[Verse 1]
Met your mom on a Tuesday
Thought she was the story
Then two small shadows
Ran laughing right through me
Spaghetti on the table
Cartoons way too loud
I learned your favorite color
Before I learned your hometown
[Chorus]
I fell in love with your kids first
Tiny hands tugging on my shirt
Didn’t know my heart could stretch that far
I’m not here to fix the hurt
Not here to rewrite every word
I know I’m stepping in on fragile truth
There were no shoes here to fill
So I’ll bring my own shoes
[Verse 2]
First time you called me by my name
But you slipped and called me “dad”
You froze there in the hallway
Like you’d done something bad
I just knelt down on the carpet
Said
“You can call me what you choose
I’m just grateful for the honor
Of walking next to you”
[Chorus]
I fell in love with your kids first
Tiny hands tugging on my shirt
Didn’t know my heart could stretch that far
I’m not here to fix the hurt
Not here to rewrite every word
I know I’m stepping in on fragile truth
There were no shoes here to fill
So I’ll bring my own shoes
[Bridge]
I can’t be a photograph
That never showed up in the frame
Can’t be years you never had
Or a stranger’s last name
But I can show up for your birthdays
For the bad dreams and the flu
I can stand there at the doorway
Saying
“I’m not leaving you” (oh no)
[Chorus]
I fell in love with your kids first
Every scraped knee
Every word
Every “are you coming back?” I do
I’m not here to take his place
Just to guard this little space
Where your hearts can rest and bloom
There were no shoes here to fill
So I brought my own shoes
Yeah
I’ll walk my whole life through
In these shoes
For you