I always thought the quiet would feel easier after Mia left\u2014no more arguments or slammed doors\u2014but the silence was overwhelming. The last fight echoed in my mind: Mia, telling me she didn\u2019t need my approval to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not letting you meet my boyfriend, Dad,\u201d she said coldly. \u201cI\u2019m 18, and I\u2019m done letting you control me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angry, I told her to leave if she was going to act like an adult. She did, and the door slammed shut, leaving me shattered. I couldn\u2019t understand why she was so ungrateful after all I\u2019d done for her.<\/p>\n
Weeks later, I passed a caf\u00e9 and heard her laughter. I froze when I saw her with Joshua, my best friend of 20 years. My heart raced with anger. Joshua, a married man, was sitting too close to her.<\/p>\n
I stormed in. \u201cMia, are you pregnant? What about him? Is he the guy I told you not to meet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad, please,\u201d Mia begged. \u201cIt\u2019s not what you think.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joshua stood defensively, but my anger only grew. I blamed him for betraying me, and in the chaos, he stumbled and hit his head. The caf\u00e9 fell silent as Mia called for help. Later, in the hospital, Mia explained that the baby wasn\u2019t Joshua\u2019s; it was from a relationship with a guy named Dylan who had left her. Joshua had supported her when I had pulled away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Mia,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"