Updated Apr 16, 2026 • ~14 min read
Chapter 17: The Question
Luna
Luna is braiding Sofia’s hair on Wednesday morning, getting her ready for daycare and running through the mental checklist of everything they need to accomplish before leaving—shoes, backpack, water bottle, the picture Sofia drew for her friend Emma that absolutely cannot be forgotten or there will be tears—when her daughter asks the question that Luna has been simultaneously dreading and anticipating for weeks.
“Mama, is Matti my daddy?”
Luna’s hands freeze mid-braid, her heart stopping completely in her chest because this is it, this is the moment she’s been preparing for and avoiding in equal measure, the question that changes everything regardless of how she answers it.
“Why do you ask that, baby?” Luna manages, stalling for time while her brain frantically tries to figure out the right response, the answer that’s honest but age-appropriate, that doesn’t confuse or upset Sofia but also doesn’t perpetuate the lie that’s been protecting all of them.
“Emma at daycare has a daddy who picks her up sometimes,” Sofia explains with the simple logic of a three-year-old making connections. “And he plays with her and reads her stories and stays for dinner sometimes. Like Matti does with me. So I thought maybe Matti is my daddy but we just didn’t tell me yet.”
The perceptiveness of the observation makes Luna’s chest ache because Sofia is right—Matthias has been functioning as her father for three months, present in all the ways that matter, and the only thing missing is the official acknowledgment of that relationship, the confirmation that would make reality match what Sofia is clearly already feeling.
“Would you like him to be?” Luna asks carefully, because this has to be Sofia’s choice as much as anyone’s, has to be something she wants instead of something the adults impose on her.
“Yes!” Sofia says immediately, her face lighting up with uncomplicated enthusiasm that doesn’t account for how complicated this actually is. “Emma at daycare has a daddy. I want one too! And I like Matti. He’s nice and he plays trains and he does funny voices for stories.”
“He is nice,” Luna agrees, and she can feel tears starting to burn at the back of her eyes because this is what she’s wanted for Sofia since before she was born—a father who’s present and engaged and chooses to be involved instead of being forced through legal obligation or social expectation, and Matthias has proven over three months that he can be that father, that he wants to be.
“So Matti is my daddy?” Sofia presses, clearly wanting confirmation rather than hypotheticals.
“I need to talk to Matti first,” Luna says, finishing the braid and securing it with Sofia’s favorite purple hair tie. “But yes, baby. Matti is your daddy. We just haven’t told you yet because we wanted to make sure you knew him first, that you were comfortable with him before we explained.”
“I’m comfortable,” Sofia announces with the confidence of someone who’s made a major life decision. “I want to call him Daddy instead of Matti. Can I?”
“Let me talk to him first,” Luna repeats, her mind already spinning through logistics—when to have this conversation with Matthias, how to tell Sofia officially, what it means for their family dynamic that Sofia is actively asking for this instead of the adults having to convince her. “Maybe this weekend, we’ll all talk together, and you can tell him you want to call him Daddy. Would that be okay?”
“Okay,” Sofia agrees easily, and then she’s moving on to asking about breakfast and whether they can have pancakes (it’s Wednesday, they definitely don’t have time for pancakes), apparently satisfied now that she’s gotten the answer she wanted and unconcerned about the earthquake this question has triggered in Luna’s carefully balanced world.
Luna texts Matthias as soon as she drops Sofia at daycare, her hands still shaking slightly from the morning’s conversation:
*Luna: She asked if you’re her dad. Can you come over tonight? We need to talk.*
The response comes back within two minutes:
*Matthias: What did you say?*
*Luna: I said I’d talk to you. We should tell her. Together.*
There’s a longer pause before the next message, and Luna can imagine Matthias staring at his phone in his office, processing what this means, the monumental shift from “Matti, Mama’s friend” to “Daddy.”
*Matthias: Really? You think she’s ready?*
*Luna: She’s asking for it. She wants to call you Daddy. Matthias, you’ve proven yourself. You’re her father. She should know.*
*Matthias: I’ll be there at 7. After she goes to bed? Or should we tell her tonight?*
Luna has to really think about that, has to weigh Sofia’s obvious eagerness against the need to do this carefully, thoughtfully, in a way that makes Sofia feel included in the decision instead of just informed of a fact.
