Couldn't sleep.
Mind running. Thinking about everything at once.
Money. Work. The future. All of it.
Then I heard it.
“Dad.”
Soft. Half-asleep. Not even meant for me.
I got up and checked on her.
She was out. Completely at peace.
And it hit me.
They feel safe here.
In this apartment, built back from nothing.
No furniture at first. No structure. Just figuring it out day by day.
And now this.
A quiet room. A steady place.
That one word cut through everything else.
Not the noise in my head.
Just that.
Dad.