Dad for a Day

Chapter 1: BF to Hubby

The first time my daughter asked my boyfriend to be her father, we were standing beneath a tunnel of blue water while a shark drifted silently over our heads.

She was four years old.

Old enough to ask difficult questions, but too young to understand why adults sometimes needed time before answering them.

That morning, she had spent almost an hour choosing what to wear to the aquarium. She finally settled on her yellow raincoat, even though the sky was clear.

“Fish like bright colors,” she explained.

I did not correct her. At four, she believed many things with complete confidence. She believed the moon followed our car at night, that stuffed animals became lonely when left on the floor, and that wearing yellow might make a tropical fish notice her.

She was also convinced that my boyfriend was the funniest person alive.

They had met briefly before, but this was the first full day the three of us would spend together. I had delayed it for months because introducing someone to my daughter felt more serious than introducing him to my friends or family.

She had already experienced enough uncertainty. I did not want another person entering her life only to disappear.

He understood my hesitation.