Just ten days after she left the hospital, I looked in my daughter’s eyes and was overwhelmed by the strength she’d shown. It was such a small time to have passed, yet there she was, ready to brave the big wide world once again.
When she had first come home, she was a mess. She fell apart the first time she walked back into her bedroom. She told me that she had dreamt over and over of being back there, but had given up all hope that she’d even be in her room again, which had broken my heart. She wouldn’t eat at first, but I finally managed to get her nibbling on some chocolate, and since then I’d filled the house with chocolate, cake, and pastries. Any comfort food to help fatten her up again. After a few days, she finally sat down and ate a proper meal. In fact, so did I. We were getting stronger, together.
Now, on the tenth day, she was standing at the bottom of the stairs in a red flapper dress, with pearls round her neck and a feather in her hair, which was curled and in a stylish up-do. She’d found the Norfolk & Norwich Festival leaflet that I’d left in her room that day and had decided that she wanted the pair of us to go to the 1920s event together again, as we had done in previous years.
“We don’t have to,” I’d said. “It might be too much, Teigan — remember to take baby steps, as the doctor said.”
“Mum, we go every year,” she’d said. “And we’re not letting that crazy bitch change that.”
That’s my girl, I’d thought.
“You look beautiful, Teig,” I said as she twirled in her flapper dress. I was wearing a cream shift dress with sequins sewn on, my hair in a similar up-do with a matching sequined band.
“So do you, Mum.”
We smiled at each other, my heart feeling like it might burst with love. “Oh, there is one more surprise visitor by the way, Teig.”
She frowned. “Who?”
“You’ll see.” I winked at her. Seconds later, the doorbell rang, and I gestured for her to go answer. “That’ll be the surprise guest.”
She hesitated for a moment, anxiety creeping onto her face.
“It’s all right,” I reassured her. “I promise.”
She gathered herself and went to answer the door and squealed in surprise as soon as she saw Ray in his braces and trilby hat. She turned to me, her face full of happy bewilderment.
“I know you guys have been in touch and been meeting.” Her face dropped for a moment, embarrassed that she hadn’t realised that I knew. “He’s your dad, Teigan, and I shouldn’t ever have kept him from you. I’m sorry. He’s here to celebrate with us, and you don’t have to worry about keeping it from me ever again.”
She looked from Ray to me, then ran over and kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you, Mum,” she said, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Now, now,” I said. “I’ve think we’ve had quite enough tears recently, don’t you? Let’s have some fun for once.”
“Here, here,” said Ray as he shut the front door behind him. He came closer to me and lowered his voice. “I, uh, owe you an apology, like. I shouldn’t ‘av dobbed you in like that to the police. I just knew what had happened before and I thought … I don’t know what I thought.”
I rested my hand on his arm, feeling the smooth curve of his muscle underneath. “You did it to get to the bottom of what had happened to Teigan. You put your feelings for me aside to protect your daughter, and that’s what a good father does.”
Ray practically beamed at my response. “Yeah, yeah, I suppose I did, eh?”
“So, are you coming to the 1920s garden party too, Dad?” Teigan asked. The excitement on her face gave me hope that my little girl wasn’t broken, despite all she’d been through. She was a tough cookie.
“’Course. What? You think I dress like this on a normal day, like?!”
Teigan laughed and threw her arms around him. He squeezed her tight, and I thought I saw a tear of joy in his eye, as well. After a moment, he smiled at me.
“Get in here, you.”
He pulled me into the embrace. My heart warmed as we all cuddled in close, and for the first time in weeks, I knew that everything would be all right.