What's it to you?

[Stephanie Taylor]

[attr="class","Stephner"]

[attr="class","Stephner1"]

[attr="class","Stephback"]

[attr="class","Stephnert"]Stephanie took her sweet time in deciding if she should really reconnect with her biological dad. Jim was everything to her when it came to needing a father in her life. He’d stepped into those shoes early. The Harris family supported her, gave her everything she needed and more. Sighing, she picked up phone and sent a simple text message. “Cafe on the corner.” There was only one cafe on the corner of where Don was staying. Yes, Stephanie did he research. That didn’t mean she really wanted to do this. Curiosity got the best of her. But she wasn’t exactly ready to open her arms and cuddle so to speak. Don was still a stranger to her. Someone who had shown up at the firehouse. This was insanity.

Stephanie didn’t even drink coffee but it was a cafe known for its coffee and sandwiches. They also sold some of her favorite tea. “I’ll have a cup of the chamomile tea, and a bag of the loose leaf. I will also have the spinach salad” She drank the stuff at home. She paid for her tea and taking both the cup of tea and her bag and went to go sit. She knew that they would be bringing her salad out soon. The thing she loved about this place was that everything was fresh. It was one of her favorite places and it was close to the station.

Though she had the day off. That did not mean that she was going to give her entire day to Don. In fact, she didn’t even know why she had tried to contact him. Achilles was at her side and lay down at the foot of the table. He was used to coming into places and not being able to touch anything. Stephanie was still getting used to the idea of him following her every where now.

∵ Donald Anderson ∵

[attr="class","Stephner2"]

[attr="class","Stephnerlyric"]Flame that came from me
Fire Meet Gasoline, I’m burning alive

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[Donald Anderson]

|| TAG: Stephanie Taylor,|| WORDS: 0 ||
|| NOTES: ... ||

Donald was trying to do the right thing, hanging around in Chicago. The place felt strange to see so much tarmac in one city, he made regular trips to any open space he could but then the amount of people there. He had days when he did consider upping sticks and moving right back home. The fresh air, fresh food, no concrete or at least little of it and he could attempt to get back in a plane even if it was just to fly a crop duster in a remote field for an hour on a good day. Chicago was a new experience and not one he could honestly say he thought he would get used to, then again living out of a hotel hardly made the experience easy.

Getting the text as he sat in his room brightened his day no end as he got himself ready. Smart trousers, pressed shirt as he decided to let go of the tie for the day. It was a cafe not a funeral though going out without a tie on felt like he was in a tank top and surfer shorts. Tugging at the open collar on his way to the cafe Donald managed to button it up to the neck. He stopped about half way down the street to get some flowers, specifically sunflowers because he remembered Stephanie told him she liked them.

Holding the bunch of then as he pushed open the door, Don saw Stephanie sat there with her dog. Act normal he thought smiling even though he felt more nervous than the moment he had tried to work out what was the appropriate clothing to wear for this. Donald ordered his coffee as he waited for a moment before holding the cup carefully as he walked over to the table and took a seat across from Stephanie. “Thank you for meeting me.” Don began not entirely sure what this meeting was about or if he was going to be told to go home and never come back.

“I know that it’s not easy and I’m sorry for how it all came about the other day.” He admitted glad he had managed to finally track down his daughter but he had hoped that he might not screw it up as much. He could hear Mary in his ear scolding him on how that could have gone a lot better.

Red☠Frost

[Stephanie Taylor]

[attr="class","Stephner"]

[attr="class","Stephner1"]

[attr="class","Stephback"]

[attr="class","Stephnert"]Stephanie had been broadsided by a bulldozer with things. Deep down, she was still fighting memories of past and all the aspects she’d been through. That was part of things, focusing on the trauma wasn’t what she tried to do, it just came with the territory. One hand ran across Achilles ears. He was well behaved and kept Stephanie calmer in lots of ways. Stephanie played with his ears all the time, it was a familiar pattern. Comforting to both owner and dog.

Don was trying too hard and being too formal with everything. Stephanie hardly remembered anything about her mother, she had for so many years just had faces. Stephanie could still see the look on her older brother’s face as he pushed her out of the way. Perhaps why she could pull a trigger for so long, having nothing to lose. Just numb to death from a young age. Not because she didn’t care for her family but because it was easier to be numb to it than to handle the emotional pain.

