The Littlest Dove - A Glimpse into fatherhood.

Catch Me If You Can

“Tou-Tou come and get me. Come on Tou-Tou!” A little voice called out through giggles. 

“Oh no. Here I come! I’m going to catch you, little dove.” A now twenty seven year old Yoshiki called back as he chased his daughter around the Tokyo Dome arena, before reaching out and sweeping her up into his arms and tickling her tummy. Her happy giggles filled his ears as he did so.

“Tou-Tou! Stop I can’t breathe!” She gasped out still laughing. 

“Oh now then, we can’t have that can we?” He replied, stopping his tickling in favour of spinning her around in his arms once before sitting down on the ground with her, to let her catch her breath. He needed a break himself at this point, as he’d been playing with her for over an hour, while they waited for the rest of the group.

She lay against him comfortably, snuggling into his shoulder and holding his hand in her small one. Before letting go and reaching up to his hair and lightly tugging on it. 

“Tou-tou, why did you cut all your pretty hair off? I liked it just the way it was because I could hide in it, when I was sitting on your lap.”

“Ah. I’m sorry little one.” He said as he gently tapped the tip of her nose. “It was getting too long and it was giving me a headache because it was so heavy. But you know, you can still hide if you want.” He added, then pulled his long coat over and draped it over her head, to let it fall down her back and shoulders. “See? All hidden. No one can see you except me.” He said, giving her a squeeze and making her laugh again.

“And kaa-san?” Yoshiki winced at this. Niamh’s rejection of his proposal still stung deep down. But he wouldn’t force her and he wouldn’t let his daughter see his pain. 

“And kaa-san if she was here. Yes. She would be able to see you too.”

“Why is she never with us Tou-tou? She brings me to you and then you take me and she goes away again? Then you give me back and you leave.” 

Yoshiki bit his lip at this. He knew it would eventually be asked of course. He knew she would notice it sooner than later but he still wasn’t ready for it. So, he didn’t know how exactly to explain it, in a way that she would understand and that wouldn’t make her feel like an odd-ball. As he fumbled for the words to answer his daughter, a response came from in front of them. He looked up and saw Hide walking their way. 

“Sometimes little kitsune, Otou and Kaa-sans are only meant to be together long enough, to bring a very special person into this world. Then, they go back to living separately from one another, the important job they had to do now finished.” He stopped in front of them and then leaned down and picked Stormy up off his lap and gave her a hug. “You are one of those very special people. Don’t be sad about it. You are very much loved by everyone who knows you. Especially your parents.” 

“Hide-Ojisan! I missed you!” Stormy replied happily, as she gave him a hug back. 

“I missed you too kit. How are you today?” He asked, moving her to his hip, as Yoshiki shot him a grateful smile, then stood and dusted his pants off.

“I’m ok. I get to stay with Tou-Tou for a long time again!” 

“Well that is always exciting isn’t it. I’m sure you’ll both have so much fun.” Hide replied with a smile to Stormy but gave Yoshiki a sad look over his shoulder. 

Yoshiki sighed and shrugged in defeat. There wasn’t anything he could do. He had tried more than once but Niamh had made her mind up and that was final. They would probably never be a traditional family and he would just have to accept that for what it was no matter how much his heart loved and ached for her. All Niamh could give him was friendship and so he would take that and settle. Because the important thing was keeping Stormy happy, safe and with two parents that didn’t hate each other.