walk through fire to be part of her life.”
Holding my hands to my chest, I smile sadly, knowing what’s coming.
“She was right about her parents— totally controlling of their only daughter— but when I found out what they went through to get them here, to America, from Turkey, I tried to be understanding.”
I nod.
“I spent two weeks at a hotel, visiting her every day, but they wouldn’t let me take her on my own, even while Beyza was in class and they were at work. So, I sat in a fucking hotel room for twenty hours a day to get a few hours with her at night.
“When I went back to Scotland, I contacted a lawyer, and we came up with a plan. Beyza and I talked every few days, and Kai called me Dada for the first time over Skype. That was a turning point. She blocked my calls for a month after that.
“I’m not too proud to admit I lost it. I pushed my lawyer to get the ball rolling. I wanted visitation. He asked for summers and all future school holidays based on geography; it made the most sense. He explained to me if I asked for the world, I’d be lucky to get a couple weeks.
“When they were served, Beyza called me in tears, with Kai on her lap, crying because she was clearly feeding off her mother’s emotions, and that broke my heart. She promised me Christmas again. I told her that she was more than welcome to bring her parents as well. I paid for the trip and was content.” His fists clench at his sides. “They didn’t show up.”
My heart breaks as I look in his eyes and see the emotions within them, flashing between anger and pain.
“I realized how hard it was to fight a custody battle, and it was now a battle across a literal ocean, so while I got my paperwork together, I flew in once a month to spend maybe three hours a day with her. After six months of that, I moved here.
“Within that year, I saw what Beyza was going through— the push, the pull, the hurt, and the pain. We wanted to do what was right for each of us, but what was best for Kai was most important.
“Somewhere in that timeframe, I’d fallen in massive like for Beyza and made the decision, if through all the shit that had happened, I could easily fall in love with her and do what was best by both of them, I’d ask her to marry me.”
He walks back over and looks like he may want to sit down. When he doesn’t, I pat the spot he sat in previously. He sits and leans against the headboard.
“Her father was insistent that I convert to the Muslim religion, and I told him flat out that I would never be a religious man but have always been quite spiritual. He forbid Beyza to marry me. She moved in the next day.
“Wanting to give her a big wedding, because I know girls dream of that, but also being broke after the thousands of dollars I spent on lawyers, moving to the US, and wanting to surprise her with a home as soon as my place in Scotland sold, it wasn’t possible.
“She begged me to just do the courthouse thing and asked that it be done on a Friday morning when her mother, who she still talked to in secrecy, could attend.
“The night before our secret courthouse nuptials, I was working an overnight at a clinic where I filled in from time to time to make extra money. A patient came in last minute, and I kent I couldn’t get them and to the courthouse in time, so I asked if she thought her mother could pick her and Kai up. She insisted that it was no big deal, that it would probably be the most traditional part of our story.” He scrubs his hand over his face and stands off the bed again.
“When her mother showed up crying, and saw me in the hallway, pacing outside the courtroom, I was terrified something had happened, that her father had somehow gotten to her. But when she begged my forgiveness and asked me to please tell Beyza that she was sorry and that she was here now, that’s when I realized she hadn’t picked her and Kai up, and that’s when I called Beyza’s number and a police officer informed me that there had