Desperate

Chapter 21

Vlad's POV:

Why did he flinch? Why in the world was it his body's natural instinct when his daughter had found something out she wasn't supposed to know? How could he be so careless and let one of two very important secrets slip?

Normally, in a situation such as this one, he would come up with a clever and convincing lie to avoid the secret from entirely being told. But he couldn't. He couldn't trick her into believing his compelling lies; she was too smart for that.

"Daddy," she whispered, and he looked back up at her to see tears running down her bright pink cheeks, "I am your daughter, aren't I?"

He opened his mouth to say something but hesitated and closed it. How was he supposed to answer that? Biologically, she wasn't his daughter. He wasn't her biological father; he had no idea who that even was. But by law, she was his daughter. He adopted her through-well, through bribery, which obviously was similar to a crime; or perhaps it was a crime?

For Pete's sake, he had to tell her the truth. If he didn't, she would look into it herself and search for her birth certificate, which he made sure to keep away from her. He sighed. "Sweetheart," he whispered softly then scooted closer to her and sat next to her on her bed. He pulled her into his arms, and she snuggled close to his side. "What I'm about to tell you, you have to know that I still love you and always will. I'm still your father and that will never change. Do you understand, sweetheart?"

He heard her sniffle and felt something wet start to soak through his suit, giving him the hint she was crying, then glanced down at her when he felt her nod her head into his side. He started rubbing her back in circular motions. "Sweetheart, I know this will be difficult for you to understand, but-" He gulped then squeezed her tighter when he felt her trembling against him. "I adopted you when you were a newborn."

Her cries became more louder, and he picked her up and placed her in his lap then squeezed her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder. "But that doesn't change anything," he continued, gently stroking her black locks of hair, "I may not biologically be your father, but I still am your father; just in a much different way. Do you understand?"

"W-What about my Mom?" she asked, her tone soft and quivered.

He frowned as he continued stroking her head, unknowingly tangling his fingers in her messy locks. "I'm afraid I've never met her or your father. I only met the social worker that brought you to me."

She mumbled something incoherent to him, causing him to tilt his ear towards her a little more. "What was that, Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Why did she give me up?" she repeated, speaking a little more louder.

"I don't know the exact reason, sweetheart." He squeezed her tighter. "But I'm sure it was because she wanted to give you a better chance." He smiled softly. "In a way, she gave us both a better chance."

She sniffled then lifted her head up to look at him with her teary red eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Before I adopted you, my life felt meaningless. I was completely and utterly alone. I had no family, no friends-"

"What about the Fentons?" She tilted her head slightly. "I thought they were your friends."

"Well, uh, it's much more complicated than that." He sat up straighter from sliding down a bit during their conversation and held her closer to him. "But that's a story for another time." Hopefully, never. "In short, I had no one." He smiled and caressed her cheek softly, which she leaned into. "Until, one day, I decided to adopt, and I chose to adopt you. Now, I'm not alone and my life isn't meaningless anymore because you're in it, sweetheart."