Seconds *COMPLETED*

Chapter 19

Yours eternally,
Tia❤

As my fingers ran over the beautiful lines of the second poem and reached her name Tia, I fell to my knees on the floor. My heart was beating loudly inside my chest.

I was Darien Caruso. The boy whose father had not wanted him. The boy whose father had wanted to leave him at an orphanage. The boy who had been adopted by kind foster parents. The boy who had studied at a boarding school.

The boy who had worried about his younger brother, knowing that his father would not care about him. The boy who had escaped from the boarding school countless times to see his brother and been punished every time. The boy who had cried himself to sleep, in his dormitory, worrying about his brother every night as he grew up.

The boy who had studied hard to leave the boarding school as soon as he could, just to see his brother. The boy who had been shun by his brother Ray for not caring all these years when he finally met him. The boy who had been misunderstood and hurt by his brother with spiteful words. The boy who had poured his emotions out into a poem and hidden the poem in his wallet.

The boy who had vowed to study hard and get a scholarship so he would not be a financial burden to his foster parents. The boy who had finally won a scholarship and completed his studies at the University of New Orleans.

The man who had come back home to find that his brother had strayed to the wrong path. The man who had been asked by his foster parents to marry their daughter Tiara Qaleesya. The man who had agreed to marry Tiara for the sake of his foster parents. The man who had tried to stop his brother Ray before it was too late.

The man who had followed his brother Ray's traces and found Tiara when Ray had kidnapped her. The man who had tried to meet Ray and coax him into turning to good. The man who had fallen in love with Tiara and married her.

The man who had gone to Seattle with his wife, Tiara, before getting to know her well. The man who had worked as a detective in Seattle. The man who had realized the mutual love, respect, admiration and understanding he and his wife felt towards each other. The man who had held his wife in his arms and finally become intimate with her, shedding all inhibitions they had between them.

The man who had shared his emotions with only one soul in this world, his beautiful wife Tia, while appearing emotionless to the outside world. The man who had lived the most beautiful moments, days and months with his love, Tia. The man who had looked after his Tia throughout her difficult miscarriages.

The man who had left his Tia in Seattle for her safety. The man who had given Tia his word that he would return as soon as she needed him. The man who had not given up on his brother Ray despite being shunned and insulted by him several times.

The man who had hurried to get to his Tia as soon as her delivery pain started. The man who had been almost murdered to death by his own brother Ray and run over by a bus. The man was me. Darien Caruso.

I am Darien. Darien Caruso. Tiara is my wife. My love. My life, my soul, the only reason for my existence, Tia. I had given her my word that I would never forget even the seconds I have spent with her. How could I forget her? No. I can't believe I had actually forgotten her. I had vowed to live for her and my baby....

Scenes flashed one after the other in my mind: Tiara apologising to me and explaining that she was blind, Tiara pleading at the pharmacy to accept her watch as payment, Tiara telling me the story behind how she had lost her eyesight and become stranded on the road without anything except her baby Mila, Mila waking up and squinting at me and then calling me Daddy for the first time, Tiara being rejected at the home I had brought her to, Mila crying after I scolded her angrily not to call me Daddy again, Tiara realizing that I was Darien after her eye surgery and remaining silent though she would've been hurt by the fact that I had married again, Tiara watching me with the hope that I would remember her a few moments before she had been shot by Ray.

My eyes shut as the moments replayed in my mind, shattering my heart into a million pieces; it's sharp shards stabbing my chest. Tears escaped my eyes for the first time after I had turned emotionless, trying to hide my pain due to the loneliness and rejection I had faced in my childhood.

How could I have let all of that happen to my Tia and my baby? How could I have let them suffer like that? How hurt Tia must've been.... Oh Tia, you have no idea how much more hurt I am now for all that happened. Why didn't you tell me that you're my Tia and Mila is my baby? How could you have let me live all these days without you? How could you have decided to leave me? Tia, you and Mila, you two are the complete essence of my life.

"Daddy, I want Mommy." I spun around to see her. My baby. My Mila. My baby was standing right before me.

"My baby." The words that struck my mind slipped out of my mouth, before I asked, "What did you say, baby?"

"Daddy, I-" Mila started to speak when I interrupted her, "Call me Daddy again, baby."

"Daddy?" I scooped my baby into my arms as I heard the name she had just called me. Yes, she was my baby and I was her father. That day, I had thought that I would never be able to see her. Here she was in front of my eyes all these days, yet I hadn't recognized her. But she is my baby. Mine.

My face was set as I let Mila stand on her feet again. "Baby, I'll go and get your Mommy. Stay here."

I turned to go. She grabbed my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. I turned back to face her. In my daughter's eyes, I saw Tiara's eyes staring straight into mine.

"Promise me that no matter what happens, you won't let any harm come to your brother by your own hands." Tiara's voice echoed in my ears; the words she had spoken staring into my eyes more than four years ago before I had left Seattle.

I squeezed Mila's hand gently for a moment with a nod and strode out of the house.

To be continued...

A/N: Please vote and comment..
Hope you like this chapter.. :)

Thanks to KatieFlemmings96 for writing the beautiful poems describing Darien's emotions in his childhood and Tiara's response on reading the poem when she had changed his wallet before he left Seattle..