“Dad,” the young inhuman asked, looking up at her father from her spot on the couch, “can I ask you something?”
“Of course, darling,” he answered, sensing her anxiety, “you can always ask me anything.”
Luna took a deep breath. She had been avoiding this topic since her parents’ divorce–nearly two years now. “Is there… Is there any chance of you and Mom… Ever getting back together?”
Pietro’s face fell. There was no doubt that Luna had seen the love he still held for his ex-wife in the brief interactions they’d had since their divorce. He sighed. “Luna… Darling, I can’t… I can’t say that there is. There’s a lot of… A lot of hurt that’s been done on both sides, and I can’t say whether or not we’d ever be able to move past it.”
“What happened? I… I’ve asked Mom, but she always changes the subject. And I know that you still love her, at least a little. She still cares about you, too, but it’s harder to read. So why… Why can’t you work things out?”
Pietro sighed and rubbed his temples. “There… A lot of stuff happened. There was a lot that we –both of us– did wrong… We were so young, so insecure of who we were. I had never really dated before that, and your mother… She was so kind to me–so caring. But still very stubborn and independent. I loved her then… In many ways, I still love her now,”
“Then why don’t you try,” the child asked as her father sat down next to her.
“Luna, your mother… She needed shown she was loved in a different way than I did. And with my working in the militia and not realizing what she needed of me, I pushed her away… She began looking for the affection she needed in other places.” Pietro looked away from his daughter, shaking his head in shame, “looking back, I can’t say that I blame her.”
Luna watched her father as colors created a vortex around his head and chest. She knew he felt ashamed of himself for neglecting Crystal’s needs. But there was also an anger there. “She cheated on you?”
Pietro’s mouth formed a thin line. “Yes. And I was… And still am very angry over it. My neglect pushed her away from me… Her infidelity pushed me away from her. And my jealousy and anger pushed her away further. Eventually, the rift between us grew too large to repair. There’s too much hurt… And while I do still care deeply for your mother–and while she may still care for me– I cannot trust her. The fear of us making the same mistakes would always be there… And you can’t make a marriage work with someone you don’t trust.”
Pietro sighed, looking down at his daughter. He noticed the tears running down her face. “Luna, darling…”
“You don’t… You don’t regret it, do you? I mean you don’t wish… That you’d never married her at all,” she choked out. “Knowing how things turned out…”
“Of course not,” Pietro soothed, wrapping his child in his arms. He thought of his marriage, of his daughter, of their lives together before things started falling apart. “Luna, there may have been a lot of mistakes made on both sides, but… Before that, your mother brought out a side of me I didn’t know existed. She brought a light into my life that I didn’t believe would ever shine again… She brought you into my life… If I had never met your mother–never married her– I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet you. I would have never known what it was like to love two people so much–hell, after losing my parents, I didn’t think that I could ever feel love like that again. But I did–for better or worse– thanks to your mom.”
Luna looked as closely at her father as she could through her tears; she was so afraid of seeing falsity in her father’s words. She could see a lot of things in him: guilt, anger, love, worry, sadness, regret… But no deceit. She let out a shuddering sob of relief. She held onto her dad as he held her closer, rubbing her back and kissing her head.
Several minutes passed as Luna worked through what grief she could; she knew that her parents would likely never come together again, and the knowledge, while hard enough now, would likely hit her again in waves later.
“Dad,” she sniffled, “thank you… For not skirting around answering me.” She wiped the tears away from her eyes, settling her head onto her father’s chest, listening to his heartbeat.
Pietro pulled his daughter in closer. “You don’t have to thank me, sweetheart. I’m sorry you have to suffer for our mistakes.” And he was; he would give anything to make things better for Luna–to give her the family she deserved. He hated himself for the choices he’d made that had led to this. Hated that, even though he had suffered emotionally with all of what Crystal had done–and was sure that she had suffered because of his actions– that his child, the light of his whole world since the moment she was born eight years ago, was in pain because of him.
There was no doubt in his mind that he and Crystal would never be married again, much as he might wish it to be; with all his fear of being abandoned again, he was never sure he would marry anyone again. For the time being, he contented himself to holding his daughter close and doing what he could to ease her pain and assuage her fears.