He shook his head.
"I don't want anybody else."
"I know."
She leaned against him.
"But I want you to live."
He held her.
For a long time, they sat together.
Then Naomi whispered one final request.
"Promise me Amelia will always know she's wanted."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"I promise."
At the time, he believed that promise could never become difficult.
He had no idea how much courage keeping it would eventually require.
Naomi died when Amelia was four.
The funeral took place on a clear spring morning.
Daniel remembered almost nothing about the service afterward.
He remembered Denise crying.
His father standing beside him.
Amelia holding a white flower.
And the unbearable silence when they returned home.
For months, Daniel moved through his days as though some essential part of the world had disappeared.
He went to work.
Came home.
Prepared meals.
Read bedtime stories.
Helped Amelia get dressed.
And sometimes sat awake long after midnight, staring at the empty place beside him.
Amelia did not understand death the way adults did.
She asked where Mommy had gone.
Whether she was coming back.
Why her pillow still smelled like her shampoo.
Daniel answered as gently and honestly as he could.
He never told Amelia that her mother had simply gone away.
He explained that Naomi had died and would not return, but that they could remember her and talk about her whenever they wanted.
Some nights, Amelia cried herself to sleep.
Other nights, she asked to hear the recordings Naomi had made.
Daniel played them.
Then sat beside her until she felt safe.
He became both parents in the household as best he could.
But grief made ordinary responsibilities exhausting.
He forgot appointments.
Burned dinner.
Left laundry in the washing machine.
And once arrived at Amelia's school wearing two different shoes.
His daughter noticed.
She laughed.
"Daddy, your feet don't match."
Daniel looked down.
Then began laughing too.
It was the first time they had laughed together in weeks.
He treasured the moment.
Over time, life became manageable again.
Not easy.
Never the same.
But manageable.
Denise continued helping with childcare.
Daniel's parents visited regularly.
Amelia started kindergarten.
And the family adopted Biscuit from a local rescue organization when she turned six.
The golden retriever was gentle, affectionate, and unusually patient with children.
Amelia named him after the biscuits her grandfather made on Sundays.
Biscuit followed her everywhere.