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Alex held Juliet's hand as they sat in the private visitation room of the detention centre, waiting for Gerald to be brought into the room... Gerald stopped in his tracks when he walked in, and his eyes fell on Alex, and then the young lady that was sitting beside him... his heart immediately dropped, and even though he hadn't seen her in a year, he immediately recognised her... it was Juliet, his little girl. His heart felt heavy as he continued walking and then he took a seat, his hand still in cuffs... he hated that she had to see him this way... Juliet's eyes were on the man who walked in. Though he looked a lot older now, she could tell he was the one she had seen in the pictures that Gladys had shown her. he was her father, the man that she had vague memories of and couldn't even remember his face.... her grip on Alex's hand tightened A bit as they both stared at each other in silence. No one knew what to say to the other till Alex broke the silence... "How have you been" " A Lex had Gerald wh, who managed to smile slightly. "I would be lying if I said I was fine", he answered, his eyes still on Juliet, who had broken eye contact with him and locked away... she felt nervous and felt like leaving the room, but she remained seated. She had promised herself that she wouldn't back out when she came... Alex turned to look at Juliet and stood up, and she immediately looked at him for help, she didn't want him to leave her alone with a man who was practically a stranger, but Alex wanted the both of them to talk... "I will be waiting outside," he said and smiled at Juliet before leaving... the same silence from before returned and Juliet's eyes trailed to her fisted hands... she didn't know what to even say and just blurted out anything that came to her mind at that moment... "Alex told me you came to see me when I was in middle school" "Yes, I did", Gerald responded, and Juliet almost scoffed. "Why didn't you approach me then?" She said, raising her head to look at him... he had a sad look in his eyes, and she swallowed and looked away... "I'm sorry, I should have... I think about it every day, and I regret not approaching you back then," Gerald trailed off, and Juliet tried her best to blink back the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes... "I was ashamed of myself and didn't want you to be affiliated with a father like me. An ex-convict who had no idea what to do with his wretched life... what if other kids stay away from you because of me? I thought that, and that kept me away... I'm sorry," Gerald said, and Juliet couldn't hold back her tears any longer... "I was curious about you my entire life, I had vague memories of you, but I... I had no idea what you looked like... Mom never told me about you; I was just left to imagine what you might be like, and over the years, I've thought about so many scenarios and had so manyquestionsns" Juliet paused for a few seconds before she continued... I wondered if you abandoned me and didn't want to have anything to do with me... I wondered if my mom was keeping me away from you... I wonder where you were and if you had a new family. I wondered if you were dead, and for a long time, I was convinced you were... maybe it was better thinking you were dead instead of that you abandoned me. I told my, elf" Juliet wiped the tears in her eyes away and tried to catch her breath,ath and Gerald hung low so she wouldn't see the tears in his own eyes... "But a part of me might have known you weren't dead," Juliet said and stood up, she didn't want to be there anymore and wanted to leave... Gerald stood up also and felt his heart break as he stared at his daughter... "Your mother has spent such a long time trying to find you, didn't you feel bad for her?" Juliet said and turned to leave, but she stopped in her tracks when Gerald said, "I'm sorry" She bit her lips, trying to hold back her tears before she finally walked away, leaving Gerald alone in the room, and he became a complete mess and broke down... "I'm sorry dear...I'm sorry" he said over and over again... "Are you alright?" Alex asked when Juliet walked out of the room and she nodded and managed a smile at him... they both left the detention centre and while in the car that led back or their hotel, Juliet who had been staring out the window finally turned to look at him... her eyes were red and filled with tears and Alex felt like his heart was being squeezed... he leaned closer and wiped the tears in her eyes away even though more tears kept on falling. "He told me he is sorry," Juliet said in a trembling voice... "Can you forgive him?" Alex asked, and she shook her head, "I don't know?" she said truthfully... she had no idea if she could forgive him or if their relationship would ever be the same. She had spent twenty years of her life without him and had learned to live without him but now that she met him, the man she had been curious about her entire life, she had no idea what to do... Was forgiving him the next step for her? Would she finally find the closure she wanted if she did? Juliet had no idea... She had craved closure for so long, and now that she was finally close to getting the closure she wanted, her heart still ached and hurt.