"Munchkin? Where'd ya run off to this time? Come on, don't hide from me! You have to get ready for school!!" Antonio Torres shouted out to his seven-year-old daughter, who was not in her bed as she was supposed to be on this particular early Monday morning.
"You can't f-i-n-d meeeee…" She said from her hiding place beside the bed. Antonio immediately realized where she was, but still went around the room, searching the most obvious places until he called out in a fake exasperated voice.
"Okay, Gracie…you got me. I can't find you anywhere! Where are you?" And she popped out from beside the bed, a wide grin on her adorable little face.
"You can't ever find me, Daddy!" She exclaimed with childlike exuberance. Antonio picked his little girl and twirled her around.
"Well, that’s 'cause you're such a great hider!" Antonio said, seeing her beam in delight. "But we don't have time to play again. You have to get ready for school!" He said and set her back down on the bed, and doing his fatherly duties, pulled out the clothes she was to wear that day. "Here you go, angelface. You want me to help you?" He offered, and she shook her head, her glossy black curls flouncing around her shoulders.
"I can do it, Daddy! I'm not a baby!" She said disdainfully as she grabbed the clothes.
"Okay. I'm gonna go fix us some breakfast.
Call me if you need any help, okay." He said and smiled bittersweetly to
himself. She was beginning to get an independent streak, wanting to do
everything by herself, without his assistance. He didn't like it at all;
his baby was beginning to want to break away from him. She was only seven,
he knew he would have many years left before she wasn't his baby girl…but
she was also the light of his life, and the only link he had left to Gabi…their
daughter. Gracielia Gabrielle Torres. Gracie…the child that he and Gabi
had made.
SIX YEARS LATER
"Dad!" Grace (now only called Gracie by her father) called out as she raced down the stairs. She was on her way to school, having overslept and was about to miss the bus. She was about to jet out the door when Antonio stopped her. "I'm going, see you later!"
"Gracie! You were going to leave without saying goodbye to your poor old Dad?" He said with an exaggerated hurt puppy dog face. Grace grinned at him and reached up to hug her father.
"Sorry, Daddy. I love you, bye." She said after pecking him on the cheek and bolting out the door. He shouted, "I love you, too." Back at her, but he doubted that she heard.
Shaking his head, he smiled as he walked up the stairs of the house that he and Grace lived in by themselves. Gracie was a wonderful girl, the best daughter a man could hope for. And she looked more and more like her mother every day. With the same huge black eyes and silky dark hair, she was almost identical to the mother she had never known. Antonio loved to look at her and see the resemblance to Gabi, to gaze at the girl with the tiny, petite frame and little button nose that was completely…Gabi.
She was a teenager now, but luckily not a wild one. She was smart, talented, and sweet… every father's dream. Antonio just wished…he wished Gabi could be here with him to see how good he had done. She would be proud of Grace…just like he was.
TEN YEARS LATER
"Daddy! What are you doing here? Why are you here so early?" Grace Torres turned around and smiled as she saw her father standing in the doorway of the small room she was in.
"I just wanted to talk to you one more time before that man takes my little girl away." Antonio said with an exaggerated scowl. Grace laughed and reached up to hug him.
"Oh, Daddy, you know I'll always be your little girl! And you know that you like Alex, no matter how much you try not to, so don't even act like that." She scolded with a warm grin.
She was wrong about one thing. She wasn't his little girl anymore. She was 23 years old, a beautiful woman that was about to become wife to a very lucky man. "Yeah, well, he'd damn well better take good care of you or he'll have me to answer to."
"Daddy, he will take great care of me and you know it. I love him so much…and he loved me. Our life is going to be perfect together. In exactly 2 hours and 53 minutes, I will be Mrs. Gracielia Gabrielle Torres-Richards." She proudly said her soon to be new identity.
"Hmph."
"Daddy! Stop that right now."
