled down my cheek and she came and hugged me. She had that same apple scent Ariel had. I let go of her and sat down on my seat.
When the wedding was nearly over, I felt a sudden chill next to me. I looked around me but the windows were shut and it was only summer. The church wasn't too air-conditioned.
"I pronounced you two, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." said the priest
After exchanging a kiss, my daughter was out the door with her new husband. Everyone was exiting the church to go drive to the reception, but when I made it to the door, I realized I forgot my phone.
I went back in the church to where I sat and that chill came back. When I looked up, I nearly screamed. It was either my imagination, but there stood my Ariel. She could have been mistaken for Savannah's sister. She still looked like she was sixteen. Her blond curls fell on top of her shoulders and she still had that pink streak on her bangs. Her eyes were green like emeralds and her lips, I missed those lips.
"It's been twenty three years." I whispered.
"You did it Richard." she also whispered, and then she disappeared.
I got to the reception late but I came just in time for the father-daughter dance. Savannah's dress flowed to the music and I couldn't keep myself from crying at her beauty.
"You look so much like your mother." I told her.
She smiled at me. "I know dad. You've told me this before."
"Savannah, love can be read wrong. Some people may think they have love for something or someone when it's just their own personal desire," I told her and then wiped a tear."Savannah, love is true when the one you love comes before you."
She smiled and laid her head on my shoulder. "I love you daddy."
"I love you too."
It was a lesson that took me years to get. I loved Ariel and our Savannah but I did not love them enough to let go of Ariel through Savannah. Now, I had done it and I never felt so happy.
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