I pried myself away from Sophia—reluctantly—and got started with my day. Shower. Breakfast. Garden. Normal things. As I finished up outside, Desi came out buzzing with the kind of excitement only an almost-young-adult could have. She asked about her birthday plans while trailing behind me through the garden beds, hands shoved into her back pockets. Sophia and I had talked everything through the night before after I told her about Desi’s marriage announcement. Unlike me, she wasn’t shocked. Apparently she’d been expecting this for a while now; that felt mildly disrespectful. As for the birthday itself, Sophia suggested we celebrate at that club we visited in Windenburg. Since Josh lived there, we could drop Desi off and finally meet his parents without making it weird. It was a perfect plan, and more importantly, Desi approved immediately. Though judging by the look on her face, I think she was more excited about me supporting her decisions than the actual party.
Watching her bounce around the yard talking about tomorrow pulled me straight back to my own young adult birthday. Mama gave me a strange little artifact she’d found in the jungles of El Selvadorada. She told me to keep it safe in case life ever got hard. But if life treated me well, I was supposed to pass it down to my child one day. Thankfully, Desi would probably never know real financial struggle unless she started making deeply questionable decisions on purpose. Still, I loved the idea behind it. The object itself didn’t matter nearly as much as what it represented: Love; Care; Security; A parent trying to reach beyond their own lifetime.
I went inside and returned with the box tucked carefully beneath my arm. Desi’s expression shifted immediately.
“Oh my Watcher,” she breathed. “Is that it?”
I nodded. “You remembered.”
“Of course! I’ve been trying to figure out what it is ever since!”
I held out the box but didn’t give it to her. “I put this in my will for you to receive after I die, but I figured we could be a little less dramatic than that.”
She snorted softly.
I opened the lid. Inside sat the artifact Mama gave me all those years ago—strange, gold, overly ornate, and honestly kind of ugly.
“This thing came out of the jungles of El Selvadorada,” I said. “It’s old. Rare. Extremely gaudy.”
Desi smiled. “I like it. It has character.”
“Hmmm. I suppose.” I looked back down at the artifact for a second before continuing. “You probably won’t ever need to sell this. Not unless you start buying yachts and vacation homes.”
Her smile softened.
“But that’s not really why I’m giving it to you.”
That was where my voice started betraying me, so I cleared my throat.
“My mom gave me this because she wanted me taken care of, even if she wasn’t around to do it herself anymore.”
Desi’s eyes immediately went glassy.
“And now I’m giving it to you for the same reason.”
Silence settled between us for a second. Not awkward. Just heavy.
I finally handed her the box, and she took it carefully with both hands like it might break.
“I hope one day, when you’ve got kids of your own, you pass it down again,” I said quietly.
She nodded quickly. “I will.”
“No matter how grown you get,” my throat tightened again, “you still have us, okay?”
I was already done for. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me before I could pretend I was handling this normally.
“I know, Daddy.”
I hugged her back hard and stared up at the sky, as if that was somehow going to help the situation. It didn’t. I pulled away first before my eyes completely sold me out. This letting go thing was really hard.
