A man adored his daughter and tried to be the best father for her when an unexpected visit turned their lives upside down. Her brother, an ex-convict, appeared at the door of her house claiming to be the girl’s biological father, and things only got worse.
Daniel’s life would be incomplete without his daughter. Amanda was not the brightest, most beautiful or talented girl in the world, but in Daniel’s eyes she was all that and much more, and he loved her more than anything.
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Anna Wintour abandona Vogue
Most of Daniel’s neighbors knew him as a father before anything else, so you can imagine the devotion he felt for his daughter. When Amanda was a baby, she tied her to her chest before going shopping because she didn’t want to leave her alone.
The moms in the supermarket were amazed by the handsome single father, and the same happened to the women in the park where Daniel took Amanda to play in the afternoons. Over the years, nothing changed much in Amanda and Daniel’s lives, except that the girl had grown and become more beautiful.
Daniel gave his daughter the best of everything, more or less like any other father, and they were happy in their little world until one day, the man’s older brother, Vicente, knocked on his door…
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Unsplash
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Unsplash
It was a Sunday morning and Amanda got up late on weekends. Daniel was preparing breakfast for him when suddenly he heard a knock on the door. He quickly washed the dough from the pancakes from his hands and hurried to the door.
“I’m coming!” he exclaimed when the blows became stronger.
When Daniel opened it, he couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing. His older brother was standing on the threshold. “Vicente?” Daniel asked, surprised. “What are you doing here? What the hell do you want?”
Read also: My stepfather told me that my biological father had died, 8 years later I found him living on the streets – Story of the day
Vicente smiled satisfied and entered the house. “You have a very nice house, brother,” he said in a mocking tone as he looked around. “And… where is Amanda? I found out that he lives with you.”
“Why do you care?” Daniel grumbled, preventing Vicente from still entering his house. “Leave us alone. You have nothing to do with her.”
“Well, she can decide for herself!” Vicente replied. “Call her!”
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
“Call her or I’ll do it!” Vicente said.
“But…”. Vicente started shouting Amanda’s name before Daniel could say anything. “Shut your mouth! You’re going to wake her up!”
“Well, I want to meet her,” Vicente said defensively, “and you can’t stop me!”
Sometimes, it takes a blow to reflect on your mistakes and rectify them.
“She has exams next week; she’s already stressed. Not now, Vicente. Please. I beg you,” Daniel begged.
Vicente softened a little and sat on the kitchen counter. “The prison food was horrible!” he complained. “Would you mind preparing breakfast for me too? At least, I can have breakfast here, right? Relax,” he added, closing his lips with his fingers. “I’m not going to tell her anything, but I won’t leave until I see her. I won’t tell him the truth.”
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Daniel sighed as he closed the door. “Okay,” he said. “But you have breakfast and leave! And you won’t appear in our lives again until I tell you that she feels comfortable knowing everything!”
“Of course, of course,” Vicente said, nodding. “Can I have some pancakes now, please?”
Daniel let him have breakfast with him and Amanda, ignorant of the unpleasant plan that was brewing in Vicente’s mind.
“Oh!” Amanda shouted, joining them on the kitchen counter. “Uncle Vicente? Is that you? My God, it’s you! Dad showed me your photos. We finally know each other.”
“Hello, honey,” Vicente said as he hugged her and arranged the chair next to her to sit down. “How have you been?”
“Very good. You didn’t tell me Uncle Vicente was coming, Dad!” she told Daniel before turning to look at Vicente. “The prison must have been hell, right?” he whispered.
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
“Worse than that,” Vicente said. “It was more unpleasant than all the derogatory words you can think of!”
Amanda laughed. “I’m relieved that you’re back.”
“Me too,” Vicente replied.
Daniel sighed and rolled his eyes. “It’s okay, no whispers! Amanda, finish your breakfast quickly, and Vicente will leave when he has finished with his.”
“Dad!” she shouted. “Let’s go! He just got home!”
Daniel and Vicente exchanged a look. “He has work to do,” Daniel said. “And he has to leave. OK? I’ll be right back.”
Daniel disappeared into his bedroom and let Vicente and Amanda talk. When he returned, he saw his brother holding Amanda’s hand and talking to her. It didn’t seem strange to him until he heard what Vicente was saying.
