My daughter looked at me with much suspicion. Yes, I was here biological father and I suppose I could be trusted? But to a new born, entering the world at less than thirty seconds old, I was the very first person that she saw.

Who knows what she thinking or what she was feeling for that matter? To ask her now, what that look was all about, is like asking my daughter to digress under self- hypnosis and if she could channel herself back to the time when she had just left her mother's womb, would there be the words, for her to describe her experience?

As the years went by, I began to answer some questions myself; When ever I looked at my daughter, I could almost piece together a string of insights that would lead me closer to the answer I sought. At times I got fleeting glimpses, only to have them washed away by the weather of every day thought.

Somewhere beneath our thoughts, there was a silent chattering of distant voices. Perhaps they were from another world or even from our subconscious minds? Time would tell and the answers may lead to our purpose, here together on this earth, or it maybe a stepping stone to the next?

My daughter was a natural artist and I would pose for her some afternoons, sitting in my reclining chair with the cat. She got to study me and put me on canvas! Perhaps she was trying to capture her very first sight? A vison of me, inquisitive as to know who this person is, that shares a bond and the person that witnessed her arrival into this world.

The look prevails, that same look and now she is twenty one years old. My daughter is an artist now! She paints things that are in front of her but she does it from an entirely different perspective than most. She likes to paint on a very small scale, sometimes almost microscopic! Perhaps, she too, is trying to find that same answer herself? Perhaps, she is trying to capture that very first sight and feeling, that we both witnessed, thirty seconds into her life?

My daughter and I share a common humor; Her's is just as sick as mine and mine is a little sharper. We are definitely bonded and I think that somewhere within that bond, lies our answer; For me to be present at her birth, was probably something preordained? Maybe she hadn't been briefed before her arrival and that was the look on her face! It was a look of inquiry, suspicion, mistrust and wariness!

Or, perhaps the future had been mapped out for her at that time? Maybe she had been briefed by the good Lord and forewarned of me? That first look, was certainly not that of innocence, as there was a wise old knowing look in those big dark brown eyes!

Through this life together and since the day of her birth, I have come to realize, that we both share that same day together; We have always shared it and always will and even though we both don't know why, at this point of time, we will always be guessing and moving closer to our answers. Hers maybe different than mine, but at least, it will always be a very common ground and some day, we will be able to talk about it.

For me, this life too, is a life of learning and even if my interpretation of what I saw, on that day of my daughter's birth, was something other than what I witnessed then, I feel that she is closer to the answer than I. You see, she came into this world from innocense and I had already lived a quarter of a century, plus.

We love each other deeply and we are here to help each-other find our truths and even though I am her father, I feel that although I have led my life differently, due to my circumstances, she maybe the one to teach me, what that look really was all about, as she may have had the purest insight and heart of all?

Learn more about this author, Jon Coe.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Short stories: Birth?
We want to hear your view. Write now!