"Well how do you want me to act? That man is taking my daughter away from me…you want me to throw him a party?" Antonio said, then threw in a grin to soften the harshness of his words. He didn't want his Gracie to be wife, he wanted her to be his little girl, his…his last little hold on Gabi…
"I expect you to wish me luck and tell me how proud you are of me! Is that too much to ask?" She said with mock exasperation, though they both knew under the silly demeanor that Antonio really was a little resentful towards his future son-in-law.
"I guess not…okay Gracie, I'm proud of you. Good luck, and don't forget that if Alex ever harms you in any way, you can come to me." Grace smiled with satisfaction and reached up to hug him again.
"Thanks, Daddy." She whispered. "Daddy? Would Momma be proud of me?"
"Yeah, she would. She'd be very proud that her daughter grew up to be a successful, beautiful woman." Both of their eyes teared up as they lost themselves in their own thoughts. Antonio thinking of how happy Gabi would be to know that he had done what she wanted – raised their daughter right, and Grace thinking how much she wished that the mother that she had never known were here to be with her on her wedding day.
TWENTY YEARS LATER
"Doctor? Please, tell me how he is…is he okay?" Grace Richards asked anxiously as the white coated, middle aged man stepped out into the hospital waiting room where she and her family had been waiting. "He'll live, won't he? He'll survive…"
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Richards, but I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. He suffered massive damage to his heart, and there's nothing we can do now except make his last few minutes painless and as comfortable as possible."
Grace broke down in tears as her husband held her tightly. Three children watched sadly, standing to the side as their mother collapsed into sobs.
"Mr. Torres is conscious, and you may go in and see him. He may be delirious, but there is a chance you will be able to speak to him." Grace looked up as the doctor spoke and looked at her husband.
"You want to go in alone?" Alex Richards asked, and she shook her head.
"Not at first…you come in with me. And the children, too. He'll want to see them one…" Her voice broke. "One last time."
"Okay." Alex wiped one of her tears away and turned to motion the children to follow them.
Grace nearly went into hysterics again when she saw her father. He was hooked up to many intimidating machines that emitted loud beeps and signals every few seconds. "Daddy? Daddy, are you awake? It's me, Gracie."
"Gracie…" He whispered in a faded out voice as she stepped up next to him. "I'm…I won't make it, will I?" His answer was in her quieted tears. "It's all right, Gracie…I…I know…"
He was still a very handsome man, silver gray hair that was still thick and streaked with brown, surprisingly few lines on his weary face. He had had a heart attack; one that was about to end his life.
"Oh, Daddy…" She sobbed. "I'm so sorry…"
"Shhh…don't…cry, Gracie…it's gonna be all right…" Antonio tried to comfort his daughter, and it struck her as ironic. He was the one on his deathbed, but it was he that was consoling her.
She looked back at her husband, who knew the expression she wore well enough. Looking at the three children, he turned and exited the room with them, leaving Grace alone with her father. "Oh, Daddy…I love you so much. Oh, God why is this happening?"
"Gracie…listen to me…it's all right now…finally, everything's right. I'm going to be with her now, after all these years I'm finally going to be with her again…I can't wait for it, Gracie. It's been so long…I watched her die, you know. She was holding you, and she looked at me and she said that she loved me, and that she loved you…and she looked so beautiful and peaceful…she had such a hard life, Gracie…I tried to make it better, but I only caused her more pain. She deserved to have peace…now I'm going to share it with her…when I see her, I'm going to tell her all about you…she would have been so proud…I love you, Gracie…I wish I didn't have to leave you, you're the only reason I want to stay here…but I have to be with her now. You see that, don't you? I need her so much…and she needs me. You need me, Gabi, don't you?" He was silent for a moment, as if listening for some unheard answer then smiled softly. "I love you, too, Gabi…I'm coming…"
And the line on the machine above his bed began to shriek as it flattened into a straight line and his eyes closed, the smile never wavering. He was gone, he was with Gabi where he belonged.