Raphael
It was scary how much I wanted, needed Lucy to accept me as her father. I knew it was asking a lot of a six-year old, but I could barely contain myself as we went through the slow, prolonged ritual of gift opening.
Beth and I had agreed that I would give my gift last, so that if Lucy was upset and disturbed by the news, it wouldn’t ruin her Christmas experience.
She seemed a little dazed at first. “You are my Dad?”
Then she jumped to her feet and shouted, “I made a Christmas wish and it came true!”
I had no idea what she was talking about, but Beth was sitting on the couch, her arms wrapped tightly around her middle, with tears running down her cheeks. Her eyes were red rimmed and the tip of her nose was pink.
Then, unexpectedly, Lucy threw her arms around my neck and squeeze
