So did Stephen.
The birthday celebration they had planned never really happened.
Instead, they spent much of the day talking.
Nancy asked questions she had carried without realizing it.
Stephen answered as honestly as he could.
Some answers were painful.
Some were comforting.
And some would probably take years for Nancy to fully understand.
But for the first time, there were no secrets between them.
A few weeks later, Nancy decided to delay the start of university for a short time.
She wanted to spend some time with Stephen.
It wasn’t about pretending the past hadn’t happened.
It was about understanding it.
They took a simple trip to the coast.
They walked along the beach, ate at small restaurants, and talked for hours.
Stephen told her about the person he had been when he was young.
Nancy told him about the moments in her childhood when she had needed him most.
Sometimes they laughed.
Sometimes they argued.
Sometimes they walked in silence.
The important thing was that neither of them walked away.
One evening, they sat near the water as the sun began to disappear.
Nancy finally asked the question she had been thinking about since her birthday.
“Do you think you deserve to be called my father?”
Stephen looked down.
“I don’t know.”
Nancy smiled faintly.
“I think you became my father a long time ago.”
He looked at her.
“Not because of biology,” she continued. “Because you stayed.”
Stephen couldn’t hold back his tears.
Neither could Nancy.