*Luna: After she goes to bed. We’ll talk about how to tell her, do it together this weekend maybe. Let her have time to process and ask questions.*
*Matthias: Okay. See you at 7. And Luna – thank you. For trusting me with this.*
Luna spends the entire workday distracted, barely able to focus on the reports she’s supposed to be reviewing (she took Matthias’s offer of a transfer and now works in a different department of Wolfe Industries, same building but different floor, professional relationship safely separated from personal), her mind consumed with thoughts of tonight’s conversation and what it means and how their lives are about to change in fundamental ways.
Carmen calls during lunch, somehow sensing that something major is happening, and Luna tells her about Sofia’s question and the decision to officially tell her that Matthias is her father.
“Are you ready for this?” Carmen asks, not judgment just genuine concern. “For him to be officially ‘Daddy’ instead of just ‘guy who visits sometimes’?”
“I don’t think I have a choice,” Luna admits. “Sofia wants this. And he’s earned it. Carmen, you should see him with her. He’s so patient and present and genuinely engaged. He’s not babysitting his own kid, he’s actively parenting. He’s read every parenting book I’ve ever heard of and implements the strategies. He remembers her routines and her preferences. He’s just… good at this.”
“And how do you feel about him?” Carmen presses, because she always cuts through Luna’s deflection to the heart of things. “Not as Sofia’s father. As a man. As the guy you fell for four years ago.”
“I never stopped falling,” Luna whispers, the admission feeling both terrifying and liberating. “I was angry and hurt and I tried to convince myself I was over him, but Carmen, watching him with Sofia these past three months… I’m falling all over again. Harder this time. Because now I know he’s not just charming and successful, he’s also kind and patient and willing to do the work even when it’s hard.”
“Are you going to tell him that?” Carmen asks.
“I don’t know,” Luna says honestly. “Maybe. Eventually. First we need to tell Sofia he’s her father and navigate that transition. Then maybe… maybe we can figure out what we are to each other beyond co-parents.”
“Luna,” Carmen says seriously. “Sofia deserves to know her father. But you deserve to be happy too. Don’t sacrifice your own happiness to make everyone else comfortable.”
The words stay with Luna all afternoon, echoing through her mind as she works through emails and meetings and conference calls that feel increasingly meaningless compared to the conversation waiting for her tonight.
Matthias arrives at exactly seven o’clock, looking nervous in a way Luna has rarely seen from him, and Sofia’s greeting is so enthusiastically affectionate—throwing herself at his legs for a hug and chattering about her day at daycare—that Matthias’s eyes go slightly shiny with emotion before he composes himself.
They go through the normal evening routine—dinner together (spaghetti that Sofia eats surprisingly well for a child who usually fights vegetables), playtime (building blocks tonight, Sofia insisting that Matthias help her make “the tallest tower ever”), and then bedtime stories with Matthias handling reading duties while Luna cleans up the kitchen.
When Matthias emerges from Sofia’s room twenty minutes later, closing the door to its carefully calibrated not-quite-closed position, Luna has coffee ready and is sitting on the couch trying not to spiral into anxiety about this conversation.
“She’s asleep,” Matthias reports unnecessarily, sitting on the opposite end of the couch—they’ve been maintaining careful distance lately, both of them aware that proximity is dangerous, that the attraction between them hasn’t diminished despite all the logical reasons it should have.
“She asked me this morning if you were her daddy,” Luna says, deciding to just launch into the conversation instead of dancing around it. “Said Emma at daycare has a daddy who does things with her, and you do things with Sofia, so she figured you must be her daddy too.”
“That’s…” Matthias pauses, searching for words, and his voice is rough when he continues. “That’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard. What did you tell her?”
“I asked if she’d like you to be her daddy,” Luna says. “She said yes. Enthusiastically. So I told her that yes, you are her father, but that we hadn’t told her yet because we wanted her to get to know you first. She wants to call you Daddy instead of Matti.”
Matthias makes a sound that’s not quite a sob, his hand coming up to cover his mouth, and Luna can see him fighting for composure, overwhelmed by the enormity of this moment.
“She wants to call me Daddy,” he repeats, like he’s testing out the words, making sure they’re real.
“She does,” Luna confirms. “Matthias, you’ve been her father for three months in every way that matters. The only thing missing was the official title. I think it’s time we give it to her.”
“How do we do this?” Matthias asks, and Luna appreciates that he’s asking for collaboration instead of assuming he knows best. “How do we tell her officially? Make it special?”
