She saw hurt, real hurt and pain in his eyes. More pain then ever she saw from his problems with his leg. “Addie, baby, you are lying to me. Please don't lie to me. I can see as plain as the nose on your face that something it bothering you ans something is deeply disturbing you.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “That it seems to be only me you have been avoiding then it has to be me that is bothering or disturbing you.”
He got down on one knee, she could clearly see the agony of that act. “Please baby girl, please talk to me. Tell me what this thing is. We can face together. Whatever it is it cannot be so bad that our love cannot over come it. But please don't ask me to leave. I will not leave till we figure this out. I am your dad. I have to protect you, shelter you and give you comfort. Please Addie, let me be your sounding board, your comfort, you rock in this whatever this is. Please baby, let me be your daddy, let me be the man you your life, as least right now.” He was still on one knee, the pain written all over his face but it was impossible to tell if the tears in his eyes were from his physical pain of his emotional pain over her.
That's when the door to her room slammed shut. He groaned and took several minutes to regain his feet. When finally he was back on his feet and felt steady enough to walk, he took out his bottle of pain pills and swallowed several before walking down the hall to her room. He tried the door knob and found it unlocked and so entered as quietly as possible. He observed her for a long moment. “My tee shirt still looks good on you honey. Have you been suffering from nostalgia?” He walked over and sat on her bed. He held his arms open to her and said, “Leave that mess be.” In that father's tone of command, “Come here Addie and sit with me. We have to talk. You have to let me help you through this. Come here and give me a hug and a kiss like you should have when I first got here. Sit next to me or on my lap like when you were a little girl. I'll hold you and we can talk this out. What ever it is, however bad you think it is it cannot be so bad as to make me love you any less. Come here Addie and let your daddy help you through this. I love you baby. Never doubt that for an instant. You, Addie, you alone, are all my world. Now talk to me.”