“I have had the great honor of raising you, Raya. I was there when you were born, and I was there when you took your first steps. I walked you down the aisle, and I’ll love you until the day I die. I just… I just didn’t have the honor of bringing you into this world.” He looks away, and I watch as his eyes fall closed, his breathing uneven. “Nothing will ever change the fact that to me, you are my daughter,” he says, his voice soft, pleading. He turns to look at me then, his eyes filled with sorrow. “Nothing could ever change that, you hear me?”
