Chapter 3 I Wonder When I Will Be Able to Say That You Are My Stepdaughter

I Wonder When I Will Be Able to Say That You Are My Stepdaughter

My daughter, Satsuki, sat on my lap and laughed.

“Ehehe~ Daddy, I love you~”

She was crying a moment ago, but I don’t see any trace of that now. This girl. She has such a changeable expression.

She has turned 16 years old, but I feel that her personality is still childish, as well as her appearance.

Maybe that’s why Satsuki keeps saying things like, “I’m going to marry my dad.” Well, when she becomes more mature, she’ll probably stop saying things like that… I’ve believed that since junior high school, but it hasn’t gotten any better.

“Daddy loved me too, right?”

“Y-yes. There is no doubt that I loved you, but…”

“Then give me your autograph~”

I said no before.

But Satsuki still doesn’t seem to have given up.

She holds the marriage registration in her hands and offers it to me.

It’s as easy as handing me a printout she got at school.

“Satsuki… You know Daddy loves you.”

“Really! Ehehe~ Thank you.”

My cute daughter. She smiles and pursues her lips shyly.

I don’t want to lose that smile.

I want to confirm everything this girl says, do everything she wants, and make her happy.

But spoiling her is not the only way to raise a child.

What’s wrong is wrong. There are times when you need to say it loud and clear.

This is that time.

“I love you, Satsuki, but… I’m sorry, Dad and Satsuki can’t get married.”

It’s heartbreaking. Whenever I deny my daughter, it hurts so much that it tears my heart out.

But I said it out loud! I did my duty as a parent.

“By law, parents are not allowed to marry their children. This is the rule of the world, and we must obey it.”

I remind her as if to admonish her.

I’m glad that Satsuki likes her father.

But this is something that shouldn’t be allowed.

Satsuki will probably get hurt.

Maybe she will cry again. But there is nothing I can do about it.

At least I’ll stay by her side and comfort her until she stops crying. That’s all I can do as a father.

That’s what I thought.

“Mhmm, I guess it can’t help it after all~”

Satsuki was more relaxed than I expected.

“It’s not allowed because of the law, right?”

… Well, if you think about it calmly, it is natural.

This girl is 16 years old. She is a freshman in high school and should know the law.

Yet she dared to write her marriage registration.

I sensed a whiff of artifice here.

“But Dad, you don’t hate me, do you? The reason you refuse to marry me is because ’the law forbids it’, right?”

Satsuki confirms carefully as if she wants to get my confirmation.

Of course, I don’t hate Satsuki. It’s also true that I won’t marry her because the law forbids it.

… is certainly true to her words, but I’m a bit confused.

What the hell is Satsuki trying to say?

“Yes, it’s true, isn’t it???”

Worried, I nodded my head.

Then Satsuki smiled and hugged me.

“So if I change the law, I can marry Dad, right? Because Dad loves me, and I love him! In other words, if the law that hinders us is removed, Daddy will marry me, right?”

That’s a girl’s dream story.

I don’t think it’s possible to change the law.

In fact, even if the law were changed, I have no intention of marrying my daughter. Satsuki is a beautiful girl, and I’m not the right person to marry her, even though I don’t want to accept it as a father.

Satsuki needs to marry someone better than me.

At least I wanted her to be happy with someone who loved her more than me.

As a father, this is a natural wish.

But young Satsuki still dreams.

She will probably face reality one day. There will come a time when she will realize that her father is an ordinary person, that there are many more wonderful men in the world, and that even those men are attractive enough to be admired by her.

…Actually, I probably need to convey that.

But I felt Satsuki was a little too young to tell her something realistic.

She can’t change the law anyway.

There was no way to change it.

So I nodded my head.

“Well, yes. If the law changes, then let’s get married. But if the law doesn’t change, then marry someone other than Daddy. Okay, that’s a promise, okay?”

Saying that, Satsuki nodded with a big smile.

“Okay! Then let’s pinky swear.”

She held out her little pinkie.

Ever since she was little, we’ve always tied our little fingers together when we made promises.

“It’s a promise, Dad!”

“Yes, it’s a promise.”

We tied our little fingers together and made a promise.

Until one day, Satsuki sees reality.

Until she realizes that she can’t marry the wonderful daddy she describes, I’ll let her dream now.

That was the best “spoiling” a father could do.

(But… I can’t say that then…)

I sigh in my heart.

It was her 16th birthday. There was something I really wanted to tell Satsuki, who had grown up.

I wanted to tell her about her mother, of course, but I also wanted to tell her something very important.

(I wanted to tell you that you are my stepdaughter, who is not related to me by blood.)

Satsuki and I are not related by blood.

But I think we are more like parents and children than real parents and children.

I will continue to love you very much to make you happy.

I wanted to tell you that.

But it looks like it’s still on hold.

“Okay. I’ll become a prime minister so I can marry my dad. I’ll change the law and marry you!”

It’s cute when a daughter says innocent things.

I wondered for a moment what would happen if I told her “stepdaughter”.

I’m sure she would… No, let’s not do that.

A father and daughter cannot get married. I just hope she understands that——