**Diary Entry**
“Fancy a pint at the pub? Chat for a bit?” Richard asked as the workday ended.
“Sorry, mate. Got to head home. Look.” Thomas reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, flipping it open.
“Bloody hell, youre really doing it?” Richard studied the ring, then clapped him on the shoulder. “Never thought Id see the day.”
“Me and Emily have been together four years now. Time to make it official. Shes got no ideaits a surprise. If I dont do it now”
“Youll never do it,” Richard finished for him. “Still having doubts? Dont. Emilys a stunner. Im a bit jealous, truth be told.”
“Right, Im off. Promised Emily Id be back early,” Thomas said, pocketing the box and making for the lift.
On the way home, he stopped at a florist for a bouquet of red rosesEmily adored them. He set them on the passenger seat, practising his speech at every traffic light. *”Darling Emily, youve waited so long Emily, I love you, marry me.”* No, none of it sounded right.
Parking outside his flat, he grabbed the flowers and headed for the door. Just as he reached for the handle, his phone rang.
“Tom, love” His mothers voice trembled.
“Mum? Whats wrong?”
“Im fine. Its Its Lucy. Shes gone, son.”
“Christ.” His hand dropped from the door.
Lucygone. The girl hed known since childhood. “How?”
“A hit-and-run. Died instantly. The drivers still missing. Funerals tomorrow. Will you come? She loved you, Tom” His mother sniffed. “Grace is all alone now. Someones got to step in, or theyll take her into care”
“Ill be there,” he promised, though his head spun.
Lucy didnt deserve this. Hed never loved her the way she loved him.
Dazed, he barely remembered climbing the stairs. The roses felt absurd in his hands. The flat smelled of roast chickenEmilys doing. Normally, hed inhale it greedily, but tonight, it just felt wrong.
“Special occasion?” Emily asked, stepping into the hall. She eyed the bouquet expectantly, but he just stood there, numb.
“Flowers dont need a reason,” he muttered, handing them over and pecking her cheek.
She hid her disappointment, retreating to the kitchen. When he joined her, the roses were in a vase, dinner laid out. He forced himself to eat.
“Youre not hungry?”
“Not really. Mum called. Lucy died. Funerals tomorrow.”
“Lucy your ex-wife?” Emilys voice tightened. “You never mentioned a daughter.”
“Grace. Shes twelve.”
“So youre bringing her here?”
“Dunno. Lucy had no one. Mums not well enough” He stood abruptly. “I need to pack.”
“Youre really going?”
“Yes. Taking the night train. Already called work.”
“After all these years? She mustve moved on”
“Not now, Em.”
“Is this my surprise? A stepdaughter?”
“No. Ill explain when Im back.” His fingers tightened around the ring box in his pocket.
***
On the train, sleep wouldnt come. He remembered Lucypale, fragile, always wrapped in scarves. When her parents died in Year 11, his took her in. His dad joked shed make a fine wife. Hed scoffed.
Then, one night when they were alone, something happened. Lucy got pregnant. His parents insisted they marry. Hed never loved hernot like that. When Grace was born, he felt nothing. Panicked, he finished his first year at uni, transferred to Manchester, and left.
His father disowned him. *”We dont abandon our children. Youre no son of mine.”*
Twelve years passed. He never visited. Even when his dad died, he stayed away. Mum sent photos of Grace growing upso like Lucybut he felt nothing.
Now, he was going back. He wouldnt take Grace. What kind of father was he?
Emily had been different. Hed fallen hard. But now, with Lucys death, it all felt hollow. Maybe theyd stayed together out of habit.
***
Mum wept when he arrived. Grace stood apart, wary.
“Grace, love, come meet your dad.”
The girl snorted, spun on her heel, and vanished into his old room.
At the funeral, Grace didnt cry. He tried talking to her, but she ignored him. Later, he overheard her arguing with Mum.
“Im not going with him. He left us.”
“You cant go to care! Not with a living father”
“Id rather.”
Yet she came to Manchester with him. On the train, she asked, “Who do you live with?”
“My girlfriend. I was going to propose. Youll like her.”
But the flat was empty. Emilys thingsgone. Just her keys on the side table.
Grace made sandwiches without a word. The next day, he enrolled her in school, bought her clothes. Slowly, the ice thawed.
Then work sent him to Germany. Grace insisted shed manage, but he fretted.
“Ask Sophie from the office,” Richard suggested. “She fancies you.”
Sophie agreed eagerly. She and Grace hit it off, laughing like old friends.
In Germany, he called daily. Missed Grace more than hed expected. Sophies voice on the phone made him smile.
Returning, he saw them waiting by the flatGrace and Sophie, grinning. His chest tightened. No one had ever welcomed him home.
Grace didnt pull away when he hugged her. Sophie lingered, smiling.
“Gifts in my bag,” he said, relishing their excitement.
At dinner, they talked over each other, asking about Germany. It felt right.
Later, as Sophie left, Grace muttered, “Dad ask her to stay.”
*Dad.* The word stunned him.
“Sophie, its late. Stay.”
Grace dragged her to her room.
That night, Thomas lay awake. Grace had softenedthanks to Sophie. Emily wouldve clashed with her.
Two months ago, hed never have imagined thisfatherhood, this quiet happiness. Sophie slept just beyond the wall. Maybe just maybe.
*Funny how life twists. Sometimes the surprises you dread turn out to be the ones you needed.*