“He’s been lying to you all the time! Do you know?” Vicente whispered. “I’m your real father! You are my daughter, Amanda, but Daniel doesn’t want me to be part of your life!”
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
“VICENTE!” Daniel shouted angrily. He couldn’t believe that Vicente hadn’t kept his word and had told Amanda everything. He loaded on his brother, enraged, and grabbed him by the neck. “I told you to keep your mouth shut!” he shouted. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Dad! Uncle Vicente! Please stop!” Amanda shouted as she tried to separate the brothers, who were about to hit each other. But Daniel couldn’t stay calm. His past passed before his eyes when he remembered how he had saved Amanda years ago.
At that time, Daniel and Vicente were teenagers. The two brothers had always been polar opposites, except when it came to sports, movies and games. When they grew older, their equation became problematic in every sense of the word.
Vicente wanted to be in the company of the “great” boys of high school, boys who did terrible things and were frequently suspended from school. Those supposed “great” boys didn’t like Daniel, and a big fight broke out between the brothers.
“They’re going to ruin your life, Vicente, just like they’ve ruined theirs!” Daniel told his brother one day after seeing him mocking a newcomer to his school with the “great” boys.
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
“Leave me alone, Daniel! You’re a loser! Just like that newcomer.”
“Do you really not see what they are doing?” Daniel reproached him, furious. “They’re going to make things hell for you. Stop going out with them.”
But Vicente didn’t listen to Daniel. Instead, he shouted at him that he was not his father and that he should not tell him what he had to do. Daniel had done everything possible to help his brother. He had tried to prevent Vicente from becoming a quarrelsome and help him channel his life. But Vicente refused the help.
Finally, Daniel surrendered and distanced himself from him. He focused on improving his life after graduating from high school and worked hard for his dreams. Over time, the two brothers lost contact and Daniel took care of his life, working as an accountant in a private company.
However, he had not forgotten his older brother. One day, Daniel found out through his mutual friends that Vicente had gotten into a big problem. The older brother had been part of a gang and had been arrested for his crimes and sent to prison.
The news saddened Daniel, even more so because he found out that Vicente had a girlfriend who was pregnant. She wanted to terminate the pregnancy, end her relationship with Vicente and leave the city. But Daniel convinced her not to leave the city until her baby was born. After all, his son was part of Vicente.
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
“But I don’t have the means to support her!” Silvia said crying when Daniel visited her and convinced her not to interrupt the pregnancy. “I can’t do it.”
“Please,” he begged her. “Look, all I ask is that you wait until the baby is born, OK? I promise you that I will be by your side until then.”
“And then what?” she said. “I can’t give this baby a good life! And going out with your brother was a mistake! He’s the worst man I’ve ever met, and now he’s in jail, just when I need him.” WOW! Isn’t your brother incredible?” she asked sarcastically.
“Look, you don’t have to keep the child, okay? When he is born, I will adopt him,” Daniel proposed. “Legally. I will take the child and give him all the love of a father.”
But Silvia didn’t give her arm to twist. So Daniel made a deal with her: he would pay her a certain amount if he agreed to continue with the pregnancy. Although it was very difficult for him to convince her, the young woman finally agreed.
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
“But when the baby is born, I’ll leave here,” she said, and Daniel nodded. “Of course, I have no reason to hold you back,” he told her.
Months later they knew it would be a girl and, when little Amanda was born, Daniel took her home and became her father. He was the one who stayed up late trying to calm her down when she started crying, who changed her diapers and sang her lullabs, and who Amanda took by the fingers when she was learning to walk.
Daniel was not Amanda’s biological father, but he had raised her as if he were. He left his own life in the background for her. He never went out with anyone or thought about starting his own family.
When Vicente went to his house one day, Daniel started arguing with him, and things got so bad that Amanda couldn’t stand it.
When Amanda got older and was curious to know why she didn’t have a mom, Daniel told her the pious lie that her mother had died. I hadn’t even told her about Vicente until she found one of her old photo albums in the closet.
Amanda would not have existed if Daniel had not convinced Silvia not to interrupt her pregnancy, and now Vicente had returned to destroy her peaceful existence. Daniel wouldn’t allow it.
“Leave us alone! I legally adopted her and now she is my daughter,” he shouted to his brother.
