— • —
It took her until letter six to realize her father hadn't changed a bit. Nine years is a long time, but Andres Giraldo had somehow been able to stay the exact same person. Even through letter form, he was able to share his terrible dad jokes and make the girl snicker despite being in tears as she did so. The letters were much more heartfelt as they went on, beginning with a reintroduction, and the latest ending with an address and phone number.
He missed her. Or at least he insisted that he did. He wrote pages upon pages of how dearly he loved her, and how he regretted missing out on most of her childhood. And he insisted that with only a few years left of it, he wanted to be apart of it, or he wanted to try. At that point, she didn't know wether to cry or rip the letter in half. Because if he wanted to be apart of her childhood so badly, he wouldn't have left. He wouldn't let Victoria raise three kids on her own. He wouldn't let Diana act like a second mother because their own was too busy working two jobs. He wouldn't let Andrew make jokes to create this illusion that everything was okay, that they were okay. If he really wanted to be apart of her childhood, he would be the father he was supposed to be.
Luna awoke the next morning with puffy eyes and letters strewn across her bed, yellow envelopes tossed on the ground. She frowned at the sight around her, picking up the last letter she read the previous night, the wrinkled paper resting on the pillow beside her. Her eyes settled on the address scribbled along the bottom, along with a small "just in case" written beside it.
She jumped as a knock sounded on her door. "Little? Are you up?" Victoria's voice called through the door, laced with concern. "I heard what happened...are you," She paused when the door was tugged open, Luna offering a slight smile, "okay?"
"Fine," Luna shrugged, Victoria cautiously stepping into her bedroom. She scanned the room, the mess of letters no longer scattered across her unmade bed, but rather hidden in the book they'd previously been in. "I really don't wanna talk about it, at least not now. Is that okay?"
Victoria's eyes darted back to the girl, nodding slightly. "That's fine. Are you coming straight home after school?"
"I don't know, might have some theater stuff to do, and you know, Esther's got the whole self defense class happening now, so...." She trailed off, her mom failing to notice the way her eyebrow twitched.
"Well, just text me when you're leaving school, okay?"
Luna gave a tight-lipped smile, nodding in agreement. Victoria nodded one more time before leaving the girl, Luna's shoulders slumping once she did. She wasn't one to lie to her mom, in fact, she wasn't one to lie to anyone unless completely necessary. And she knew that this time it was completely necessary. She threw on a midtown hoodie to throw off any suspicion, avoiding the eyes of both Andrew and Diana as she passed them and walked out of the house. Shooting Mia and Liz a quick text saying she wouldn't be in school, she walked to the train.
— • —
Luna stared up at the house in front of her, hands beginning to shake at her sides. Before she could talk herself out of it, she was pressing the doorbell, rocking on her heels as she waited for a response. Her eyes widened when the door swung open, the woman behind the screen door looking just as shocked. "You're not the cable man..." She muttered, eyes darting behind her with an exasperated sigh. "Are you selling something, or...?"
Luna opened her mouth to utter an apology, assuming she'd gotten the wrong house and skipped school for nothing, but she fell silent. Her lips parted in surprise as a young boy came rushing to the door, a toothy grin on display as he stared up at her. She could feel her throat tightening as she looked over his features, features that were all too similar to her own. Before she could stop it, tears were welling in her eyes.
The woman at the door's eyes widened. "Are you... crying?" Luna's gaze snapped back up to hers, and she quickly wiped at her eyes. "Sweetie, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"No–I'm just..." She couldn't form a sentence, not when those dark eyes were staring up at her in curiosity.
"I thought you said that's not the cable guy, why are you taking so long?" If she wasn't rendered silent before, she definitely was now. He was there. He was actually there. His shirt was tucked into his dress pants, and his beard was freshly groomed, taking the attention away from his graying hair. He paused when he joined the woman's side, eyes looking over the young girl in confusion before softening. "Oh my god..."
The still unknown woman looked between the two, eyebrows raised. "Am I missing something?"
"Give us a minute," He muttered, pushing open the screen door and stepping outside, Luna taking a step back. She was biting the inside of her cheek now, eyes beginning to burn as tears pricked at her eyes. The woman complied, taking the young boy into her arms and leaving the two on the stoop in silence. "What are you doing here?"
Not exactly the first thing she wanted to hear after seeing her dad for the first time in nine years. "You left your address," She reminded, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Did you not want me to come?"
