Suddenly, he looked over my shoulder.
His eyes widened.
“Dad?”
I turned around.
Daniel was walking toward us through the crowd.
He was crying.
Leo didn’t hesitate.
He ran straight toward him.
Daniel dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around our son.
I stood several steps away.
I still hadn’t forgiven him.
I hadn’t forgotten that he had walked away when we needed him most.
But in that moment, my anger felt smaller than what I was seeing in front of me.
Leo had his arms around his father and kept saying:
“I knew you would come.”
Daniel could only repeat:
“I’m sorry, son. I’m so sorry.”
That day, the three of us walked through Paris together.
No one talked about illness.
No one talked about time.
That evening, back at the hotel, Leo was already in bed when he called me over.