Aria was quiet for a long moment. "What if he really has changed? What if he's genuinely different now and I'm the one being paranoid and unfair?"
"Then you'll figure that out when you meet him. But Aria...." He tilted her face up so he could look at her directly. "....trusting your instincts isn't paranoia. If something feels off when you meet him, if he says or does anything that makes you uncomfortable, you listen to that. You don't owe him anything just because he's your biological father."
"I know that logically. But emotionally...." She paused, searching for words. "There's this part of me that's curious. That wants to know where I came from. That wants to understand the other half of my DNA. Is that stupid?"
