44

“You shouldn't,” I whisper. The voice came out of me without thinking and when I looked back into his eyes, it had darkened. And then the next second, he looked away from me. My heart dropped at the rejection. Scarlett and her siblings rushed in, she had a cage with a bird with multiple colors.

“Mom, this is called a scarlet Macaw, it's my favorite kind of bird because of their multiple colors and they have the same name as mine,” Scarlett explained, the spark in her eyes was back and I was so grateful. I thought that I would never see her happy again. My daughter shouldn't have to go through what she went through. I blame myself for leaving her alone.

“Thank you, Daddy!” She looked toward Herald who smiled back at her and then he came closer and squatted in front of her.

“Tell me anything you need, anything at all.” Herald played with her hair. It warmed my heart that he loved my children. That he loved Scarlett as much as I did. I hoped Scarlett getting love from the two of us wi