The laughter of children echoed through the quiet street, their tiny feet kicking up dust as they ran ahead — free, wild, unaware of the eyes watching them from a distance.
Rivan followed them slowly, his breath caught somewhere between panic and longing. He didn't mean to scare them. He just… wanted to see them. His children.
Even from afar, he could tell how much they'd grown. The way Rivan Jr. ran like him, one arm slightly tilted. How Eliya's curls bounced like Loira's when she was younger. Sahir, the smallest, paused every few steps to look behind — careful, cautious.
Rivan had told himself he wouldn't get too close.
He lied.
The front lawn was alive with weekend warmth. A table was set beneath the shade of an old neem tree, covered in cheerful tablecloths and colorful plates. Loira stood arranging cutlery while Keal came out carrying a bowl of salad. The kids had rushed inside for water, but laughter still lingered in the air like perfume.
Then came a voice — sharp, questioning.
"Hey! You! Why were you chasing those kids?"
Rivan turned. A woman stood behind him, holding a grocery bag and eyeing him with suspicion.
"You're not from the neighborhood," she continued. "I saw you following those children from the market. What are you doing here?"
Footsteps rushed from the house. Keal appeared at the gate, eyes narrowing when he saw who the woman was talking to.
"That man was chasing your kids," the neighbor said, pointing. "I thought I should warn you."
Keal's eyes locked on Rivan. His jaw tightened.
"I know him," he said finally, voice low.
The woman hesitated. "You sure?"
"Yes. It's… okay. Thanks for letting us know."
She glanced one last time at Rivan before walking away.
Keal stared at him a beat longer. Then, without any warmth, he opened the gate.
"Come in," he said.
Rivan stepped into the garden like a ghost entering a memory. The moment his foot touched the lawn, Loira turned.
Her smile faded in an instant.
"Inside," she said to the children, who had just returned with water. "Now."
They froze, confused, but obeyed.
Eliya looked back over her shoulder. "Isn't that…"
"That's the man from school," Rivan Jr. whispered, eyes wide. "The one I told you about."
Sahir's voice trembled. "Isn't that… Daddy?"
The door clicked shut behind them, but the question lingered.
Loira stood with her arms folded, Keal beside her — both of them unmoving.
"What are you doing here?" Keal asked.
"I just wanted to see them," Rivan said, his voice dry, cracking. "That's all."
"You followed them home," Loira snapped. "What were you planning to do? Show up and pretend nothing happened?"
"I wasn't going to take them, I swear," he said. "I just— I miss them. I miss all of you."
"You don't get to miss us," she replied. "You left."
Rivan's throat tightened. "I didn't mean to— I didn't know how to fix it—"
"But you didn't try," Keal said. "You let time do your damage for you."
"They're not yours anymore," Loira added. "And neither are we."
Rivan's eyes stung, but he said nothing.
"You took everything," she whispered. "Now there's nothing left for you here."
He nodded once. A breath. A step back. And then, silently, he turned and left.
As the gate closed behind him, Loira broke down in Keal's arms.
Inside the house, three pairs of eyes stared out the window.
"Wasn't that Daddy?" Sahir whispered.
"Why didn't they stop him?" Eliya asked.
"I want to know what happened," Rivan Jr. murmured. "What happened between them… back then?"
---
Lunch resumed half an hour later, but the mood had shifted like the sky after a storm.
The food sat mostly untouched. A few spoons scraped against plates, but the usual clatter of family had gone quiet.
Loira sat beside Keal, her fingers nervously folding the edge of her napkin. The children sat in a line, too silent for a sunny afternoon. The air was thick with questions they weren't sure they could ask.
Sahir was the first to break it.
He placed his spoon down, his little brow furrowed.
"Wasn't that our father?"
The words hung in the air.
"You both loved him…" he added, softer. "Why didn't you stop him?"
Keal looked at him, eyes unreadable. Then, in a voice lower than usual, he said, "Do your lunch."
"But—" Sahir started.
"Do your lunch," Keal repeated, this time more firmly.
Loira didn't speak. Her eyes remained on her plate, as if it hurt too much to meet her children's gaze.
"You don't need to know this right now," she whispered.
But the children weren't little anymore. They had seen too much. Heard too much. And somewhere inside them, they knew — this wasn't the last time they would ask.
Because no matter how tightly the past was buried…
It had already started to rise.
---
The sun was beginning to dip low, casting golden streaks along the walls of the Darien house. A breeze stirred the curtains, but inside, the rooms were thick with silence.
In the shared bedroom, Sahir, Eliya, and Rivan Jr. sat cross-legged on the floor, huddled close in a circle, their plates from lunch still untouched on the table nearby.
No one had said much since Rivan Elisar walked out the garden gate.
Sahir leaned against the edge of the bed, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
"Why didn't they stop him?" he muttered, mostly to himself. "Why did they just let him walk away?"
Eliya chewed the inside of her cheek, her voice barely a whisper.
"They looked like they wanted to. Mom was shaking. Papa Keal didn't even speak after he left."
"They cried," Rivan Jr. added quietly. "I saw them. After he was gone, Mom cried into Papa's arms."
Sahir looked at him, a frown creasing his brow.
"I don't get it. If they still love him… then what happened?"
Eliya shifted closer, her knees brushing against her twin's.
"They never told us why he left. Just that... one day he was gone. And then we moved."
"They never said anything bad about him," Sahir said. "Never once. No 'he left us', no 'he hurt us'. Just... silence."
Rivan Jr. tilted his head. "But they kept his photo in that box. The one in Mom's closet."
"I found letters once," Eliya whispered. "Old ones. All three of them wrote to each other. Back when they were together."
"They were happy once." Sahir's voice was soft now. "All of them. So why did it end?"
---