I knew I missed her; of course I did. I felt it every day. But looking at her like this, it was breathtaking how good I was feeling. Intellectually I knew I was falling for her. Had known it for weeks. This was the moment where I realized that it might be more serious than that.

I bent down to kiss her, but she shied away.

"Noooo, I'm a mess, daddy," she said quietly.

"Yes, but you're a sexy mess," I said, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She giggled.

"That was soooo corny, but I don't care, I've missed you so much. We're never going that...