ROMAN'S POV
The weight of the day's reflections hit me as I leaned back in my chair. The shadows from the large windows stretched across the glass table in front of me, mimicking the tangled mess of emotions swirling in my head.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the kids—Rhett and Ruby.
Their warm, unguarded smiles, the way they talked with such enthusiasm, their innocent eyes brimming with curiosity—it all struck me in a way I hadn’t expected.
When they held my hand or threw their arms around me in a hug, something inside me shifted.
For a few fleeting moments, I felt connected—truly connected—in a way I hadn’t in years. As I watched them play and laugh, their happiness was so pure that it made me face the huge gap I had let form between us.
I’d failed them.
Not as a provider or protector, but as their father.
How had I let myself drift so far from something so vital? "Dad" was a heavy title to carry, one I had not done right in years… I hadn’t done at all.
I’d missed too much—birt
