“We started an airplane. It wasn’t finished when he got hurt.”
Jeremy swallowed.
“Afterward, he stayed in his room. I took the airplane to his door and asked if we could finish it.”
“What did he say?”
“Go away.”
I held his hand.
“I tried again the next Saturday. And the next.”
He looked toward the stroller.
“Eventually, I stopped knocking.”
“The last time I knocked, I left the airplane outside his door. I couldn’t bear carrying it back again.”
For a while, neither of us spoke.
“He didn’t want me,” Jeremy whispered.
“And now I can’t even walk across a room to pick up my own daughters.”
“You don’t have to walk to love them.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then listen to me.”
He looked up.
“Your father hurt you by shutting you out. You’re hurting us by doing the same thing.”
His face crumpled.
