(Twelve Years Later)
Sabrina came running into the kitchen. With a squeal, she threw her arms around Vinny's legs.
He picked her up and cuddled her.
"You're late, daddy." She said, planting a sticky kiss on his cheek.
"I know, sweetie. Daddy got held up at work." He placed her down on the work surface, where she watched him making dinner. "Did you have a good day at school?"
Sabrina nodded. "We did science today. We looked at bugs. I saw a ladybird."
He listened to her chatter happily, as he continued making soup.
They ate together in a companionable silence.
"You know you have to go early to bed tonight, right, Sab?" Vin said. "Because you're going to Chloe's house to sleep over tomorrow, remember."
Sab nodded. "Because you're ill." She said.
Vin smiled. "I'm not ill. I just need to speak to a doctor." Vin watched his five-year-old daughter play for a while after dinner, wondering where the time had gone.
Almost five years ago – when Sab was only four months old – her mother, Rebecca, had left her on Vin's doorstep, saying she was his, she couldn't cope anymore, and Sabrina was Vin's responsibility now.
Vin hadn't even realised Rebecca was pregnant when they’d broken up.
The two had lived together ever since. Vin, who had entered the police force like his aunt Leda, had attended a traffic accident two years ago, and found Rebecca dead behind the wheel of her BMW. He hadn't told Sab; not that his daughter had ever really asked about her mother. She just accepted it was only the two of them, and that's the way it would always be.
Eventually, Vin scooped Sab up and took her to bed. After kissing her goodnight, Vin went back into the living room and settled onto the sofa with a beer.
You really have to get out more, old boy. He thought to himself as he flicked through channels aimlessly.
But the one person he really wanted to be out with was the one person he'd lost contact with, so many years ago.