For the love of Christopher

Chapter 11 - The power of my son's love.

I hadn't received any news about Christopher or Helen even though I had been in England for several weeks. I checked every morning to see if I had any letters from Helen, hoping that she had changed her mind and was coming home. Each day the postman would walk past my house and I would feel the pain when nothing was dropped through my door. As difficult as it was for me, I had to accept she was not going to come home with Christopher. My moods were up and down. It was an ongoing battle to cope with what was happening to me. The pain would not go away, not even with the medication prescribed by my doctor.
One day I decided to go to my mother's house. I needed her support. She was my rock who gave me the strength and love I needed to help me through the dark moments in my life.
She was glad to see me. I decided she needn't know about the attempt to end my life. I knew she would be very hurt and she didn't deserve that. If I had told her, she would have been extremely angry and I didn't want to upset her unnecessarily. I had cried so many times in front her and so many times she had held me in her arms and pulled me through.
On that particular day, she could see me hurting. Mothers have this uncanny sense of feeling their children's pain. With the tears about to roll down my cheeks again, she decided to make a phone call to Maria's house hoping to catch Helen. "I can but try," she told me. "Surely she will have some mercy and allow me to speak to Christopher."
I was hoping and praying that my mum would speak to Christopher so I could hear his voice. Maria answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Maria, this is Ian's mother. Please may I speak to Helen?" my mother asked in her most polite voice.
Almost immediately Helen was on the phone. "Hello?"
My mum was careful what she said. "Hello Helen. Do you think I might speak to Christopher?"
I was very surprised when there was no argument and at least it confirmed that Helen was staying at her mother's house. Mum held the phone near my ear so I could hear Christopher's voice.
"Hello?" came the little voice from Greece.
I grabbed the phone from my mum and spoke to Christopher. "Hi, Christopher," I said quietly.
"Dad?" he asked.
"I'm here," I told him, "and I love and miss you very much."
I heard Christopher catch his breath and he replied in a tearful voice that will haunt me for the rest of my life. "My mum won't let me come home."
Suddenly the phone was cut off. I was so angry. I could feel the rage rising from deep inside and that was the defining moment that changed my whole attitude to life. I felt so ashamed that I tried to kill myself. It was the harsh realisation of what it would have done to Christopher had I ended my life. It would have destroyed him and I knew from the way he spoke on the phone that he still loved me. Hearing his voice empowered me.
I promised myself to be strong for my family and for me. I had to carry on the fight and get my revenge. If it meant punishing Helen's family for what they had done, then so be it. I hugged my mother. "I don't know what I would do without you," I told her. "You are always there for me and I love you for it more than you will ever know."
"I do know, Ian," she told me. "You are my son and I'd go to the ends of the earth for you."
I returned home knowing I was confident and I was ready for the fight. At the beginning of November 1998, I received a letter from the abduction department in London informing me of the date for a court hearing in Athens to bring Christopher home.