Nothing in life was easy. Her whole life had been one master disaster into another. Just when she’d finally started turning things around… they all fell apart again. Stephanie was still fidgeting with the rim of her cup. Some of the scars on her arm showing from the torture she’d been through. It was less obvious as it had been the other day at the firehouse, but that’s only because her sleeves were longer now.

Stephanie had put herself in a position where she had no one to turn to if she felt like running but she had her eyes on the door. Stephanie refused to sit in a position where she couldn’t see what was going on in the area around her. It was years of training and watching her back. She set a box on the table. One she figured he would recognize. It was a military style box. In it was her POW ribbon. The one she’d refused to pin on her medal rack on her uniform.

Opening the box, she twisted it around so he could see it. “Everything is easy when you are emotionally numb to it.” That wasn’t quite the case but Stephanie covered her emotions in anger. The fury and the rage is what kept tears from falling and the strict demeanor she kept with others hid the funny happy and fragile part of who she was. Deep down, she loved to laugh and play and giggle. The anger is what hid her true feelings. Ben somehow had started to understand that but she wasn’t ready to let Don into her circle just yet. That didn’t mean she couldn’t sit and talk. Talking defined as words coming out of her mouth.

∵ Donald Anderson ∵

[attr="class","Stephner2"]

[attr="class","Stephnerlyric"]Flame that came from me
Fire Meet Gasoline, I’m burning alive

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[Donald Anderson]

|| TAG: Stephanie Taylor,|| WORDS: 0 ||
|| NOTES: ... ||

Don had been waiting for the moment he finally got to see his daughter again, the moment that he knew she was safe and thinking it would only be those few years until he could function to a degree. It was the only thing that got him by some days, then being ten steps behind her in life Donald thought there might be no chance left. No chance to finally catch up with the only family he had left in the world and now he was sitting with her in a cafe. Considering their screaming from their previous meeting it was nice to have the neutral setting.

He rarely knew what to expect from each day, there were some where he was too angry to do much else than scream at a wall or put a fist through it. He tried but then since that day he had lost much of the sparkle he had previously held. He lost the one love of his life, the one woman that made waking up each morning a gift and the children he assumed he would watch grow up. He had lost all of that to time. Even what he had thought his daughters wedding would be like, to find out he had even missed that occasion.

There were children and he had been absent from that as well, he always imagined that Mary and himself would be sitting on the farm growing old together watching the family grow up and do the exact thing they did. Grow old with the ones they loved, instead he got old on his own chasing a dream that he had almost ruined. Being formal was about the only thing he knew how to do, the military had taught him that. There was no room for slacking or scuffed shoes, everything needed to be correct because things fell apart if he missed something.

Donald glanced at the box on the table, he watched her open it to see the ribbon he knew a little too well. POW, all he could do was gasp as he wondered just what had happened to his daughter in the time he had lost her. “Emotionally numb is no way to live Ste...” Donald caught himself before he made the same mistake he had done previously. There was no Stephie any more, just Stephanie he told himself. “Life is too short to live that way.” He added trying to smile, “At least that is what I’ve been told lately.”

There were far too many people telling him to lighten up, that he would find what he was looking for in time but they had no idea of what it was like to lose a family. To know that one of them still lived and not be able to be there for them at all. “I’m sorry I don’t have any of my medals to show you, do you remember any of them?” Donald asked pretty sure she might have seen them at one point but then six was hardly an age that he guessed she had much knowledge of.

Red☠Frost

[Stephanie Taylor]

[attr="class","Stephner"]

[attr="class","Stephner1"]

[attr="class","Stephback"]

[attr="class","Stephnert"]Stephanie didn’t really want to be here. She had everything she needed. The screaming on the inside never stopped, no one could fix that and as a result Stephanie kept people at a distance. It was better that way. “Anything I can get for the two of you?” The waiter asked seeing that Don had just sat down. Stephanie had mentioned earlier that she was waiting on someone before she ordered. Though she wasn’t about to speak up. Stephanie just passed the look to Don, to see if he wanted a few minutes to order.

One thing Stephanie knew about was putting her child(ren) before her. Zach had always been the reason she’d tried to better her life and turn it around. Though she’d felt that she failed that many a time. Closing her eyes to reopen them she tried to push all of that out. She’d really not been prepared to tell him anything about her life.

