Chapter 57
Cara only cried as Callurn held her hands, caressing them with his thumb as he looked at her sincerely with his wet eyes.
“I promise, I won’t hurt your mommy. I won’t make her cry. I will make her happy. Give me a chance to prove it not only to your mommy but also to you, Cara. Let me live my life with the two of you. Give me a chance, Cara,” he pleaded as his tears rolled down his cheek.
Cara was sobbing uncontrollably. Her shoulders were rocking as the only thing she could do was cry. She didn’t know what to say, and maybe she was too stunned to see her father crying and hurting as well.
“If I hurt your mommy again….if I make her cry again, then I am letting you hate me forever. I am letting you guard your mommy from me. I am letting your mommy leave me.” He smiled weakly as he caressed her cheek and wiped her tears.
Cara seemed to agree with his suggestion because she was attentive to it
“You won’t see Mommy anymore if you make her cry.” Cara said in her little voice.
“You too, sweetheart. And I don’t want that to happen. I love you so much, little princess. If only I knew your mommy was pregnant during that time. I’m really sorry for not being there with you and Mommy. I’m sorry for making you think that I do not care and that I do not love your mommy, but I do. I care for you, and I love your mommy. I love you. You are my daughter. And I would regret not being able to be a father to a wonderful little girl like you.”
Cara’s cry was slowly getting tamed as she was still looking at Callum, who was crying to her while he was gently talking to her like she was the most fragile thing in the world.
“Give me a chance, please, baby. I will not waste it. I will make sure I’ll show you that giving it to me isn’t a waste of time,”
Cara couldn’t shake her head, but she also couldn’t nod. Instead, she glanced at her mother, who was smiling with tears in her
eyes.
“It’s okay, sweetie. He is not forcing you. It’s all up to you, hmm?” she said gently, caressing the cheek of her daughter.
“I want…” she started shaking again. Her tears rolled down even more, so she closed her eyes and leaned to her mother for a hug. “I want Mommy to be happy. That’s all. If mommy is happy. Cara is happy,” she cried uncontrollably.
Ciara closed her eyes and hugged her back as she put her on her lap because she was now excessively crying like she was so hurt by the confrontation and she was having a hard time making a decision that involved her mother.
“Don’t worry too much about me, hmm? “Ciara whispered as she stroked her hair gently. “You see, I am happy when you are happy too. So don’t pressure yourself. Whatever you like, I will understand it. Your father would understand it.”
It was an emotional moment for the three of them. Callum stood and occupied the seat next to Ciara as he poured her a drink and let Cara drink it
Cara was still sobbing, but she was a bit tamed now, letting her father let her drink while Ciara was still stroking her hair and wiping off her tears.
As much as Callum wants to fit into their lives, he doesn’t want to force it without building the trust of his daughter in him. He was now owning the mistake from the past, and he was slowly accepting the consequence that his own daughter was abandoning him for what he had done.
But he doesn’t want to lose hope. He was hopeful that Cara would give him the chance he wanted, step by step.
They resumed eating; this time the dessert was served. Cara stayed on her mother’s lap while Callum was still interacting with her, and compared to earlier, when she was so cold and distant from her own father, this time she was a bit more appreciative and sociable, as she would look at Callum sometimes too.
“Open your gift,” Callum urged.
Cara slowly opened the paper bag that was given to her earlier. She pulled what was inside until she found a bunny teddy bear, which looked so cute and seemed to lighten her expression; she didn’t really make it seem how much she liked it. But Ciara
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knows that Cara appreciates it, and she likes it.
“Your mother told me you were into rabbits. So, I bought you one,” Callum said.
Cara lets the rabbit sit on the table as she looks at it with a controlled expression, which is so unreadable that Callum’s lips
stretch.
“She knew how to hide her emotions well, like you. Unreadable,” he said, chuckling a bit.
Ciara combed Cara’s hair using her fingers while tilting her head to see her daughter’s reaction. She knew when Cara liked things, as her ears would turn red uncontrollably. And to see it bright red while she was staring at the rabbit blankly, she could really tell she liked the gift, which she didn’t just want to express to her own father.
Ciara knew that this talk was not the end of it. Their relationship as a family was too broken to begin with and it’s not something that could easily be mended with one simple talk. No matter how much they cried, it doesn’t necessarily mean that things are over.
She watches her daughter and her father.
There was fear in her that somehow, things would get worse in a snap of a finger, especially since things with Shane were not getting better.
Her eyes caught Callum’s who was gazing at her softly, his eyes were bloodshot red like hers.
This is your last chance, Callum. Don’t this up or everything is over.
It’s as if she was communicating with him with her eyes and Callum understood.
Just one wrong move and his family will be gone. And Callum understood that. f
