The tears filled his eyes.S
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Noah looked at him calmly.
“Sé quién eres.”
Aquellas palabras parecieron herir a Daniel más de lo que cualquier grito de rabia podría haberlo hecho.
Se volvió hacia mí.
“Por favor”, dijo. “Dame una oportunidad. Puedo arreglar esto.”
Negué con la cabeza.
“No, Daniel.”
Su rostro se derrumbó.
“Pero soy su padre.”
“You were their father when they waited by the window for you to come back.”
Bajó la mirada.
“Eras su padre cuando me preguntaban por qué no habían sido suficientes para hacerte quedar.”
He started crying.
“You were his father when I had to choose between paying for electricity or buying food.”
“Please…”
“And you were Noah’s father when he was born.”
The room was silent.
I walked over.
“I forgave you years ago, Daniel. But to forgive does not mean to accept you again.”
He stared at me.
“So, is that it?”
“No.”
He seemed confused.
“You can apologize to your children. You can try to meet them, if they want to. You can spend the rest of your life becoming a better man.”
I paused.
“But you’re not going back here like my husband.”
Daniel looked around the room one last time.
The photographs.
The business we built.
The children I had abandoned.
Then he nodded slowly.
I opened the front door.
Outside it kept raining.
He went out on the porch and then turned to me.
“I really lost everything, didn’t I?”
I looked at my children, who were together behind me.
“No, Daniel,” I said quietly. “You decided to get away from all that.”
Then I closed the door.
