There was only time, and trust, and presence — the three things he had never once given anyone, offered now, daily, without conditions.

Damian formally established his legal paternity.

And over the following months, without anyone prompting her, Lily began, on her own, to call him Daddy.

The first time it happened, he was kneeling on the rug fixing the wheel of her small bicycle.

“Daddy, is it fixed yet?” she asked, entirely casually, already halfway to something else.

Damian set his tools down on the floor, and swallowed hard, and it was a moment before he could trust his voice.