His Son Stopped Calling Him Papa
“It’s all right, Don Moretti. Go take care of your other child.”
My six-year-old son raised one small hand and waved goodbye to his father.
Matteo froze.
For twenty-eight days, I had been teaching Luca to call him Don Moretti instead of Papa.
It started the night Luca was burning with fever.
Bianca Bellini sent word that her son was crying for Matteo, and my husband left our sick child without looking back.
I held Luca against my chest and whispered, “Say goodnight to Don Moretti.”
A week later, Matteo promised to attend Luca’s school presentation.
Bianca sent for him again.
Tommy had no father to sit beside him, she said. The other boys would laugh.
Matteo went.
I placed a sheet