When I got back home, my dad was waiting for me. Well, not really waiting for me specifically, he was just at home and expecting me to come any minute. We had company.

"Oh, hi, Mom." I said, not as enthusiastically as she'd like, but she waved it off this once.

"Ohhh, Kimberley!" She was the only person who called me that. "You don't have to hide your pain! I'm here for you, baby." She pulled me into a tight hug. I tensed up, but accepted it stiffly.

Yeah, I wanted to say. Just like you were here for me the rest of my life. But I didn't say a word. Just pretended I was worn out mute.

Thank God, Geoff wasn't here. He would've told me to toughen up and face life brave. I couldn't do that right now. Then he would soften up when he saw I couldn't "toughen up" and pretend I was his daughter, his blood daughter. I scoffed at the thought.

"Honey, I'm here if you need me, I just want you to know that." my mom was saying. I didn't pay much attention. She spoke some more and I just kept nodding, drowning her voice in my own thoughts.

"Francine, I think she's had enough for one day." My dad's voice surprised me, almost as much as the hint of annoyance in it. As far as I knew, my dad was still in love with her.

"Well, I'm sorry, Kevin," Kevin wasn't my father's real name. It was the Anglisized version to ease Mom's parents' thoughts about their marriage, back in the day. I wouldn't be surprised if she had forgotten his real name. "but she's my daughter too. I raised her most of her life, and-"

"Dad would've raised me fine if you had let him." I spoke, barely in a whisper.

"What's that? Maybe he should've tried harder to keep you. All that fighting in the court and he didn't seem to care much after he lost!"

"Maybe you should'