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
“So what, Daniel?” Vicente replied. “I’m his real father! His biological father! A piece of paper can’t deny that it carries MY genes.”
Amanda couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It shocked her to know that the man who had raised her was not her biological father and that the man she had only heard a couple of times was her real father, whose blood ran through her veins.
What a strange twist of fate.
“DAD! UNCLE VICENTE! ENOUGH NOW!” she shouted, putting her hands to her ears. “STOP! OR I’LL LEAVE THEM BOTH.”
Finally, the two men calmed down and stopped arguing. “Amanda,” Daniel said as he stepped towards her. “Please, listen…”.
“THE TRUTH,” she demanded, taking a step back. “I want to know what happened, and I will only listen patiently if they stop fighting like rabid dogs!”
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Daniel had no choice. He sat down with Amanda and told her everything. The teenager was obviously surprised, but she handled the situation with more patience and maturity than the two older men.
The three agreed that Daniel and Amanda would continue to live together as they had been for years, and Vicente could visit them from time to time. Everything was quiet after that, with Vicente visiting his younger brother’s house on weekends to meet Amanda, until Daniel’s fear of losing her dominated him.
She realized that Amanda and Vicente had become intimate over time, and she was increasingly afraid that her older brother would take her away from her. So, when Vicente went to his house one day, Daniel started arguing with him, and things got so bad that Amanda couldn’t stand it
She picked up her clothes and left the house furiously, swearing never to return. “They can continue arguing because it’s the only thing they care about! You don’t love me, just like my mom.”
Vicente and Daniel followed her, begging her to stop. But she ignored them and, when she was running across the street, a car that was driving quickly ran over her and disappeared down the street.
“NO! GOD, NO!” the brothers shouted in unison as they ran towards Amanda. But it was already too late. Darkness took hold of her eyes, and she collapsed in his arms, with blood dripping from her forehead.
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Daniel got so nervous that he was completely blank. “Eh, listen, Daniel, calm down, OK?” Vicente began to say, trying to comfort him. “She’s going to be fine! I’m going to call an ambulance.”
Amanda was quickly taken to the hospital by paramedics and then to the operating room for surgery. The doctor said he would need an urgent blood transfusion.
“I can donate mine!” Daniel offered. At that moment, Vicente intervened.
“I’m his biological father!” he said. “You can do the tests! I’m ready. I can donate blood.”
Finally, Vicente donated blood to Amanda and saved her life.
Sitting in their hospital room after the operation, the two brothers looked at Amanda unconscious and made a promise…
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
“Let’s not do it again! Let’s not hurt him,” Vicente said. “If you think you can be a better father, I will disappear from your life forever. I just want her to be happy. I’m sorry, Daniel, I shouldn’t have come back. Maybe if I hadn’t done it, she wouldn’t have…”
“No,” Daniel interrupted him, accepting his guilt. “No. It was my fault. I was very insecure. I was afraid of losing her and…”. Daniel burst into tears before he could finish the sentence, and Vicente wrapped his arms around him to comfort him. “Calm down, brother. It will be fine, and we’ll let her choose what she wants, OK?”
When Amanda finally regained consciousness, the two brothers apologized to her, and Daniel admitted that everything had happened because of his insecurity.
“I was a fool!” he said to Amanda. “I’m sorry, little one. I will never do it again.”
“Dad…”, the teenager said weakly, holding his hands. “I love you both. Nothing has changed between us. It’s fun to be with Uncle Vicente. But that won’t change the fact that I love you. And I also love Uncle Vicente. They’re both my parents, actually,” he laughed. “It’s a little funny, but I’m lucky to have both of them. So no more fights, OK?”
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
Image for illustrative purposes. | Photo: Pexels
That day, the two brothers reconciled for Amanda’s sake, and Vicente promised to stay on the sidelines and be just a friend to her.
But Daniel said, “No. You come to stay with us. As our daughter said, she has two parents, and I don’t want one of them to get away from her.”
What can we learn from this story?
One becomes a father for love and affection, not necessarily for biology: Daniel was not Amanda’s biological father, but he loved her more than anyone else.
Sometimes, it takes a blow to reflect on your mistakes and rectify: After Amanda’s accident, Daniel and Vicente realized that their arguments only caused pain to Amanda. They decided to change that and raise her together with love.
