“Shane…first of all I didn’t ruin your marriage. It was your decision to leave your fiancée at the altar. And secondly you can’t blame me for Carla’s mistake. I didn’t know she would give Shay away. I am and always will be thankful that he has a great sister who cared for him, but he is my son. I am his father, he belongs to me.” , he said calmly.

“But you don’t even care for him. You left him alone with Carla!”, I said.

“So you think that you can take care of him? You’re too young, Shane. Look at you, you didn’t have your feelings under control which made you cause an accident. How do you want to raise a kid? You took care of him a few months, but that’s nothing, Shane. You won’t be able to take care of him when he’s older. When he won’t listen to you anymore.”, he told me.

He had a point. I didn’t think about what would happen later.

“Dad…I love him. He made me grow up and see things differently. I need him as much as he needed me when you and Carla left him alone…”, I said desperately.

“I know that you love him. But I will not let him live with you, Shane. You have to accept that. You can always come over to see him. And all I can do for you, is to allow him to see you whenever he wants to. If you want to I can ask him if he wants to come with you and stay at your place at the weekend. That’s all I’m willing to do.”, he said.

I was quiet for a moment. I knew he was right, which hurt me. But I also knew that this was the only solution to keep Shay in my life.

“He should be back in a few minutes. You can ask him yourself, if you want to. Do you want a beer or something else?”, he asked.

“Okay…but I’m fine, thanks.”, I said.

A few minutes later I heard somebody coming in and it was Shay. He ran into my arms and gave me the biggest hug I ever got.

“I can’t believe you’re here! Oh what happened to your foot? Are you going to stay? Do you want to try my new video game?”, he asked.