The applause grew louder.
Mason jumped beside me, waving his homemade poster.
“That’s my dad! That’s my dad!”
Mr. Halvorson finished reading Kaylee’s achievements, then stepped away from the scorer’s table.
He walked toward Travis and handed him the microphone.
My husband looked terrified.
Travis was a quiet man who preferred working with farmers to speaking in front of crowds.
Now hundreds of people were watching him.
He raised the microphone.
His hand trembled.
“My name is Travis Brandt,” he began. “I’ve been Kaylee’s stepfather for nine years.”
He paused.
“Tuesday night, she asked me to walk her onto this court. And I told her no.”
The room became silent.
“I told her that honor belonged to real fathers.”
He glanced down.
“I thought I was respecting a place that belonged to somebody else. I’ve spent nine years worrying that I didn’t have the right to call myself her dad.”
Then he turned toward Kaylee.
