Dad speaks

When I got back to base camp that evening after freshening up at the market place, I had a surprise waiting for me.

It was dad.

He was sitting by the fire roasting marshmallows.
Thing is, as much grief as I'd heard from mom about the adoption, I hadn't heard a thing from him. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.




"You look cute with glasses, dad," I'd said after putting on mine.
He gave me this look I knew well. He was going to break his silence. I wasn't sure what he was going to say.
"Vanna, I couldn't take another day waiting for you to come home."
I laughed. "I know you don't miss me that much."
"Ask your mother. I can't sleep at night. I pace around wondering where you are. I wonder if you're safe."
"Dad, I'm fine, really. I'm wondering about you, though. Have you been taking your medicine? You're all pale!"
"No, I'm fine, just getting old, that's all." He flashed me the same smile that melted ten thousand rooms. "When I go over to the other side --"
I blinked back a few tears. "Don't talk like that, please! I don't want you to go anywhere!"
"Oh, I'll still be around, just not in the flesh. You'll still be able to communicate with me." He took a marshmallow off its kabob and put it in his mouth. The blazing fire had burned itself to a waning flicker. "I hear you want to adopt two children from here."
"You ought to meet them, dad. They're terrific kids, they deserve a second chance."
"Do you realize if you're successful at adopting these children, your life will completely change?"
"It already has, dad," I told him, "the moment I first looked into their eyes. I was done for."
"What I mean is, the moment you and those kids step off that plane, if that happens, your life is over. It is all about the children. You have to devote your entire life to making theirs better. Do you understand?"
I blinked back more tears. "Completely."
"I have to tell you a story. I wasn't always this 'devoted family guy' that you know well."
"I think you told me, in the book excerpts you wrote."
"When I was a young man, your age actually, I did a lot of things that I now regret. I hurt quite a few people in the process. By the time I met your mother I had already had four children. Then she told me she was pregnant."
"Then what happened?"
"When your mother told me she was pregnant I wasn't quite sure how to react. I mean, I was happy but I was also scared. When you were born I took one look at you and started bawling my eyes out. I knew I had to change my life. I had five kids for five different women. I couldn't live like that anymore. I knew I had to do some things differently or my kids and I were going to end up in dire straits. I see Sebastian headed for that same kind of hurt. I want you to take care of him even if I'm not able to."