April 2nd, XXXX.
He stood there, looking at me like I was some kind of foreign bug that had been squished on his doorstep. It was cold and wet and all I wanted was to get out of the rain, but he was too shell-shocked to even let me in. Sure, I didn't look much like him, with his short brown hair and his light brown eyes. I took after my mother more with my long dark hair and creepy lavender eyes.
I shifted my weight to my right foot and pulled my scarf up a bit higher, trying to make myself warmer in my worn London trench coat and the jeans in bad need of repairs. He blinked and finally seemed to realize how rude he was being. Opening the door further, he asked me in and I gratefully accepted, shaking the rain water off my newsboy cap before hanging it on a peg with my jacket.
He sat on a conveniently placed couch and I on the chair across the coffee table from him. His fingers twitched and his arms shook as we stared at each other. He seemed very nervous and more than a bit surprised. I, on the other hand, was a bit too busy trying to breathe some warmth into my fingers to be twitchy.
"S-so you're my d-d-daughter?" He asked, stumbling over his words in a rush to get them out. I nodded and handed him a letter my mother had written. It still smelled like her perfume despite the long boat ride in my bag. He took it in his shaking fingers and read through it. I didn't know what it said because I hadn't read it. It was addressed to him, not me.
"Mum said you should remember her from the Sevii Islands," I told him, trying to say them clearly in my too thick accent. "She said you and a colleague were there for research on migratory habits of certain Pokémon." He nodded like he wasn't paying much attention to what I was saying, entirely absorbed in the letter. I picked at the neck of my turtleneck and waited for him to respond.
"Yes. Fortune Island, wasn't it?" I nodded. "What happened to June?" I winced and choked back tears.
"She had been sick for a while and we couldn't get help in the islands. There aren't any up to date hospitals out there and we couldn't afford the boat fare to get to an actual hospital in Kanto. She died a month ago…" His face softened and he set the letter on the table. I didn't want him to see my fingers tremble, so I threaded them together and set them in my lap.
"I'm sorry, Avery. If I had known-"
"How could you?" I cut him off. "Mum didn't even know she was pregnant until you were gone. It's not like she thought to keep your number or your address to send you notification." He seemed a bit stunned. Not many would expect such words from a child. Losing a parent had made me grow up a bit faster than other ten-year-olds. Mum always said I was too smart for my own good.
"That doesn't excuse the fact I wasn't there for you," he said, shaking his head. "But I want you to know I can be here for you now. I guess, since you're my daughter and all, I finally have use for the extra bedroom." He laughed a bit and pulled himself off the couch. I stared at the hand he offered me. Was it really that easy? He wanted to take me in that quickly?
"You mean it?" I asked, expecting for him to reject me. He smiled and adjusted the glasses on his nose.
"Of course. I owe you a great debt for not being there." I accepted his hand and he pulled me off the chair. I threw my arms around his middle, startling him by the way his muscles tensed. But he relaxed and hugged me back, enveloping me in his white lab coat. "Welcome home, Avery Elm."