He forbade Tabitha from telling anyone he was her dad, though. For two years, she was in kindergarten, and he’d never sent her to school or picked her up. He’d never joined her class activities.
For some reason, Nathaniel gathered all the kids and told them to ostracize and bully Tabitha because she was, in his words, a little bastard with no father.
Crying, Tabitha begged her father to pick her up from school and tell everyone that she had a father, and that it was the one who everyone thought was Nathaniel’s.
Timothy said no. “It’s bad enough Nathaniel has no father, and you want everyone to think he was lying? You’re five years old, Tabitha. Grow up.”
His exact words, not mine. Yet, when he heard it from his daughter, it stung a little. He wanted to hold her, but the moment he moved, Nathaniel cried. “I want Daddy Timothy to hold me!”
Timothy quickly hugged the boy and cooed, “It’s alright, Nate, I’m here.”
He looked so much like a loving father, but his own daughter had never felt that love. Now she had a scar on her forehead, and she could only watch as her own father gave his love to another child.
A long moment later, Tabitha hung her head low, her eyes red.
As if trying to draw attention to herself, Willow said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, Yvonne. He just pities us. We’re all alone, you see, so…”
I held Tabitha’s hand and smiled. “I get it. He cares about his workers.”
Willow’s smile froze. She wanted to tell me she was closer to Timothy than we were? Well, I wasn’t about to let her get that wish.
And she looked at me with venom in her eyes. The woman gave her son a look, and Nathaniel sobbed. “It hurts, Daddy Timothy. It hurts.” He closed his eyes and clutched them like he was hurting.
Shocked, Timothy left in a hurry, the boy in his arms. He didn’t even spare a glance for us. Right before he disappeared from our sight, Tabitha said loudly, “Dad!”
He stopped and looked at his daughter. There were tears in her eyes, and with a cracked voice, she said, “It’s my birthday tomorrow. You’ll come back, won’t you?”
Her nose was red from the crying, and Timothy felt suffocated seeing that. He promised, “I will. Now, be a good girl and go back with your mother. I’ll come back tonight.”
My heart went out to Tabitha. I held her in my arms and thought, ‘You have two more chances to see Tabitha, Timothy. You’d better treasure them.’
