Chapter 1

My heart raced as I waited for my kids to emerge from the concourse. Nerves, excitement, eagerness, worry. Everything that comes from not seeing them for such a long period of time. Overall, I was ecstatic they were finally here. Those two couldn’t get off the plane fast enough.

The last message I got was after their mother had seen them off and I had been nervously pacing up and down the airport terminal waiting for word on their impending arrival. It came as no surprise when my phone dinged, and I saw the new message was from my youngest, Amber. Joe was probably too busy texting with his friends to bother messaging me. He was at that age.

‘On our way!’ Amber sent, followed by a string of emojis that I didn’t understand.

Kids these days!

Those little smiley faces and various fruits she liked to add to her messages were just strange. She might as well have been messaging me in hieroglyphics. I couldn’t understand what she was telling me exactly, but it was crystal clear she was excited.

The divorce had been rough, and after most of a year apart, I was eager to see them again. Part of me was still a little nervous. Teenagers changed so rapidly. We’d texted and had the rare Zoom sessions since I’d moved, which only gave me the smallest of windows into their lives. I knew they were busy and, frankly, it was a massive change for both me and them now that I wasn’t around every day.

I detested that part of our new lives ... not being around them every night. So much could have happened during the months and weeks since I’d been gone. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

Not that I really expected them to be different. They’d grown up in a different world than mainstream society. They were still growing up that way, from what I knew. To say my communication with them and my old home had changed was an understatement. My ex was running the show now, and with her at the helm, all bets were off. She was ... unpredictable at the best of times.

I had to keep reminding myself that I’d divorced her for a reason. Several, actually.

It didn’t take long. To be honest, I had checked out before I even met with my attorney and filed the paperwork to start the process. I did miss the feeling of family more than I ever thought I would, especially in the evenings. When I lost custody of the kids, that was gut-wrenching. It was tough sledding after that for a while.

I couldn’t understand how I wasn’t the best choice for a full-time parent. I wasn’t a bad father. I had the means and the ability to give them everything they could possibly need. It ended up coming down to the courts always preferring to give child custody to the mother, not to mention the house.

I purchased a new home. It wasn’t anything ultra-fancy and not quite as large as my old one, but it was more than big enough for what I needed. It had everything I knew the kids would want. Everyone would have their own bedrooms, not that they would have complained too much if they had to share, but it was better for them to have their own spaces at their ages.

They would have to share a bathroom, though. That couldn’t be helped. I just hoped they liked it. Everything in their rooms was bare and plain, aside from the basics, like beds and dressers. The rest they could decorate as they saw fit.

The best part was that house sat on a little bit of wooded land. Not a lot, only about twenty acres, but that was enough for it to feel secluded and private. It was exactly the type of place I wished I had bought the first time. Though, thinking back on it, that would have gone to my ex in the divorce, so it was probably best I got it now rather than before.

A female announcer’s voice boomed out through the concourse, jerking my mind out of wondering if the kids would like the new house or not. I watched through the massive bank of windows at their arrival gate as their plane taxied in my direction and smiled.

Even though I’d been the one to move away, I missed them terribly. And they were almost here!

One month visitation didn’t make a full summer, but I was determined to make the best of it. This was the only part of the year where I had a significant amount of time to spend with them. I’d saved my vacation days. I’d cleared all my business travel so I could work at home and wouldn’t miss a moment of their visit. My house might not be Disneyland, but they wouldn’t be bored. That much I was sure of.

Still. Teenagers were impossible to predict.

I fidgeted as I waited.

So many thoughts, so many emotions. I let out a long, relieved breath when I finally spotted them.

I saw Joe first. He casually sauntered toward me, his head down tapping away at his phone, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He looked like he might have grown an inch or two since I had last seen him. Zoom calls weren’t a good way to judge changes like height. He still had a little ways to go to meet me eye to eye, but it wouldn’t be far off now. His mop of light brown hair needed a trim, but otherwise he looked good. He gave me a soft smile when his eyes drifted up and he spotted me.