Chapter 7 - THREE QUESTIONS
I agreed to a supervised meeting at a family center.
The girls were told that a man named Declan wanted to meet them because he was their father. I didn't tell them he had been my husband. They were too young to understand the history, and I wouldn't make them carry it.
Declan arrived early.
He wore no expensive watch, no tie, and no confident smirk. He looked nervous.
The girls entered holding my hands.
“That's him?” Maya whispered.
“Yes.”
Declan crouched.
“Hello, Maya. Hello, Lucy. Hello, Ella.”
Lucy stared at him.
“You know our names?”
“I've been hoping to learn them.”
Maya stood behind my leg.
Ella stepped forward.
“Are you our daddy?”
Declan swallowed.
“Yes, sweetheart. If that's okay with you.”
Ella considered him.
“Why didn't you come before?”
His face tightened.
“Because I didn't know about you. And because I made mistakes with your mommy.”
“Did you lose our house?” Lucy asked.
“No.”
“Did you forget us?”
Declan looked as if the question had taken the air from his lungs.
“I didn't know you existed. But I should have listened when your mommy tried to tell me the truth about something important.”
Maya finally moved closer.
“Do you like dinosaurs?”
Declan blinked.
“I do.”
“What's your favorite?”
“Triceratops.”
“That's Ella's favorite,” Lucy said.
“Mine is a stegosaurus,” Maya announced.
“Mine is a brachiosaurus,” Ella corrected.
Declan smiled.
“Then I have a lot to learn.”
For the next forty minutes, they built a wooden puzzle and colored pictures. Declan listened to every story, even the ones that began in the middle and ended somewhere else.
When the session ended, the girls hugged me.
“Can he come again?” Lucy asked.
I looked at Declan.
“That depends on how everyone feels.”
He nodded.
“I'll follow your lead.”
Outside, he walked with me to the parking lot, keeping a respectful distance.
“Thank you,” he said.
“They're good girls.”
“They're extraordinary.”
“They get that from me.”
A small smile touched his mouth.
“I believe that.”
Then his expression grew serious.
“I want to apologize in person.”
“You already did.”
“Not properly.”
I opened the car door.
“Declan, an apology doesn't reverse five years.”
“I know.”
“And being their father doesn't mean you get to be my husband again.”
“I know that, too.”
I paused.
May you like
“Then don't confuse the two.”
“I won't.”
