THREE DAYS LATER
“Daddy, let’s go to my room,” Tyson held out his hand to his father, “I want to show you a lot of things.”
It was Saturday midday. Blake had arrived like he promised. The introduction was not as awkward as he thought it would be. Tasha only said, “Tyson, this is Blake, your daddy.”
“Daddy!” the little boy had said jubilantly and flung himself at his father. “Daddy.”
Blake clasped his boy to himself. It was such a profound moment for him.
“Tyson,” he whispered and kissed the top of his head. “I am so glad to meet you, my son.”
It was after that that the boy invited his father to his room. Blake looked over Tyson’s head into Tasha’s face, searching for her reaction. As much as he wanted to go into his son’s room, he knew he had to be careful not to overstep any boundaries set by her.
She understood what he was looking for. She gave a nod and smiled.
“Let’s go,” Blake winked at Tasha. “Lead the way, please.” He followed Tyson to his room.
“Wow!” That was the word that first came out of his mouth the moment he entered the room. “You have a nice place here, son.”
“You like it?” He looked up and grinned into his father’s face.
“Of course, I do.” With both hands in his pocket, he looked around. He was grateful for the beautiful life Tasha was giving their son. There was no doubt that Tyson was the focal point of her entire life.
His eyes caught the wall bookshelf in the corner of the room. “These are your books?” He walked to the shelf.
“Yes, mummy buys a lot of books for me,” he announced gladly. “I have a lot of them.”
“I can see that.” He picked up one book and opened it. “What do you expect from a professor?”
The two burst into laughter.
He turned to look at Tyson’s face. His heart thudded in his chest. The same fatherly love that tied him to Jayce rose in his heart for the boy.
“I love you, son,” he reached out and engulfed Tyson in a bear hug.
“I love you too.” he clung to his father. “Daddy!”
“Sit down, daddy,” he said when they pulled apart and they both sat on the bed. He looked deeply into his father’s eyes and said, “mom said you are going to help me so I won’t die.”
“Yes, son,” he curved an arm around him. “I promise you I am going to do everything so you can live a good life.”
“I want to go back to playing football for my school,” he looked forlornly into his dad’s eyes. “I miss playing. Now I just sit and watch others. It’s so frustrating.”
Because he got tired easily, Tyson had to suspend playing football, and it was killing him.
“I can understand that feeling.” He placed a hand on his shoulder. “You will return to playing football and also do everything you used to do before. I promise you.”
“Okay Dad, thank you,” the boy tightened his grip on his father’s side. They both fell into a moment of silence before Tyson called out.
“Dad,” his hand was still by his father’s side. “Why did you leave my mom? She told me that something happened, that you had to leave and she couldn’t find you anymore.”
Each one of the boy’s words hurt Blake so much.
“Yes, something happened,” he took a deep breath. “She told you the truth. But you believe that I never knew about you. I never knew your mom was already pregnant with you by the time I left.”
“So you wouldn’t have left?” Tyson asked innocently.
Blake fought between telling him the truth or what would just make the little boy happy. But he went for the truth.
“Honestly, Tyson,” he looked into his eyes. “I would have still left, because my parents wanted me to do something for them then. But I wouldn’t have abandoned you if I had known about you.”
“Hmmm,” Tyson nodded. “I guess that is fair enough.”
Blake looked at his boy and chuckled at the unexpected maturity he exhibited.
“Mom said I have a brother,” Tyson remarked.
“Yes, you do,” Blake told Tyson. “Your younger brother.”
“When will I meet him? I have always wanted to have a brother or sister to play with.”
“You are going to meet him during the summer,” he replied, taking Tyson’s hand. “I want you and your mom to come over to New York during the summer. We’ll have our surgery and you will also have the chance to meet your brother, your grandparents and other family members.”
“Wow, great!” He replied with enthusiasm. “Great, I’m going to spend the summer with my brother.”
“I want you to look at my pictures.”
Tyson stood up and opened his closet. He brought four albums out and gave them to his father.
“These are all your pictures?” He asked as he collected the albums.
“Yes, daddy,” he put his hand on his father’s shoulder. “It’s from when I was a baby.”
“Oh,?” His eyes brightened up.
“Start with this, daddy,” he pointed at the oldest one.
Blake nodded and opened the album. The first four pictures on the first page were of his son in the hospital after his birth.
“This is me at one day old,” he told his father.
Blake nodded and hugged him to his side. He had to muster enough strength not to cry as he went through the four albums that contained detailed images of some things he had missed in his son’s life. He knew without a doubt that Tasha was keeping all the records for him should he appear in the life of their son. And they are the gifts he cherished so much.
“You know what, Tyson?” He said, “you are going to lend me these albums. I am going to make a copy of each one of the photographs in them.”
“No problem, dad?” Tyson said and beamed into his father’s eyes. “Dad, I am so happy to have you here.”
“I am glad to be here too,” he assured him with a smile curving the corners of his mouth.