I brought Emmalyn to the hospital a few days later. Alder was dozing when we arrived. I let Emmalyn sit on the chair and I stood. We waited for Alder to wake up.

Alder awoke with a smile. He noticed us. "Sully! Papillon!" He said happily. He caught my eye. Not today, not soon, give me time, I sent him with my look.

Sully, we've discussed this, he sent back, frowning. She deserves to know.

I know Alder, I'm still conflicted on the matter. I want to wait until she asks me herself. That way I don't have to bring it up. Just thinking of how I'm gonna say it makes me nervous.

I suppose you're right, his gaze answered. Just, don't leave it for a long time.

"Father? Dad?" Emmalyn asked, breaking our silent conversation. Our daughter was looking between us, clearly feeling awkward within the silence.

"Yes, Em?" I asked. She looked at me, expression changing to one of fear. Guilt rose from my gut. I wasn't going to tell her until I was ready, until she was ready, until she wanted to know.

"Nothing, you two were zoning out and were silent for a while. I got nervous," she replied shyly. Her blue green gaze was dark with nervousness. "Almost like you're hiding something from me." I visibly flinched causing Alder to answer.

"It's nothing you won't learn in time," he said. "Just let it slide for now. It will become clear in near future."

"Oh... well, okay then," she murmured. She looked at Alder, smiling shyly. "Do... you wanna hear about the production my school is putting on?"

Alder brightened and he answered," Sure!" With a slight cough. Emmalyn's smile grew less shy.

"Obviously we'll censor it a bit. I'll give you a hint," she paused and took a breath. "He will never be satisfied," she sang, and she clearly felt shy about it, as she was blushing slightly.

Alder's attempt to stay indifferent about the announcement failed as his eyes widened and a borderline fanboying grin grew on his face. "You are not doing Hamilton. No way," he sounded incredulous.

Emmalyn nodded, shyly replying, "U-Um... yes way.." I was just merely smiling.

"Oh my God!" Alder's voice squeaked with excitement. This caused Emmalyn to blink.

"Yeah... I-I was thinking of maybe... y'know..."

"Auditioning?" Alder suggested. He appeared to be calming down. I watched them silently, thoughts of telling her fading away to nothing.

"Yeah," Emmalyn admitted. "But I'm scared... I've never sung in front of people before, what if they think I'm bad?"

"You'll do great!" Alder said, reassuringly. He was grinning. "Who do you want to try out for?" I could practically hear his thoughts of possible roles he thought would suit her. Elizabeth, Angelica, Peggy? I could almost hear it.

Emma ran a hand through her honey blonde curly hair and seemed to become less nervous. "Probably either Elizabeth or Angelica," she answered. I smiled. Alder regarded our daughter for a moment as if picturing her in Eliza's blue or Angelica's sort of peach colour.

"I could see you as either," he said eventually after thinking for about 30 seconds. "You have a strong singing voice." This caused Emmalyn to turn bright red.

"D-Dad!" She shouted, stammering. This caused Alder and I to start chuckling. Emmalyn had crossed her arms, was pouting and clearly embarrassed, if the blush didn't tell you as much.

"It's true!" Alder said.

"Then how come I don't think so?" She fired back. Alder smirked.

"Maybe you should ask yourself that and reflect on it a bit," he answered. This could be a chance for Emmalyn to finally come out of her shell.

"I've never sung in front of people before," she repeated, looking shy again.

"You should. I've heard you sing, and you've got one of the best voices I've ever heard." This caused Emmalyn to blush again and this time looked at the floor. I decided to give my opinion, having been silent for a while.

"It's true," I said. " Your rendition of Requiem was one of the best covers I'd heard."

"Agreed." This only made Emma's blush darker. Alder chuckled. "I had to deal with him," he paused pointing a finger at me, "constantly complimenting my singing voice, too." His tone was lighthearted. "You get used to it." I felt myself blush at the memory. It was true though, Alder's voice is angelic... it was a voice that could belong in a Broadway musical, in my opinion. So was our daughter's. Musically, I was the short end of the stick in our little family. My singing voice was soft and had a tendency to squeak, like if you hit a wrong high note on a violin or ukulele. Or maybe even a classical or electric guitar. All in all, my singing voice was bad. Like a lot.

That didn't stop me from singing out loud to my favourite songs with my husband though.