My Son Learned To Say Goodbye Before I Did Chapter 01

My Son Learned To Say Goodbye Before I Did Chapter 01

I realized my husband still had feelings for his first love, a divorced mother raising a child on her own.

After that, I started teaching our son to call him “uncle.”

When my son had a fever, that woman called my husband away in the middle of the night.

I pressed a hand to my child’s burning forehead and softly told him to say goodbye to “Uncle.”

The day he promised to attend our son’s parent teacher conference, that woman called him in tears.

She said her son didn’t have a dad to go with him. He left without a second thought.

I didn’t even look up.

I just handed my phone to my son and asked him to let his teacher know his dad wouldn’t be coming.

Every single time, my son hesitated for a very long time before saying it.

Then, when my husband finally realized how much he had let us down, he suggested we all go take a family portrait together.

But right before taking the portrait, that woman called again, sobbing into the phone.

“Grant, could you come pick Milo up from school? The kids are teasing him about not having a dad…”

Grant’s face flickered with hesitation. He was about to crouch down and explain things to our son.

This time, though, my son didn’t need my prompting.

He waved at Grant on his own.

“It’s okay, Uncle Grant. Go be with your other kid.”

“Mom and I can handle the family portrait.”

—

The moment those words left my son’s mouth, both Grant and I froze.

A few days ago, I realized Grant’s priorities had changed. His heart wasn’t really with this family anymore.

Every time he chose Sabrina over me and Eli, I told Eli to call him “Uncle” instead of “Dad.”

It was my way of reminding both myself and my child not to keep getting hurt over someone who wasn’t worth it.

But Eli had never thought about it the same way.

He was only seven years old, still at the age when a boy depended on his father most.

Every time I told him to say “Uncle,” he would hesitate for a long while before quietly forcing the word out.

But this time, he said it on his own.

The word came out naturally, almost too naturally, like he had already accepted it a long time ago.

Seeing both of us stunned into silence, Eli reached for my hand and looked at Grant.

“Uncle Grant, you should go.”

Then he turned to me.

“Mom, let’s go. We’re gonna miss our appointment.”

Holding my hand tightly, he led me step by step toward Evermore Portraits.

The family portrait had been Grant’s idea. He wanted to make up for missing Eli’s parent-teacher conference.

Eli had been looking forward to it for two whole weeks.

I walked stiffly beside him, a weight pressing on my chest so heavy I could hardly breathe.

I discovered Grant’s affair by accident.

He had gone to celebrate Sabrina’s son’s birthday.

When he came home, he forgot to take the tickets out of his pocket. Three tickets to Adventure Kingdom.

On Eli’s sixth birthday, his wish had been simple.

He wanted the three of us to visit Adventure Kingdom together and see the characters he loved so much.

Grant had called it childish and rejected the idea without a second thought.

Yet only days later, he took Sabrina’s child there instead.

Later, I found Sabrina’s social media post on Grant’s phone.

[The most magical place’s meant to be shared with the best daddy in the world.]

Attached was a photo of the three of them—Grant, Sabrina, and her child—posing like a perfect little family.

Sabrina had been Grant’s first love. A divorced woman with a child.

That night, we had the fiercest fight of our marriage.

I insisted on getting divorced and taking Eli with me.

Grant accused me of overreacting.

He asked how I could bear to let Eli grow up without a father.

He swore over and over that he only pitied Sabrina.

As I looked at Eli’s pale, frightened little face, I bit my lip so hard I nearly tasted blood.

I knew that if I forced Eli to leave with me, he would never truly forget Grant.

But I also knew that once there was a first time, there would be a second. Then a third.

I refused to let Eli keep getting hurt because of Grant’s so-called sympathy. So I chose another method.

I tricked Grant into signing the divorce papers. Then we were waiting until the paperwork was finalized.

If Grant came to his senses within those days, then for Eli’s sake, I would pretend none of this had ever happened. But if he didn’t…

During those days, I would do everything I could to help Eli let go, little by little.

Today was day twenty-eight. And today, he had said it all on his own.

I could feel Eli trembling in my arms. Instead of relief, all I felt was a deep ache in my chest.

As we crossed the street, Grant finally snapped out of his shock.

He hurried after us, clearly wanting to ask Eli what was going on, but Sabrina called again.

Her voice was still soft and tearful. “Grant, where are you?”

“Milo won’t stop crying. He keeps asking for his daddy. I can’t get him to settle down.”

Grant stopped in his tracks.

He stared at our backs while holding the phone to his ear.

“Okay. Got it. I’ll be there soon.”

After hanging up, he sent me a text.

[We’ll talk tonight.]

Then he turned around and left without hesitation.

The roar of the engine echoed behind us before gradually fading into the distance.

Eli suddenly stopped and threw himself into my arms, his tears soaking through my shirt.

“Mom,” he said, his voice trembling. “Can we not have Daddy anymore?”