FORTY-FIVE
"Hello, Daddy."
"Hi, sweetheart. How are you holding up?"
Gaia took a deep breath, then counted to five as she released it slowly. "I wish Mother was still alive."
"Me, too. She was taken too young." He cleared his throat. "I thought it'd be me to go first, not her."
Gaia felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. "Oh no, Daddy. I couldn't bear to lose you. Then I wouldn't have anyone to talk to." She swallowed. "I wish you'd come to the funeral."
"You know she wouldn't have wanted me there."
She knew, but that didn't mean she understood. "Why? I know you two didn't get along and you parted ways so many years ago I barely remember the two of you in the same house together, but it's not like she would have actually seen you. I wanted you there." Her voice was plaint
