Emma sighed in exasperation. « Dad, who is it? »
Sarah flinched.
James leaned over and hugged her. « She’s… someone from the past. »
« Can I talk to you? » Sarah asked. « Alone? »
He took her a little away from the others.
“I know I don’t deserve anything,” she confessed. “I made a terrible mistake. I thought I would be happier, but I wasn’t. I believed that by leaving I would gain freedom, but I only found loneliness.”
James stared at her. « You abandoned five children. I begged you to stay. I didn’t have the freedom to leave. I had to survive. »
« I know, » she sighed. « But I want to make things right. »
« You can’t fix what you’ve broken, » he said in a calm but heavy voice. « They’re not hurt anymore. They’re strong. We rebuilt from scratch. »
« I want to be a part of their lives. »
James turned to his children – his tribe. His purpose. His test.
« You’ll have to earn it, » he said. « Step by step. Carefully. And only if they want it. »
She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks.
As she approached the children, Lily crossed her arms. « So what? Now what? »
James placed a hand on Lily’s shoulder. « Now… we take it one step at a time. »
Sarah leaned forward in front of Emma, who was watching her curiously.
« You’re kind, » said Emma. « But I already have a mom. It’s my big sister, Zoe. »
Zoe’s eyes widened, and Sarah’s heart broke once again.
James remained silent, uncertain of the future – but sure of one thing:
He had raised five extraordinary human beings.
And whatever happened, he had already won.
The weeks that followed were like walking a tightrope stretched over ten years of silence.
Sarah began to appear again—at first only on Saturdays, at James’s cautious invitation. The children didn’t call her « Mama. » They didn’t know how. She was « Sarah »—a stranger with a familiar smile and a hesitant voice.
She brought gifts – too many. Too expensive. Tablets, sneakers, a telescope for Zoe, books for Lily. But the children didn’t want things. They wanted answers.
And Sarah didn’t have any fair ones.
James watched her from the kitchen while she tried to draw with Emma at a picnic table, but the little girl would go back to him every few minutes.
« She’s nice, » Emma murmured. « But she doesn’t know how to braid my hair like Zoe. »
Zoe smiled proudly. « Because Dad taught me. »
Sarah blinked – another painful reminder of what she had missed.
One day, James found her alone in the living room, her eyes still red.
« They don’t trust me, » she said in a low voice.
« They don’t have that obligation, » James replied. « Not yet. »
She nodded slowly, accepting it. « You’re a better parent than I’ve ever been. »
James leaned back against a chair. « Not better. Just present. I had no choice but to flee. »
She hesitated. « Do you hate me? »
He remained silent for a long time.
“I used to, yes. For a long time. But that hatred… it turned into disappointment. And now? I just want to protect them from any more pain. And that includes you.”
Sarah looked down at her hands. « I don’t want to take anything away from you. I know I lost the right to be their mother when I left. »
James leaned towards her. « So why did you come back? »
Sarah looked deep into his eyes, a mixture of pain and something deeper: remorse.
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