“Daddy, don’t go! Please, dont leave us! Dad, dont buy me anything else, or Alfie either. Just stay with us! I dont need toy cars or sweets. No presents! Just be here!” six-year-old Oliver wailed, clinging to his fathers leg.
Their mother was sobbing in the bedroom, too broken to stand or come out. Meanwhile, Alfie, fourteen, stood with clenched fists, love for his father warring with fury.
Oliver was just a little boyhe didnt understand. But Alfie had seen how their mum had suffered. Just yesterday, shed been on her knees, begging Dad to stay. Just a little longer, until Oliver was older. But no amount of pleading had worked.
“Stop it! Get up! Dont humiliate yourselfhe doesnt care! None of us matter to him, so let him go!” Alfie yanked his little brother away.
“Son, theres no need for this. Ill still visit, still help. Ill just live somewhere else. I love you no lesswe just decided” Dad began.
“Who decided? You decided! Dont think I didnt hear! Mum begged you to stay. Were your family! But youre leavingfor some woman! Is she worth more than us?” Alfie fought to keep his voice steady.
If Dad had just hugged him, put the suitcases down, and admitted it was a stupid mistake Alfie would have thrown his arms around him and forgiven him instantly. Because this was Dad. The one who taught him to fix cars, took him fishing, played football, read bedtime stories. How could he just walk away and erase them all? For what?
Oliver was still wailing. Mum was sobbing. Dad looked at them allthen left, shoulders slumped.
Even as he disappeared, Olivers cries chased him”Daddy, dont go!”
***
Life was never the same after that.
Alfie hated his father. He refused to see him, threw back every gift he brought.
Oliver waited. He sat by the door. Stood on the balcony, staring into the distance.
Dad asked for custody time. Mum said no.
Not that Alfie wanted to go. Oliver ached to see him, but they told himDad doesnt want you.
Mum wouldve proudly refused child support if they didnt need it.
“Your dad fell in love. Thats how it goes! The grass is always greener, isnt it? He doesnt want his kids nowtherell be new ones soon!” shed say bitterly.
Alfie listened in silence. Oliver cried.
***
A year later, Dad came back. Or tried to.
Oliver wasnt homejust Alfie and Mum.
Dad apologized. Said hed made a mistake. Realized he couldnt live without them.
Mum didnt take him back. This was her moment of revenge.
Alfie didnt forgive him either. The wound was too fresh.
No one asked Oliver. He was still too little.
***
Years passed.
Alfie went into business. Oliver became a doctor.
The older brother had a family now. The younger one cared for Mum until she passed.
Soon after, Oliver decided to marry his childhood sweetheart, Emily.
Before the wedding, Alfie had work in another city and invited Oliver along for the ride. They took the train instead of driving, sipping tea as the wheels clattered beneath them.
They got on well enough, though they rarely saw each other. But they were too differentAlfie, stubborn and sharp-tongued, only listened to himself.
He jokingly called Oliver “Mr. Softie” and told him kindness was out of fashion.
After finishing business, they wandered the unfamiliar, pretty town before heading back to the station.
Near the entrance, Alfie nearly tripped over a mangrimaced, muttering about people sitting where they shouldnt. The man sat on cardboard, dirty, bearded, legless. Then he looked up.
Oliver had walked ahead but stopped at the sound of Alfies laughter.
Alfie was pointing, roaring. “Look at this! Pathetic!”
Oliver grabbed his brothers sleeve, yanking him away.
“Stop it! Thats disgusting. You dont know what hes been through. Its not our place to judge!”
“What? Not our place? Oh, it absolutely is. Dont you recognize him? You were too little. But I do. Those eyesgreen, just like ours. Mum always said she fell for his eyes. What a waste. Enjoying the view, Dad? Bet you didnt expect to see us. Lifes funny, isnt it? You got what you deserved. This is for Mums tears. For ours. For everything!”
Oliver was speechless. The man on the ground just wept, murmuring, “Youre so grown.”
“Youre nothing like him! Thank God. Hows life treating you, Dad? Found love again? Or did she leave you too?”
“Enough! Stop itI mean it!” Oliver snapped.
Alfie scoffedthen gasped as Oliver knelt.
He touched the mans dirty cheek, gentle. “Hello, Dad.”
Dad grabbed his hand, pressed it to his face, and sobbed.
Maybe he saw the little boy whod clung to his leg years ago, crying, “Daddy, dont go!”
Both sons were men now. And hed failed them.
Alfie kept raging. Dad took it silently. He knew he deserved it.
But what broke him wasnt Alfies furyit was Olivers quiet kindness. No blame, just love.
“Fine. Lets go, Oliver. Trains leaving,” Alfie said.
“Im not coming. You go. I cant leave him.”
“What? This waste of space ruined our lives! Have you lost your mind?”
Then Oliver lifted his father into his arms.
He was lightjust strong hands to drag himself along.
People stared. Alfie was stunned.
Dad clung to Olivers neck as he carried him away.
Some shook their headswhy bother? Others admired him.
But Oliver was just the little boy whod once healed toy animals, grown into a good man.
Who still loved his dad, no matter what.
