Little Did He Know

William sat comfortably in the plush green easy chair. Outside his two daughters threw leaves at each other wildly, strewing across the yard hours of work. He laughed. They had just returned home from school as the air began to chill in that delicious way only Fall can muster. He watched them roll about in what was left of the piles and his mind began to wander.
Two years. It was two years since he last looked into the eyes of the only woman he had ever loved. Yet he saw her everywhere. The old wound throbbed as he saw her in his daughters. It was unfair. Everything about her from her rosy cheeks to her carefree demeanor seemed to concentrate itself in the two girls. Sometimes he could not bear to look at them. He closed his pained eyes as they began to tear and massaged his temples. When he opened his eyes the girls were gone. Panic briefly flared in his chest when he heard the sound of sneakers against the old wooden floors.
"Daddy?"
He stood up, rubbing his eyes with his hand.
"Girls, I'm in here,"
The two girls rushed into the livingroom, each one attacking one of his legs with a hug. He picked them both up with a loud kiss, causing them to giggle.
"I am so glad to see you two!," He said, "How was school?"
"Stupid," The younger girl said sullenly.
She had just started first grade two months before.
Her sister laughed. "You always say that, El,"
William set the girls down in his chair and crouched down in front of them.
"What made it so bad today, sweetheart?" He asked.
She crossed her arms and looked away from him.
"Johnny stole my blocks!"
Just like her mother, the girl's face took on a horrendously funny expression when she was cross. Her bushy eyebrows furrowed angrily and her chin bulged from frowning harder than what William thought possible. He could not help but smile.
Realizing her story was becoming trivialized, El became furious and her face adopted the unfortunate expression with a new found vigor. The other two burst into violent fits of laughter.
William was unable to keep himself upright as his daughter pleaded for their attention.
"It's not funny, Daddy!" She cried, somewhere between purple rage and hot angry tears. As William rolled about on the floor he suddenly felt a familiar sensation. Lightning bolts of pain raced through his left arm and he cried out in anguish. The pain ceded and the room became very still. William opened his eyes to see his daughters' tear-stained faces wailing above.
He inhaled slowly and exhaled for the last time.