Chapter 5

On Dale's first night in our home, Oscar gave up his own bedroom for him. His reason was that the guest room didn't have the starry-sky projector Zachary had loved when he was alive.

When I entered Oscar's room, Dale was rearranging the photographs on the nightstand. He had tucked away the picture of Oscar and me together beneath a snowy mountain and replaced it with one of himself and Zachary.

"Who gave you permission to touch those?" I demanded.

Dale froze. "Oscar said it was okay."

Oscar walked in and said, "Dad, Mr. Stratton can't sleep. Looking at Zachary's picture helps him feel at ease."

"What about our photo?" I asked.

"Let's put it away for a few days," Oscar replied, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

I gazed at him for a long time. "Fine."

I took the photo out of the drawer and brought it back to my study.

…

The next day, the school held a career day where parents were invited to share their professions.

I had originally been invited to speak as an architect. But when I arrived at the school, I discovered that Dale had taken my place on stage. He was a documentary filmmaker.

The audience applauded enthusiastically, and Oscar proudly said to his classmates, "Mr. Stratton is my mom's friend, and he's made lots of amazing movies."

After the event, Oscar's homeroom teacher, Donna Brewer, looked surprised to see me.

"Mr. Baxter, Oscar told me you had something urgent come up and voluntarily gave your slot to Mr. Stratton."

I turned to Oscar. "When did I ever say I had something urgent to attend to?"

The smile froze on his face. "Mom said you've been pushing for a divorce lately, so she thought you showing up might make Mr. Stratton uncomfortable."

Francine again. But then again, Oscar had made the decision himself.

When we got home, I packed the last of my documents into my suitcase.

Oscar stood in the doorway and asked, "Dad, are you really leaving?"

"Yeah."

"Is it because of Mr. Stratton?"

"No." I closed the suitcase. "It's because you and your mom both told me time and again that this family doesn't need me anymore."

Tears welled up in Oscar's eyes. "I never said I didn't want you."

"But you want me to give up my place in your life to make room for Dale."

"He just lost Zachary."

"So what?" For the first time, I cut him off. "Does losing a child mean I have to lose mine too?"

Oscar was speechless.

Suddenly, Francine asked coldly from the doorway, "Are you forcing Oscar to make a choice?"

"Do I need to?" I looked at her. "He's already made it."

The countdown had dwindled to just 19 hours.

The next morning, Francine went to her law firm. She sent me a message asking me to meet her that afternoon to discuss the divorce, adding that she'd be bringing Oscar along.

"Why don't you cool off first? If you insist on divorcing me, I'll fight for custody of Oscar. He's already 12 years old, so the court will respect his wishes."

She knew exactly how to hit me where it hurt the most.

For the past 12 years, I'd been there for nearly every one of Oscar's parent-teacher meetings, every time he fell ill, and every competition he entered.

Francine knew how much Oscar meant to me, so she thought she could always make me back down by threatening to take him away.

At 2:00 pm, Francine and Dale were seated in the mediation room. Oscar was there too.

Francine turned to him and asked, "If your dad and I separate, who would you want to live with?"

Oscar remained silent for a long time before answering in a small voice, "You, Mom. Mr. Stratton will be there for me too."

Francine seemed quite pleased with his answer. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already 2:30 pm, yet I still hadn't shown up.

At 3:00 pm, she called me for the first time. But no one answered.

By 3:20 pm, unease had begun to creep in.

At 4:00 pm, my flight took off right on schedule.

As the countdown hit zero, the city was shrinking rapidly beneath me. No new numbers appeared, nor was there any sign of the so-called "Forever".

I switched off my phone and slipped my wedding ring into the paper bag the flight attendant had handed me.

It wasn't as hard as I'd thought it'd be to let go of a 13-year marriage and 12 years of father-son bonds.

Meanwhile, Kurt pushed open the door to the mediation room and placed the divorce petition in front of Francine.

"Mr. Baxter has already left the country. He has agreed to let Oscar remain in your sole custody. For matters concerning the division of assets and visitation arrangements, please contact me going forward."