"Ezekiel, honey, dinner is ready," Mary, Ezekiel's wife, spoke. He let go of his charcoal pencil, letting it drop to the floor. Mary looked at him with a sad smile and heavy eyes. "It's your favorite. Rice and chicken." With no response, Mary sighed, "Look, Ezekiel, I get it. You miss Aliyah, I know you do, but you have to move on. That's in the past now." She walked over to her husband, laying her hand on top of his.
"No, I don't miss her," Ezekiel whispered. Mary looked at him, giving him a questioning look. "I don't miss her. It's something more than missing her. I can't cope anymore, knowing what I did to her." His voice cracked.
Mary squeezed Ezekiel's hand, comforting him. "Baby, I know, but we were both young. You were only sixteen and I was fifteen. We weren't ready for a child." She laid her head on his shoulder. His body shook under her weight. "Don't get me wrong, I miss our daughter too. I miss her so, so, so much. I'm just worried about you. You haven't been eating, sleeping, or interacting with anyone. You need to focus on something or someone else other than Aliyah." She informed him.
Ezekiel wiped the tears, falling from his weeping brown eyes. "I can't help it, Mary. I can't help it!" He cried out. "I can't stop thinking about her. I can't stop thinking about what we did to her." He said. "Wait, no. I can't stop thinking about what I did to her." He corrected himself. Mary went to say something, but he interrupted. "It was my idea to give her up to adoption. It's my fault that she's gone now. It's my fault that she doesn't know who her biological parents are." He spoke, "I failed as a parent."
"Ezekiel James, I will tell you right now. You did not fail as a parent. We have two beautiful children," He cut Mary off. "Three children. You're forgetting Aliyah." He said. "Yes, three children." She corrected herself. "But, I can assure you that all three of them, including Aliyah, know that they have a wonderful father." She smiled at him.
"How do you know Aliyah knows that I exist?"
"She's a teenager, honey. Deep down in her heart, she knows that you love her and she knows that you miss her very much. I can tell you this. I know for a fact that she loves you too." She said.
Ezekiel stared at where the wall should be. Instead of a plain, white painted wall, the wall was covered in charcoal drawings. Drawings of his daughter that he never officially got to meet. The girl in the drawings was beautiful and happy. The way Ezekiel dreamed of her to be.
He looked at his wife, rubbing his thumb across her cheek. "Well, since you cooked my favorite, I won't mind getting a few plates." He smiled. "A few plates?" She questioned. "Yeah, I'm hungry." He responded.
