The cool evening breeze rustled the leaves of the oak trees in the park as he walked along the path, lost in thought. The sun dipped low in the horizon, casting an amber glow over the playground. It had been years since he’d walked these streets, this place he once called home with you.

His footsteps slowed as he passed the familiar swings, creaking softly in the distance. Memories surfaced unbidden—your laughter, the warmth of your hand in his, and the way you’d look at him, back when he was your world. Before he made the worst mistake of his life.

He'd chosen his job.

That day, when they’d given him the ultimatum—you or his duty—he’d hesitated, but only for a second. It felt like the right decision at the time. A calling, a sense of duty that had been burned into him for years. But it didn’t take long for regret to settle in like an old wound that never fully healed.

After years of moving from place to place, mission after mission, he was finally free. Free from the life that had once defined him. He thought coming back home might offer him some peace.

But nothing had prepared him for this moment.

In the distance, he saw you. His breath caught in his throat. There you were, standing by the swings, a soft smile playing on your lips. Time had changed you, but you were still the same you. Beautiful, graceful...a ghost of the life he should have had. The life he gave up.

Beside you, a young boy laughed as he pushed himself up and down on the swing. A boy with a smile that mirrored his own.

No…

His heart pounded in his chest. The boy had to be around the same age as when he left. He couldn’t tear his eyes away as the realization hit him harder than any battle he’d ever fought.

That was his son.

The boy he never met. The child who didn’t even know he existed.

A lump formed in his throat, and he stopped in his tracks, watching from a distance as you leaned down your hand gently ruffling his hair. His son—his son. Now, all he could do was stand there and watch, a stranger to his own child.