“But why didn’t you write before that?” I press. “Or try to find me?”

My father looks surprised. “How do you know I didn’t?” he asks.

“Did you?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Star, I never stopped loving you,” he says. “You have to know that. I never stopped wondering where you were.”

“So you tried to get in touch with me before you started writing me the letters every month?” I can’t help it.

“Hey, I’m your old man, aren’t I?” he says with a smile. “What do you think?”

“So you did?” I ask. It’s like we’re speaking two different languages.

“Of course, Star,” he says “Hey, listen. Before I forget. I got you something.”

He digs in his pants pocket for a minute and pulls out a little box.

“For me?” I ask. I look at it incredulously; then I look back up at him. “You got me a present?”

My dad shrugs.

“Can’t a father spoil his little girl without it being a big deal?” he asks with a grin.

“I don’t even know what to say,” I begin, feeling emotional all of a sudden.

“Just open it, Star,” my dad says. I nod and gently pull off the ribbon, then the wrapping paper. Inside is a little black jewelry box. I slowly crack it open and see a little silver letter M hanging on a silver chain.

“M?” I ask my dad. He smiles.

“For Mecham,” he says. “Your real last name. To remind you that you’re one of us again.”

I can feel tears well in my eyes as he helps me put it on.

“It’s beautiful, Dad,” I say. I realize it’s the first time I’ve called him that to his face since I was a kid. It feels weird. But it also feels right.

I think back to that day in Tiffany’s with my mom, and reach up and touch the necklace. “It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever given me.”

I have to work the dinner shift at the restaurant that night. It feels weird to still be working there now that I’ve found my dad. I guess I visualized this all going differently. I imagined that the moment I found him, he would welcome me back into his life—and his home—with open arms. But, I remind myself, I wanted normal, right? And most normal teenage girls have jobs. Besides, I like the people at D’Angelo’s. I like that I know how to do this now. I like that I’m not a terrible waitress. And yeah, I like that I get to see Nick pretty much every time I’m here.