Not all of her dad’s medals had made it out of her old house. She’d gone back later to be able to get somethings when she was little. There had been a few things she still had with her. “I have some of them.” Stephanie reached down at her feet and shuffled through her bag pulling out the box that had a few of them in there. Though she’d never really looked through them, but she’d simply peeked in the box to see what they were. Through the years, she’d hung onto them because in her mind that was all that was left of the family who’d left her.

Some days Stephanie looked in the mirror and hated the woman who she had become. Insecure at times, scared of her own shadow yet fearless when it came to helping someone from slipping into the same mind hell pit she lived in for so many years. Her mind was her own worst enemy. The bright bubbly woman that Ben saw was so rare; Stephanie had spent so many years covering up each new wound and scar. Another layer of anger at the world. Few could get in if they weren’t already. Achilles got up and put his head on Stephanie’s lap looking up at her. He knew she needed comfort, he also lightly pawed at her knee but kept one eye close on Donald.

∵ Donald Anderson, ∵

[attr="class","Stephner2"]

[attr="class","Stephnerlyric"]Flame that came from me
Fire Meet Gasoline, I’m burning alive

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[Donald Anderson]

|| TAG: Stephanie Taylor,|| WORDS: 0 ||
|| NOTES: ... ||

Don glanced at the waiter wondering if he wanted to scream at the man to go away or just order something to make him go away. Ordering would make them come back but then if everything went wrong today, at least he had something to occupy his hands with. “I’ll take a coffee please.” He said deciding that was about all he wanted for the day, he was a little too nervous to eat and coffee just seemed like the right thing to have for the time being at least.

Stephanie had been his reason for trying to get back to who he was or had been. She had been the person he did everything for, keeping the farm going, trying to find her. She had been his reason for existing and coming back into a world that had taken so much and a lot more than he ever thought was possible. His wife, son and daughter had all been taken away in one form or another and now he had the chance to at least reconnect with his daughter and for that he would have done anything.

Even now, sitting across from her in a cafe was more than he could ever have wished for only a few weeks ago. He had no ideas, no possible idea of where she was or even if she knew he was still alive which as it turned out the answer was a no. Donald glanced at Stephanie when she said she had some of his medals. “You have some of them?” He asked unsure what to make of that. There were a few at home but he never had a reason to show anyone. They were simply relics of a time gone by, a life lived and one that he had no family to pass them on to until now that was.

“Stephi... Stephanie, when did you get those?” Donald asked not sure what she had in that box at all. If she even wanted to know about then or if she thought he was just a dusty old relic that needed shelved for years. The pieces of metal and ribbon reminded him of good and bad, the thing he could remember and the ones he was a little fuzzy on given the fact he had days he barely remembered he had been a pilot at all or never wanted to. “Why did you keep them?” Donald asked not sure why she would after all for all she knew he was gone.

Red☠Frost

[Stephanie Taylor]

[attr="class","Stephner"]

[attr="class","Stephner1"]

[attr="class","Stephback"]

[attr="class","Stephnert"]Stephanie wasn't really sure why she did most of the things she did. “I ran away from DCFS, mom's sister refused to take me in.” No, she didn't think of the woman as an aunt anymore, she hadn't since the day they let her go into the system. “I hid in the house once the cops had gone. I climbed in the back window, I was going to spend the night there but the cops found me a few hours later.” Yeah there were smarter decisions but she'd been scared out of her mind and she'd been six.

“I found them before the cops came and got me. I just remember being carried out of there and that was the last time I ever saw the house. I had them in my bag. I recognized them from your uniform I guess. It was something familiar.” She'd hung onto them for years but it wasn't easy to explain. “At one point, I just had them boxed up when I was away.” She shrugged. They'd sat in a box in Georgia for a long while. She'd somehow managed to keep up with them.

There was a picture she had too that she kept with her, through the years. It was Don dressed in his uniform and her with a little pink stuffed rabbit. She was all dressed up in ribbons, bows,and curls. Everything she despised now. It hurt too much. Though she didn't have the picture on her, it was at home with the medals. She had other pictures too of her with the family. One's she'd been able to find anyway.

Right the waiter was standing right there. “A water, and the mandarin spinach salad. No meat.” She figured that she had to eat something. Salads were a staple food for her at Cafe's usually the only thing on the menu that they could make without meat in it. Cheese sandwiches really weren't a thing. Achilles rested his head in Stephanie's lap looking up at her for a moment, she pet his head to reassure him that everything was alright. Achilles helped her cope with things at times.

