I heard my daughter whisper into the phone, “I miss you, Dad” – I buried her father 18 years ago

I looked at Susie, feeling disbelief and betrayal tighten in my throat.

“How did you find him?” I asked quietly.

She hesitated.

I found him online a few months ago. I didn’t want to tell you. Until I knew he really wanted to talk to me.

My heart broke.

“Do you want to keep talking to him?” I asked after a long moment.

“Yes. I want to know why he did it. I want to hear it from him,” Susie said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Okay,” I replied slowly, swallowing my own bitterness.

Two days later, I called Charles. He answered immediately, as if he’d been waiting.

“We have to meet,” I said.

We went for coffee.

At a coffee shop | Source: Midjourney
At a coffee shop | Source: Midjourney

When I arrived, he was already there.

Older. Thin. His face was wrinkled from exhaustion. His eyes were sunken and dark, as if grief itself had kept him awake for years.

He looked normal. Ordinary.