“I was thinking this weekend,” Luna suggests. “Saturday maybe. We sit down together, the three of us, and we explain that Matti and Daddy are the same thing, that you’re her father and you love her very much. Keep it simple and age-appropriate, let her ask questions, make sure she knows nothing has to change unless she wants it to.”
“Okay,” Matthias agrees, nodding slowly. “Saturday. The three of us together. And Luna—” he pauses, his grey eyes intense when they meet hers across the couch. “Thank you. For giving me this chance. For trusting me enough to let me be her father officially. I know I didn’t earn that trust easily.”
“You showed up,” Luna says simply. “Every single time you said you would. You read parenting books and learned her routines and adapted to her needs instead of expecting her to adapt to yours. You proved you were serious. That’s not easy to do, Matthias. Especially for someone who’s had his entire life upended by the discovery of a child.”
“She’s not an upheaval,” Matthias says seriously. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Both of you are.”
The inclusion of “both of you” makes Luna’s breath catch because it’s an acknowledgment of what’s been building between them, the chemistry and connection that goes beyond just co-parenting, and suddenly the carefully maintained distance feels unbearable.
“Matthias—” Luna starts, not sure what she’s about to say but needing to acknowledge this thing between them.
“I’m in love with you,” Matthias interrupts, the confession tumbling out like he’s been holding it back for weeks and can’t contain it anymore. “I know this is complicated, I know we’re supposed to be focused on Sofia, I know you probably don’t feel the same way—but Luna, I can’t keep pretending that being near you doesn’t affect me, that I’m only here for Sofia when the truth is I want to be here for both of you, that I want Saturday mornings and bedtime stories and everything in between with you, not just custody arrangements and coordinated schedules.”
Luna’s heart is pounding so hard she’s sure Matthias can hear it, her mind racing through four years of history and three months of rebuilt trust and the undeniable pull she’s been trying to ignore for weeks now.
“I’m scared,” Luna admits, because honesty seems like the only option when Matthias has just laid his heart out so completely. “You hurt me once, even if you didn’t mean to. What if I let you in and you leave again? What if Sofia gets attached to having you here every day and then something changes and she loses you?”
“I’m not leaving,” Matthias says, and he moves then, crosses the couch to sit right next to her, close enough that Luna can feel the heat of him, can see the absolute certainty in his eyes. “I will prove that to you every single day for the rest of our lives if that’s what it takes. Luna, I didn’t choose to fall in love with you four years ago, it just happened. And I didn’t choose to fall in love with you again these past three months—or maybe I never stopped, maybe that love just got buried under hurt and miscommunication and fear. But I’m choosing you now. Actively. Deliberately. I’m choosing you and Sofia and the possibility of us being a real family.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” Luna whispers, voicing her deepest fear. “What if we try and it’s a disaster and then Sofia has to watch her parents fall apart?”
“Then we work harder,” Matthias says simply. “We go to counseling, we communicate, we fight for it instead of giving up. Because Luna, I already know what it’s like to live without you, and I don’t want to do it anymore. I want messy and complicated and real instead of careful and distant and safe.”
Luna looks at him—really looks at him, cataloging the hope and fear and love written across his face, the vulnerability of someone who’s just admitted everything and is waiting to find out if he’ll be accepted or rejected—and she makes a decision.
“Okay,” Luna says, and it comes out breathless. “Okay, let’s try. Let’s see if we can be more than just Sofia’s parents.”
Matthias’s smile is blinding, transforming his entire face from controlled CEO to openly joyful man, and then he’s reaching for her, pulling her into his arms like he’s been waiting months for permission to touch her, and Luna goes willingly, melting into his embrace and breathing in the familiar scent of him that still makes her feel safe.
“I’m still scared,” Luna admits against his chest.
“Me too,” Matthias confesses. “But I’d rather be scared with you than safe without you.”
They sit there for a long time, just holding each other, and Luna lets herself imagine what it might be like—not coordinated custody but actual family, not scheduled visits but coming home to each other every day, not careful distance but choosing each other repeatedly and building something permanent.
Saturday they’ll tell Sofia that Matthias is her father.
And maybe—terrifying and hopeful in equal measure—they’ll start building toward the day when they can tell her he’s not just Daddy but also Mama’s partner, that they’re a real family in every sense of the word.
But for tonight, this is enough.
This embrace.
This admission.
This choice to try.
Everything else can wait for tomorrow.
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