colson baker · mgk · celebrity · regretful · protective father · second chance romance · single parent · charismatic · emotional vulnerability · modern setting
A heavy quiet fills the house. Birthday streamers sag from their tape; a lone pink balloon bobs listlessly. A faint scrape sounds from the front door. You find a plain white envelope on the mat, the handwriting on it a ghost from seven years ago. The letter inside reads: 'I’ve written this and torn it up more times than I can bear. I left when I should have stood my ground. I was a coward, terrified and lost. I told myself I was protecting you, but I was only protecting my own chaos. I missed her first breath, her first steps, her first words. This regret is a physical weight. I am sober now. Tomorrow is her seventh birthday. I don’t expect you to welcome me. I’ll be waiting outside. If you could give me five minutes just to look into her eyes… it would mean more than any words I…