∵ Donald Anderson ∵

[attr="class","Stephner2"]

[attr="class","Stephnerlyric"]Flame that came from me
Fire Meet Gasoline, I’m burning alive

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[Donald Anderson]

|| TAG: Stephanie Taylor,|| WORDS: 0 ||
|| NOTES: ... ||

Whomever stated that deep breathing was a relaxation technique lied. Even a deep breath did nothing to hide the anger clear in his face at the mention of his wife’s sister. That woman could go to hell so far as he was concerned, at all needed was five years and then he was capable of looking after his own daughter. Instead Stephanie had been shipped off to DCFS and Donald was still angry about that. “I’m sorry she... I should have been there for you. I know I should but I want you to know I did everything I could, everything to get back to you.” Donald said wondering what Stephanie had even thought about him for a while.

It was made clear that she thought he was dead when he met her the first time but then Donald sat with a clenched fist as he listened to Stephanie talk. “I’m glad they found you Stephanie.” He added not wanting his daughter to have been alone at that point. “Well if you can remember it the place has never been changed.” Donald explained, he never really had the heart to do much to the place as he always thought he would have Stephanie back there. It was far from a time capsule but it was close enough that he could remember the good days there.

“Ah I guess that they were pretty useless to you other than familiar.” He added not really sure if familiar was a good thing. A memory of what he used to be like, the happy father who gave up flying for his family only to have them taken away. “I guess I thought I had lost them or just never remembered them. I get days like that, I struggle to remember a few things here and there.” Donald explained not really sure he wanted to tell Stephanie that but then, being caught up in a stampede it hardly did much for the brain.

When the waiter was there he listened to Stephanie’s order and furrowed his brow at her for a moment. “Spinach salad?” He questioned wondering what had happened to meat and veg. “Just a chicken sandwich and a water please.” Donald asked not entirely sure what to get to eat at all. Turning back to Stephanie Donald was curious. “So how long have you been a vegetarian?” He asked her, “You know salad is never the main event for a meal?” He tried to joke smiling awkwardly for a moment before he tried to relax a little, the hint of his old self shining through in small parts.

Red☠Frost

[Stephanie Taylor]

[attr="class","Stephner"]

[attr="class","Stephner1"]

[attr="class","Stephback"]

[attr="class","Stephnert"]Yeah, well as far as Stephanie had been informed Donald had died in the stampede. Maybe that made things easier. Maybe it made placing her with a new family easier. Maybe it had been easier to explain to a six year old. Whatever the reason, Stephanie still couldn't and wouldn't forgive Natalie.

Then he mentioned the house not changing. No, Stephanie tried to get the memory of that house out of her head. Flashes of memories caused her to balk back and Achilles rested his head on her lap and whined for attention. Stephanie's hand clenched under the table and Achilles licked it, Stephanie relaxed but only after fixing her dad with one of those 'how dare you' looks. Stephanie soon started just petting Achilles.

“Must be nice, being able to not remember.” Oh how remembering everything plagued her most of the time. Her voice was full of jealousy. Stephanie remembered every minute of every waking moment and it came back to bite her in the ass. There were times she got short with Ben and another time she'd tried to strangle him in his sleep. Yeah, she was the poster child for what memory could do to a person.

Great, now he was questioning her choice in food. The one question she hated was how long she'd been a vegetarian. “I don't count the days.” Sarcasm was her weapon, she hid behind it with poise and confidence. “I like my salads.” Well that wasn't the only thing she liked, it was just that this happened to be a place that was more carnivore friendly than vegetarian friendly.

∵ Donald Anderson, ∵

[attr="class","Stephner2"]

[attr="class","Stephnerlyric"]Flame that came from me
Fire Meet Gasoline, I’m burning alive

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[Donald Anderson]

|| TAG: Stephanie Taylor,|| WORDS: 0 ||
|| NOTES: ... ||

Donald saw the reaction Stephanie had to the mention of the house, it had been the wrong thing to say but he hardly knew what was right anymore. The house was his way of remembering, if he never changed it then the family he remembered playing there was still within those walls. The wife he loved would still be home, dinner on the table, kids home from school. He would give anything to be able to live that again, to be able to get his family back. It was why he had spent so long tacking Stephanie down, all he wanted was the chance to get to know his daughter again.