Luna tensed up as he grabbed her shoulders, his lips tilting up into a smile. "Of course I wanted you to come, you're my little Luna," He spoke softly, Luna instantly feeling all her nerves melt away at his words. "I just mean, shouldn't you be in school right now?" His eyes trailed down to her hoodie, lips curling into a smirk. "Midtown Tech, huh? Pretty good school."
Luna glanced down at her own hoodie, prepared to tell him all about the school, but she stopped herself. She came here for something, and that wasn't to talk about her high school. "I came here for answers," She began, Andres nodding, "and I won't leave until I have them."
"Okay," He agreed, "I can give you answers. Ask me anything."
She opened her mouth but quickly shut it, her throat tightening. She'd thought of the moment she reunited with her father for years, and now that it was here, all she wanted was to run away and pretend it never happened. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe she shouldn't have lied to everybody and took a train in the opposite direction. Maybe she didn't want to know the truth, because what if she didn't like it?
"Little." His soft voice broke her out of her daze, heart clenching at the nickname. The nickname he gave her and everyone else somehow claimed as their own. He was wearing a deep frown, his eyes watching her cautiously, as if waiting for her to crack.
Luna sunk down onto the steps of the stoop, a shake sigh leaving her lips. "Why?" She choked out, Andres eventually sinking down to sit beside her, Luna refusing to meet his eyes. "Why did you leave?"
He waited for a moment for her to turn and meet his eyes, but when she didn't, he responded, "I had to... to fix myself."
It was the answer she's been craving since she was six, so why was she so unhappy with it? Her head snapped to him, face showing nothing but disappointment. "You... had to?" She shook her head, turning away from him again, eyes focusing on the dying sunflowers a few feet away. "You didn't have to leave. You had to stay with us, you had to help mami raise us. You had to be my father, you didn't have to leave." Luna's eyes squeezed shut as she stopped herself from raising her voice any higher, hand moving to twist the ring around her finger.
Andres swallowed harshly as he watched her warily, his eyes darting down to his own hands. "You were young, you didn't know I got laid off, Little. I needed a job or else we'd lose the house, so I took the first thing I found. Your mom hated it." Luna's eyes fluttered open, and she eventually turned to him, his brows furrowed as he spoke, as if he was reliving the scene. "We got into an argument, a really bad one. She didn't want me around you guys if I kept the job, and I was too stubborn back then, so I left. I told her I'd come back when I became the perfect man she liked to imagine I was." His gaze left his hands, meeting the glassy eyes of his daughter. "By the time I realized my mistake, I figured I'd been too late. You guys seemed happy without me, and I already...got myself in another situation."
"So he's yours?" She whispered, thinking back to the little boy who'd been staring up at her.
Andres nodded, a ghost of a smile appearing on his lips. "His name is Jorge... he's four. He knows all about you, Andrew and Diana." His smile faded when he met her tear filled eyes once again, a single tear streaming down her cheek. "Luna, I never stopped loving your mother. She was the my first love, and I won't even forget that. But I fell into a depression without all you guys, and... I got Jorge out of that."
"So you weren't trying to replace us?" She choked out.
Cautiously, Andres wrapped an arm around Luna, tense shoulders relaxing when she leaned into him. "I would never dream of replacing you guys," He reassured her, Luna sniffling in response. "I figured it was time for me to stop being so scared and reach out to one of you. I thought my Little was my best shot."
Luna let out a breathy chuckle, hand reaching up to wipe at her tears. "Well, you got me here now."
Andres' lips quirked up into a smile and he squeezed her shoulders, Luna's own lips twisted up into a smile. For a moment it was silent, the only sound being the birds chirping above the two as a father embraced his daughter for the first time in years. The moment ended all too soon as the door behind them opened, both turning in an instant.
Luna smiled slightly at the woman at the door, the young boy waddling outside until he reached his father. She returned her smile, shutting the door and leaving the three alone. Andres took the boy into his arms, settling him on his lap. "Jorge, this is your sister, Luna," He spoke softly, Luna offering a friendly smile to the boy. "Wanna give your sister a hug?"
Jorge nodded eagerly, stumbling off of Andres' lap to cling onto his sister, Luna letting out a sigh of content. This trip was most definitely not a mistake.
— • —
idk i'm really into this book I have like four chapters half written whoops
if u read dumb stuff/every moment then this was most likely just a recap for you agaishe