The First Call
Leo sat across from me, looking at me expectantly. “What do you think I should do?”
Part of me wanted to block the number and close the door on the past forever. But Leo was not a child anymore — this was his story too.
“What do you want to do?” I asked.
“I want to hear his voice.”
That evening, Claire arranged a video call. When Andrew’s face appeared on the screen, my whole body went cold. He was older, with lines around his eyes and gray in his hair — but it was unmistakably him.
For several seconds, no one spoke. Then his gaze moved from Leo to me. “Emma?”
The way he said my name broke something open inside me. I nodded.
Leo sat rigidly beside me. Andrew stared at him, tears filling his eyes. “You’re my son?”
“My name is Leo.”
“Leo,” Andrew repeated, his voice shaking. “I am so sorry.”
“Did you know about me?” Leo asked.
“I knew your mother was pregnant for less than a day. Then the accident happened, and I forgot. When pieces came back, I was told the baby had not survived.”
“So you believed that for eighteen years?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever try to find out the truth?”
Andrew closed his eyes. “Not soon enough. I trusted what I was told because I was afraid of what I might discover. That was my failure. I should have searched harder, questioned more. I can never give you back those years.”
Leo looked at me, then back at the screen. “What do you want now?”
“Whatever you are willing to give me,” Andrew replied. “A conversation. A chance to know you. Even if that is all.”
