Every father dreads the day his daughter has her heart broken.
Fathers everywhere warn teenage boys not to hurt their little girls, and they pace around silently when it eventually happens. They watch tears fall and shuffle around awkwardly. They seethe and sulk, and swear they’ll show them what a real man is.
But what happens to a little girl when her first broken heart comes before she’s even fallen in love?
By now, we all know about the cheating saga between Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson, which came only days before Khloe gave birth to her first child.
While Khloe was sat in their Cleveland home, waiting to welcome their baby girl, Tristan was photographed with another woman in New York. This was the first of many reveals.
On Wednesday, Khloe went into labour.
Rumours are rife that Khloe has forgiven Tristan for the sake of their child, despite the evidence stacked against him. Some are calling Khloe weak, convinced he’ll continue with his affairs.
While some sources claim that Khloe is already planning her move back to Los Angeles, where she can raise her child with her family.
The majority of us are screaming “Leave him, sis!” at our Twitter feeds, or hoping that Kris Jenner takes him down in the way only a momager could. Many of us text our friends, GIF-ing our way through our rage and heartache for poor Khloe.
Others have pointed out that Beyonce took Jay back, and that Cardi B forgave Offset. So why are we being so hard on Khloe for embracing forgiveness, assuming she has done?
Either way, people have opinions.
We can only imagine Khloe’s confusion right now, as she celebrates the birth of her long awaited first born, whilst grappling with the devastation of betrayal.
We don’t know what we would do in her situation, even if we think we do. Most of us like to think we would declare all men as trash, grab our belongings and raise our child solo. We would like to think we would leave a man who had committed the most brutal of betrayals. Most of us think we know what we deserve, and it certainly isn’t that.
Yes, people can change.
However, Tristan’s past seems to show a repeated pattern of behaviour. It’s one that is unlikely to dissolve, no matter how hard Khloe tries.
For argument’s sake, let’s say the couple works past this and they happily raise their child as a unit.
Their little girl will never not know about this.
The social media spectacle of the scandal will be preserved, and the life of a child celebrity means no escaping the media circus. While the Kardashian-Jenner clan are the ringleaders of the show, they only have so much control, and they still walk a tightrope of tabloid speculation.
One day, that baby girl will become a little girl. A little girl with friends, class mates, and probably an iPhone.
Eventually, she will know.
Little girls are born with big hearts, and hers will have been broken long before she ever realised it.
Parents are people, and they do their best. I’m sure both parents will try to do right by their newborn, and I’m sure they’ll try to protect her.
They’ll try to protect her from a broken family, from the Kardashian rumour mill, and from the girls and boys who’ll bruise her heart.
For Tristan, his daughter’s first broken heart came from him- the one person Khloe couldn’t protect her from. It will never fully repair.
Image – @khloekardashian