He could hardly dismiss the how dare you look as he felt his own fists clench hearing how it would be nice not to remember. He had to bite on this tongue for a second to stop himself from slamming his hand down onto the table. “You would think so.” Donald replied, the tart harsh tone in his voice. A tone he was all too familiar with since the accident. A tone he never really had before the accident. “It must be nice not to remember your family, to wake up and be reminded all over again that your children are gone and you wife isn’t there. Sure it’s great to believe in the existence of a life you lost for a few minutes before you’re reminded yet again what you lost. It’s like living it over and over, thinking that this year. My daughters tenth birthday, what would she be doing? Tenth Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving... the forgetting, remembering and being told all over again that you had the slightest glimmer of hope you would see your family again. Must be nice.” Donald spat back taking a breath.

This was hardly how he wanted their second meeting to go, he had already screwed up the first but forgetting was never a great thing. He did his best to smile through it, unclenching his fist as he did his best to try and be the man he thought she might remember. There was no chance he could fly anymore, at least not... legally though he sometimes pretended to forget and take the crop duster up for an hour now and again. Not the wisest choice but he knew planes back to front and it gave him a sense of peace for a little while. “Ah, salads are good.” Don remarked not entirely sure how a girl raised on a cattle far became a vegetarian but then it was the cattle that had done the damage.

“Any particular salad that’s your favourite?” Donald asked trying to find out even one more piece of information about the daughter who was grown up sitting across from him. Staring he knew he was doing it but then he could see his wife there, he could see it just as he had done in her photo.

Red☠Frost

[Stephanie Taylor]

[attr="class","Stephner"]

[attr="class","Stephner1"]

[attr="class","Stephback"]

[attr="class","Stephnert"]There were some things that Stephanie didn't put up with and people yelling at her went over like a lead balloon. Getting up as he finished berating her, she set a hand on the table waiting for him to stop his ranting. Though her words were bitter they weren't loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. "I tried to forget. Remembering destroyed me. Don't it let do the same to you." She patted her leg and Achilles followed her towards the front door.

Leaning on her truck door she put her head down towards the door so no one could see her face. Achilles sat up watching her. Stephanie chuckled to keep from crying. "You're lucky you aren't a human. It's too complicated." Stephanie mumbled. Reaching down to pet him she grabbed her phone and sent a text to Ben. He knew where she was so all her text said. "Not going well." Though her head was still against her truck. Stephanie was known to snap when things got overwhelming. Hell, she had tied a politician to a firetruck for the FBI to come get.

The waitress came back to the table and informed Don that she would make Stephanie's salad to go as she delivered the drinks one to an empty seat. Stephanie didn't even notice. Achilles was trying his hardest to cheer Stephanie up. The dog licked her face trying to keep Stephanie from the flood of memories. People yelling at her always brought back everything. Stephanie was taking deep breathes trying to calm down. No rush of tears, she'd cried tears so long ago that she was numb to crying when it came to loss. This had been a terrible idea coming alone.

∵ Donald Anderson ∵

[attr="class","Stephner2"]

[attr="class","Stephnerlyric"]Flame that came from me
Fire Meet Gasoline, I’m burning alive

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[Donald Anderson]

|| TAG: Stephanie Taylor,|| WORDS: 0 ||
|| NOTES: ... ||

Donald watched his daughter place her hand on the table, he braced himself for an argument. He made sure that he was squared away for that inevitable screaming and the looks in the restaurant followed by a polite waiter to ask them to leave. He was all but ready for anything but what he heard in return. Remembering was all he had left, he wanted to remember and there were days when it was crystal clear to him and other days when he had no idea what was going on.

He remembered the six year old daughter that he loved, his son who he adored and a wife that was his world. All taken from him in that one day, a day where he could have told them to stay at the house. He could have taken the day off or taken them away but no they had been killed, hurt, taken from him and hidden away for years out of his reach. Remembering was all he had until this moment.

All Donald could do was sit there for a moment and watch his daughter leave again, twice now he had screwed this up and twice he regretted it. He ever thought about calling it quits right there, to absolve Stephanie of any knowledge he existed so she could go on with her life. Donald sat for a moment as he stared at the empty seat with the drink sat in front of it. “Can I make the drinks to go too? And I will be back for it.” Donald asked as he placed some money down on the table to pay for it all before he made his way outside to find his daughter.

