The pair of them strolled, hand in hand, along the beach. The daughter looked up thoughtfully, opened her mouth as if to speak, and closed it again in frustration. She watched the waves, then the seagulls, and finally looked up to the sky, with that thoughtful look still shining in her eyes. Her father smiled, he could feel a question approaching.

'Daddy?'� she said, twisting her hair around her finger.

'Yes, my darling,'� he replied.

She looked up at him again, 'Will you always love me?'�

He was quiet for a while. The instant reply that any other loving father would have given to their daughter, would have been, yes, darling, I will always love you. It was on the tip of his tongue, because he was just like any other loving father, however, he did not have just any other daughter. She was a girl who he knew, with absolute certainty, would not be satisfied with a simple yes. So he thought, for a long time. The waves washed two pairs of footprints from the shore, a salty wind whipped across their faces, the seagulls squawked in their flocks, and still the father thought. As he did so, his grip on the tiny soft hand folded inside his own never loosened, and the large, innocent blue eyes never strayed away from his face.

He finally spoke, 'One day... a long time from now when you're a lot older, you will sincerely believe in your heart, that I have stopped loving you.'�

She looked at him doubtfully, but he just smiled.

'Then maybe you'll remember this day on the beach, when you were little enough to hold daddy's hand. You'll remember what I said.'� He squeezed her hand, and smiled at her confused look. 'When the world makes perfect sense, that's when I'll stop loving you.'�

She looked completely unimpressed, as he had known she would. She grinned cheekily, 'When you make perfect sense, daddy, that's when I'll stop loving you.'�

He laughed and grabbed her around the waist, and then he swung her into his arms.

'By the way..." She cupped her hands over his ear and whispered, "that means never.'�

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