“Daddy you are early,” Zoe said. “Miss Natalie made a cake for us.”
Gordon knelt down and held them both, breathing in their hair, feeling how small they were, how much time he had missed. Tears slid down his face before he could stop them. The children stared, surprised to see their father cry, then hugged him tighter.
“I am sorry,” Gordon whispered. “I should have been here more.”
Natalie stood nearby, unsure whether to stay or leave, her hands twisting in her apron.
Gordon stood slowly, turning toward her with eyes still wet.
“Thank you,” he said. “For giving my children something I failed to.”
Natalie shook her head quickly.
“They needed joy,” she replied. “I only gave what any heart would.”
But Gordon saw beyond her words. He saw a woman carrying her own grief. He remembered the file he had skimmed when hiring her, a short note about a son lost in a traffic accident years earlier. He had never asked about it, never thought further, yet now he wondered how someone with a broken heart could give so much warmth to others.