"Mama..." Roman’s voice ca out as a faint whisper from the doorway as he watched his mother leave.
The boy stood there stiffly, his small hands clenched at the ball. His wide eyes and glistening, were fixed on his father. A sudden flash of anger crossed his young face, an emotion far too heavy for a child his age.
"Why do you have to hurt my mother?" Roman asked, his voice trembling despite his attempt to sound brave.
His tiny shoulders began to shake as the words tumbled out of him.
"You never even looked at before Mama ca here," he continued, struggling to keep his voice steady. "You never talked to ... You were always too busy."
His breathing grew uneven, and tears gathered in his eyes.
"But she’s so kind to ," he said. "She agreed to be my mother... Even though she didn’t have to. She takes care of and talks to ."
His lips quivered as tears broke free from his eyes.
"But Father always hurts her."
The last words broke apart as tears finally spilled over. Roman’s small body shook as he began crying uncontrollably, as though all the sadness he had been holding inside for years had suddenly burst free.
Damian had never expected to see his son like this. For a mont, he simply stood there, stunned by the sight of the child breaking down in front of him. Then, he moved quickly.
Closing the distance between them, Damian slowly bent down and knelt before the boy. Gently, he held Roman’s tiny arms, steadying the trembling child. His usually stern expression softened as he looked into his son’s tear-filled eyes.
"Forgive your father, Roman," Damian said quietly.
His voice carried a sincerity that was rarely heard from him.
"I promise you... this will not happen again."
He lifted his hands to Roman’s face, cupping his small cheeks with surprising gentleness. With his thumbs, he carefully wiped away the tears streaming down the boy’s face.
Roman sniffled, but the sobs did not stop.
"Don’t hurt Mama," he pleaded, his voice cracking between breaths. "If you keep hurting her, she will leave too."
His fingers clutched Damian’s sleeves desperately.
"I don’t want to be alone," Roman cried. "Do you want to be alone?"
The boy’s words struck Damian harder than anything else.
As he looked at his son weeping so helplessly in front of him, Damian finally understood sothing he had refused to see for years.
Roman had been breaking, slowly and silently, in ways Damian had never imagined a child could.
All those years of distance, neglect, and cold indifference had left wounds far deeper than he had realized. The loneliness his son had endured was now laid bare before him.
For the first ti, he could no longer deny the truth. This pain, this fear inside Roman was not created by anyone else. It was his fault. And Damian finally admitted to himself that he had failed his own son.
"I’m sorry, son. I am truly sorry."
Damian pulled Roman into a tight embrace, holding the boy close against his chest. One of his hands moved slowly up and down Roman’s back, gently comforting him as the child’s sobs gradually softened into quiet sniffles.
For a while, Damian simply held him there.
When Roman finally cald down, Damian eased his grip slightly and looked at his tear-streaked face.
"Co," he said softly. "Let’s go and find your mother."
Roman wiped the corner of his eyes with the back of his sleeve, but before they could move, he hesitated.
"Father... can I ask you sothing first?" he asked cautiously.
Damian studied the boy for a mont before nodding. "Yes. You may."
Roman shifted his weight from one foot to the other, clearly nervous.
"Father... why didn’t you attend your marriage with her?" he asked slowly. "Aren’t the groom and the bride supposed to stand together when they take their vows?"
His small fingers twisted together anxiously.
"I wanted to ask you for a long ti," Roman admitted. "But I was afraid you might scold ."
He lifted his eyes again, searching his father’s face. "Does Father... not love my mother?"
The question struck Damian like a sword’s blade.
His lips pressed together tightly, and for a mont he found himself unable to respond at all. The innocence in Roman’s voice made the truth feel even heavier.
He had wronged not just one person, but two.
Roman and Eilika.
Roman had grown up feeling unwanted and lonely, while Eilika had been forced into a marriage where the man she stood beside could not even bring himself to appear on their wedding day.
After a long pause, he exhaled quietly.
"What if I tell you, Roman," he said gently, "that I’m not ready to answer those questions yet?"
Roman looked disappointed, but he listened carefully.
"But when you grow older," Damian continued, "I promise you that I will answer them. Every single one of them."
He raised his hand and extended his little finger toward the boy.
"I give you my word, my boy."
Roman stared at the offered pinky for a mont before slowly hooking his small finger around his father’s. "I want to trust Father," he said.
"Thank you," Damian said with a faint smile as he gently scooped Roman into his arms. Holding his son close, he walked slowly toward the door. Roman rested quietly against his shoulder, still recovering from the storm of emotions that had overtaken him.
As Damian carried him, a strange clarity began to settle in his mind.
For years, his thoughts had remained trapped in the mories of Liliana, mories he had clung to so tightly that he had allowed them to overshadow everything else in his life. In doing so, he had ignored the people who were standing right in front of him.
Roman.
And now, Eilika..
If not for himself, then at least for them, he needed to step out of the shadows of his past. Roman deserved a father who was present. And Eilika... she deserved far more than the cold indifference he had been giving her.
With that quiet resolve forming in his mind, Damian carried Roman down the staircase.
At the bottom, the other boys were gathered in the hall, chatting noisily among themselves. Their voices faded the mont they noticed Roman.
"Roman! We were waiting for you," Toby said brightly, rushing forward.
Roman straightened slightly in Damian’s arms. "I’m going to find my mother first," he declared.
"Is she playing hide-and-seek?" Sam asked curiously.
"No," Roman replied with a small shake of his head. Then he turned to Damian. "Father, you can put down."
Damian lowered him carefully until the boy stood firmly on his own two feet.
Instead of running off imdiately, Roman leaned toward the group of boys. He drew them closer and whispered sothing into their ears.
One by one, the five boys lifted their heads and looked directly at Damian.
Their collective gaze made him shift slightly where he stood. For so reason, their curious expressions made him feel oddly self-conscious.
Before he could ask what Roman had told them, Toby suddenly stepped forward and took Roman’s hand.
"Co on," he said with enthusiasm. "Let’s go find your mother, Roman." The other four boys also followed them.
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