Chapter 127

Aria’s POV

The day of the parent-child sports day, I arrived at the school at 10am, wearing my sneakers and exercise gear. William and Joe were both in their gym clothes, excitedly waiting for me.

Some of the day’s events were set to take place inside the school’s gymnasium, but most of them were planned to be outside instead.

Potato sacks were ready and waiting for the potato sack race. In the parking lot, chalk marks laid out intricate designs for the hopscotch contest. Another parent and child were already participating in the jump-rope competition.

“Where’s Dad?” William asked me.

I didn’t have a good answer. “He should be here soon,” I said, and prayed Liam wouldn’t make me a liar.

Since sending him my email, he had not replied, nor had he called. He came home so late in the evenings that even I couldn’t stay up for him, and when I woke in the morning, he was gone again.

I could only hope that he read the email, or that he remembered on his own, and planned to be here.

Yet as the day progressed, it became more and more apparent that he had not.

Spreading the contests equally between William and Joe, I tried my best to be there for them both. Yet while I entered a contest with one of them, the other had to sit out of that event. Even as I competed, I saw them frowning, disappointed, from the sidelines.

It broke my heart a little, and I resolved to sit up tonight, no matter how late, to speak with Liam no matter what.

When we came home at the end of the day, the kids went up to their rooms. Though they came down for dinner, they didn’t say much the rest of the day. As I already knew what was wrong, I didn’t ask them or force them to talk about it.

They didn’t need blind assurances for me. What they needed was for their father to apologize.

At their bed time, I tucked them both in

“Thanks for being there today,” Joe said when I tucked him in. He was the first to go to bed.

In William’s room, next, he asked me, “Is it always going to be like this?”

“No,” I assured him, though my own chest felt tighter having heard that question.

With the kids in their beds, I came down to the living room and waited. I watched some television, read some of a book, and even exercised when I started to feel sleepy.

Liam didn’t walk into the house until around 1 in the morning.

As soon as I heard his key in the door, I jumped to my feet and rushed to meet him in the foyer.

Spotting me, he gave me a withering look. He didn’t mean anything by it, I knew. He was just exhausted and wanted to go to bed. His entire posture told me so. Every inch of him seemed slouched downward. His eyelids were heavy, his mouth curved into a frown.

“Can it wait until the morning, Aria?” he asked me.

“Not this time,” I told him.

“It’s going to have to. I’m so tired I can hardly think.” He started to shuffle around me, moving toward the stairs.

“Liam,” I said firmly, stopping him.

“Aria, please…”

“Please, nothing. You forgot the kids’ parent-child sports day.”

Liam startled slightly, finally turning back to me. “That was today?”

“Yes,” I said. “And while I did the best I could, the kids needed their father there too.”

Sighing, he rubbed his forehead with his hand. “I’m sorry. I meant to be there… I’ve been so busy with work, it’s hard to even keep the days straight.”

“You promised, before all of this even started that you would find time to be a father, too,” I reminded him. “You’ve been so busy that the kids haven’t seen you in weeks. Even on the weekends, you’ve been busy.”

“This new expansion has required all of my time,” Liam said. As he lowered his hand to look at me, I could see how tired he was, and how genuinely sincere he felt in his guilt. “I can do better. I will do better.”

“You have to,” I said. “The kids need their father. The people you need to apologize to are them.”

“You deserve an apology too. I’ve been leaving you to take care of everything when it should have been the two of us. Truly, I’m sorry, Aria.”

“If you mean that, then keep your vow to do better.”

He nodded. Lifting his hand, he mimed drawing an ‘x’ over his heart.

“I know it’s late, but why don’t we stay up for a little while and talk,” Liam said. “Let me go get dressed, and I’ll meet you back down here.”

“Okay,” I agreed, somewhat relieved. It would be nice to speak with Liam again. I hadn’t wanted to admit it too much, but I had missed him the past few weeks he’d been so busy.

“I’ll be right back,” Liam said and went to the stairs.

I moved back to the living room where I waited for 10 minutes. Then, 20. At 30, I became concerned and went upstairs on my own. The light was on in Liam’s room, visible under his door. I quietly knocked, not wanting to wake the kids.

“Liam?” I whisper-yelled, then held my ear to the door, listening for a response. When I heard only silence, I pushed the door open.

Liam was there, his back flat against the mattress, though his legs were over the side of the bed, like he had been sitting when he fell asleep, and then tumbled backwards. Near his feet, his shoes were resting on the carpet, like he’d only just finished untying and removing them.

He was otherwise still in his work clothes.

Oh, Liam.

My heart softened to the state of him and his extreme exhaustion. Moving quietly, I entered his room and went to his dresser, where I pulled out a soft t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms.

Returning to Liam on the bed. I placed my hand on his knee and shook gently.

“Hey,” I said. “Wake up. Just for a second.”

Liam peeked open one tired eye. “Aria?”

“I’ll help you get dressed, but you have to sit up, okay? Help me a little.”

Groaning, he pulled himself into a sitting position. Leaning forward, I undid the buttons of his shirt, then helped him slide the fabric down off of his shoulders.

In another time and place, undressing Liam might have been sexy, but there was little to nothing sexy about what was happening here. Liam was so exhausted, it seemed all he could do just to keep his eyes open.

With our combined efforts, we managed to get Liam in his pajamas. Then, I coaxed him to move up the bed and slip under the covers.

“You’ll be much more comfortable with your head on the pillow,” I told him.

He agreed.

As soon as he was under the covers, his head on his pillow, he drifted off to sleep without even a goodnight.

I watched him for a moment, slightly exasperated, but mostly worried.

Physically, he wouldn’t be able to keep up this pace much longer. I only hoped that he could see that too, before he worked himself into an early, lonely grave.