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“I don’t know how to be a father,” he said quietly.

“Bullshit,” McKenna countered, with more heat than he usually heard from his mild-mannered daughter.

His brows furrowed in confusion. “Vivian and Pip deserve better than someone who spent most of his life running away from anything even close to resembling a relationship.”

“Did Vivian tell you that you weren’t good enough for her?” McKenna asked.

Dean looked at her, then caught a glimpse of Tank, who was being uncharacteristically quiet during their conversation.

“No. She didn’t say that.”

McKenna tilted her head. “So you decided that on your own. Why do you think you get to make that decision for her?”

“Because I know myself,” Dean insisted.

“No. You know your mistakes,” McKenna replied.

Dean went still.

“You spend so much time looking backward that you’ve convinced yourself the past is the only thing that defines you. You need to turn around, Dad, and start paying attention to what’s in front of you.”

“That’s true,” Tank agreed, speaking softly.

“I was an oopsie baby,” McKenna went on. “You and Mom weren’t in love, weren’t in a committed relationship. You were two people who made a mistake.”

“One that turned out to be pretty damn spectacular,” Tank interjected.

McKenna glanced over at her fiancé and grinned before turning her attention back to Dean. “I’m not sure how to make you understand, because I’ve said this before and you seem unwilling to hear me. So this time, I’m going to speak very slowly.”

Tank chuckled. “Oh man, I know that tone. You’re in for it now, Coach.”

McKenna ignored her fiancé and carried on. “Believe me when I say that my life was the absolute bomb. I had a great mom, a safe home, food on the table, clothes in the closet, and all the latest tech, thanks to the money you provided and those over-the-top birthday gifts. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Because now…I have you too.”

Dean’s eyes glistened, his vision going slightly fuzzy. “Kenny,” he said, his voice choked up.

Now that she’d started, there was no stopping his daughter. “Past decisions don’t stop you from being a good parent now. The fact that you’re so afraid of failing Vivian and Pip should prove just how much you care about them.”

He looked at her for a long moment. “I do care for them.”

McKenna shifted on the couch, moving close enough that she could reach out for his hand. His fingers curled around hers.

“You’re a good man, fully capable of love and having a family.” She hesitated. “But hearing that from me isn’t enough. You have to believe that yourself. And you have to forgive yourself for the past.”

Dean stared at their linked hands as he considered her advice. He’d spent years believing regret was a form of penance. As long as he carried it, as long as he remembered every mistake he’d made and every person he’d let down—especially Ellie and McKenna—that meant he was taking responsibility.

But was that responsibility? Or was it simply punishment?

“Do you really forgive me?” The question slipped out before he could stop it.

McKenna studied his face. “I’ve never felt like I had anything to forgive you for.”

Dean couldn’t breathe for a second, moved beyond words that she was sitting here, holding his hand, telling him there was nothing to forgive. More than that…she wanted him to walk her down the aisle.

He thought the worst thing was that he’d missed so many years with her. He could see now the worst thing would be wasting the years they have ahead of them on guilt.

His throat tightened. “Thank you, Kenny.”

She rose so that she could bend down and give him a hug. “I love you, Dad.”