“You were allowed to be scared.

You weren’t allowed to make four children disappear from your life and tell everyone they never existed.”

He said nothing.

“What do you want from me now?” I asked.

“I want a chance to meet them properly.”

For a long time I studied him, searching for an answer I could trust.

I found a man who had lost control of the story he told about himself.

Whether he’d also found remorse was harder to know.