Donald made his way past a few of the cars trying to find Stephanie yet again. He was stuck in his own head when he stepped off the side walk to try and check the other side of the street without checking the traffic. He heard the car horn blare at him before he managed to hop back to the safety of a side walk as he glanced around shocked for a moment. He saw Stephanie leaned against her truck as he made his way over to her.

“Stephie...anie” Donald said trying to cover his slip of the tongue though he practically mangled her name in the process. “I should never have shouted at you, I just... sometimes I just.” Donald never wanted to have to explain that a knock to the head had changed him a little; anger was all he had known for so long it was a learned response to things. Yelling too though explaining that to a daughter he had missed most of her life, he guessed there was a time and a place for it. “Please come back, I have your salad and drink to go and we can go and talk someplace else if you like?” Donald asked wondering if he had ruined it again or if there was still a chance to know his daughter.

Red☠Frost

[Stephanie Taylor]

[attr="class","Stephner"]

[attr="class","Stephner1"]

[attr="class","Stephback"]

[attr="class","Stephnert"]Stephanie’s PTSD was getting worse and yelling was one of her biggest triggers. Yelling, hospitals, and farms were some of her stranger triggers. Right now, she was inside of her head and Donald wasn’t even making any sense. “I can’t go back. No, don’t touch me.” She wasn’t even sure what was going on in her reality but in her head it was a totally different story. Achilles recognized her signs and started licking at her and barking at her.

Stephanie didn’t even hear the words about the salad, Don’s words were muffled by the confusion that she heard in her own head. People barking orders and her screaming at them as things went rather sour. Outwardly Steph was shaking and fumbling for the door to open her truck back up. If she could get out of her own head. No one was around who knew what to do or how to handle her so it was safer for her to be somewhere quiet and she knew it. But she wasn’t quite all there right now.

Achilles started to growl at Don standing between the two as Stephanie climbed into the truck and laid down on the seats. Achilles stayed protective between the two and jumped up in the truck beside Stephanie licking her face, trying to get her to wake up but still keeping a close eye on Don. The rottweiler’s demeanor was one of protective but caring. He laid down beside Stephanie who was trying to calm down in the quiet but unfamiliar and that didn’t usually work well. "It's my fault. They died because of me." While she was looking at Achilles, she certainly wasn't really talking to him and she wasn't talking to Don. Her words were kind like she was talking to someone in her past.

∵ Donald Anderson ∵

[attr="class","Stephner2"]

[attr="class","Stephnerlyric"]Flame that came from me
Fire Meet Gasoline, I’m burning alive

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[Donald Anderson]

|| TAG: Stephanie Taylor,|| WORDS: 0 ||
|| NOTES: ... ||

Donald wished he knew what to do other than to raise his hands and move away from his daughter when she spoke about not touching her. Her dog seemed to take over trying to calm her down or at least bring her back around to the reality in front of her. If he never yelled maybe there would be a different outcome but Donald always struggled with his anger, ever since the accident it was a like a switch he could never flip back to being his happy self.

After all what had there been to be happy about, his family was gone, his life had gone and when he found his daughter was out there she had moved on entirely. A new family, a family of her own and he was as good as dead to her. Until he had thought the reunion would go a little better than it had but who was to know it could go any worse. Don heard the Achilles growling as he made sure to keep a distance. “Stephie, it’s no ones fault.” Donald heard himself trying to explain. War and service, it took people from them but there was no fault.

Donald knew Stephanie was talking to another ‘person’ though he was just trying to get to know the daughter lost. He had no idea what she needed right then as he decided to not argue much with Achilles. “Stephanie, just listen to my voice.” Donald decided to say, “You’re safe here. No one will hurt you, just breathe and listen to me.” He wished he could help his daughter more than just a few feeble words. The many times he had been told to breathe and just let things go, relax and it would all be okay.

The irony was there was no relaxing and letting things go. Much like the search for Stephanie he could never let it go. He was trying to think of anything to distract her to help but all his memories were from the family she had lost. He had no idea if she even wanted to remember much of that at all. “I think there was a new vegetarian place opened on the corner by the place I’m staying. Maybe you and your family would like to try it out with me one night?” Donald offered trying to think of anything that he could do to help her.

Red☠Frost