<\/p>\n
Maisie clung to me after I stepped out for a moment. Ever since her mom left, even small absences feel huge.<\/p>\n
She asked if her mom was coming back. I didn\u2019t know. So I just said, \u201cDaddy\u2019s not going anywhere.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Later, she whispered, \u201cMommy said she loves me, but loves the world more.\u201d<\/em> It shattered me.<\/p>\n Lana always chased freedom\u2014travel, new places, new dreams. When she left, she said she needed space. She never called back.<\/p>\n I stopped waiting and built something steady for Maisie and me\u2014remote work, bedtime stories, quiet love.<\/p>\n She once told her teacher she wanted to bring a suitcase in case her mom picked her up. That night, I promised her again: \u201cDaddy\u2019s here. Always.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Her birthday came\u2014balloons, friends, joy. A woman named Tessa helped clean up. We laughed. It felt like the beginning of something new.<\/p>\n Then a letter arrived from Lana. She was teaching abroad, not ready to parent. Maisie asked, \u201cDoes this mean she loves me again?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I told her, \u201cYes\u2014but in her own way. And I love you in mine.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Eventually, Lana visited. It was brief. Polite. Maisie hugged her, then returned quietly to my side.<\/p>\n Later, she said, \u201cShe\u2019s still finding herself. But I\u2019m already whole with you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n That\u2019s when I realized: love isn\u2019t in words\u2014it\u2019s in who stays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maisie clung to me after I stepped out for a moment. Ever since her mom left, even small absences feel huge. She asked if her mom was coming back. I didn\u2019t know. So I just said, \u201cDaddy\u2019s not going anywhere.\u201d Later, she whispered, \u201cMommy said she loves me, but loves the world more.\u201d It …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4937,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4936\/revisions\/4937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}