A/N: I think this is going to be my last oneshot about Vivienne (probably?) but anyway here we are.

"Dad?"

Henry looked up mildly from his book, observing his eleven year old daughter over his glasses as Vivienne looked inquisitively at him. Her blonde hair framed her face, still every bit a perfect, beautiful mix of her mother and father. Eleven years after Henry had first met her, Vivienne was every bit as smart, savvy, and sharp as her siblings. She was also kind-hearted and had a soft spot for animals of every kind, and she had taken after Elizabeth in many ways, not least of which was her love for horseback riding. As much of a surprise as she had been, and as tumutuous as her infancy had been for their family, they all loved her endlessly, and Henry couldn't imagine their lives without her.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" he asked her now.

"Can I ask you a question?" Vivienne inquired, sounding somewhat hesitant.

"Of course," Henry answered, tugging at the frames of his glasses until they were free of his face so that he could look over at Vivienne and give her his full attention. She looked down at her hands, folded in her lap, and swallowed.

"You know how you weren't here when I was born?" she asked, and Henry forced himself to remain calm, nodding his head.

"Yeah," he answered, still unsure where she was going with this line of questioning.

"Why?" she asked, and Henry's heart fell at that. He'd hoped that she wouldn't come to him with that exact question, and now that she was looking back at him with eyes that were so like his, he could barely breathe. How was he supposed to explain to Vivienne why he hadn't been there for her like he had been for Stevie, Alison, and Jason? Why he hadn't been there for her earliest days or to welcome her to the world? What had been so important that he had missed all of that? And how could he justify it to her when he'd spent all the time since telling her how important she was to him?

"Because the President had asked me to take a mission in the middle east," Henry answered. Vivienne seemed to think about that for a second.

"But why did you take it?" she asked. Henry sighed.

"We didn't know that your mom was pregnant with you when I left," Henry began, "and I felt a duty to my country. It wasn't a decision that was easy for me, or one that I made lightly."

Vivienne was quiet for a moment.

"But even if you didn't know about me, you were still leaving Mom and Stevie and Ali and Jason," she remarked. Henry swallowed hard and nodded.

"I know," he replied. It had been some time since he'd reflected on those six months. It had taken them all a long time to heal from that and now he didn't like to think about it much- now, however, Vivienne was all but forcing him to face those actions all over again.

"So why did you do it? Why was it more important to do that than to be here?" she asked.

Henry sighed. "Truthfully, it wasn't."

"It wasn't more important?"

"No," Henry said. "It wasn't. But at the time I thought that it was. I thought I had a responsibility to help, and I did help. I saved lives. But no, it wasn't more important. I made a mistake when I went instead of staying here, and I'm very lucky that when I got back your mom and your siblings were much kinder than I deserved for them to be." He sighed and leaned forward. "Vivi, I've been trying to make up for that for your entire life, and I will be until the day that I die. But at the same time, everyone does things that they look back and can't even wrap their heads around doing."

Vivienne sat back and there was silence as she seemed to take it all in. Henry waited with bated breath.

"I'm kinda mad at you for it," Vivienne admitted. "But I talked to Stevie about it. And she said that I should consider that you thought you were doing what you had to do."

Henry sent a silent thanks for his eldest child and her relationship with Vivienne.

"So," Vivienne said. "I guess I'm just going to be mad for a little while." She looked up at him, hesitant and childlike.

"Do you think that's okay, to be kind of mad for a little while?" she asked. Henry nodded his head.

"Yeah," he said. "I think that's okay."

"Okay," Vivienne said, and then she stood and walked away, but stopped in the doorway and looked back at him, something about her incredibly like Elizabeth in that moment.

"I love you, Dad," she said, and then she was gone before Henry had a chance to answer.

"I love you too, Vivi," he whispered into the now-empty room, thanking his stars for the millionth time for the gift that was Vivienne.