And instead of staying and fighting beside us, he had run away.
But everything changed on the day he learned that, months later, Ben had been diagnosed too.
He couldn’t believe that he had abandoned his sick daughter, and while he was hiding from his own fear, his son had become sick as well.
Chris wrote:
I realized that the worst thing in the world isn’t being afraid of losing your children. The worst thing is not being there when they need you most.
I immediately called my father.
“You knew?”
There was a long silence on the other end.
“Yes.”
“How could you hide this from me?”
My father took a heavy breath.
“Because the children wanted to see the ocean. I did this for them, not for Chris.”
“He abandoned us, Dad.”
“I know. I still haven’t forgiven him. But when he found out about Ben’s illness, he came to my house. He didn’t even step inside. He stood at the door and told me he was asking for only one thing—to let him arrange this trip for them.”
I ended the call.
Ben was sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Did Daddy leave us because Lily got sick?”
Lily immediately looked at him.
I knelt in front of my children.
“No. Not because of either of you. Your father got scared and made a very bad decision.”
Lily was quiet for several seconds.
“And now he’s downstairs?”
I nodded.
“Do you want to see him?”
Ben didn’t answer.
There was such a serious expression on his face that, for a moment, I forgot he was only six years old.
Finally, he spoke.
“If he gets scared again, will he leave again?”
I had no answer.
Lily took her brother’s hand.
“Let’s go ask him.”
The three of us went downstairs to the lobby.
Chris was standing near a large window.
He had changed so much that, at first, I almost didn’t recognize him.
He had lost weight. There were dark circles beneath his eyes. Streaks of gray had already appeared in his hair.
When he saw the children, he froze.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then Chris dropped to his knees.
“Hi, Lily. Hi, Ben.”
Ben didn’t move closer.
“Why did you leave?”
Chris lowered his head.
