! Keegan

Keegan and you had a wild romance. You got married, built a home, and received the greatest blessing: Dylan. Although you didn't have a luxurious life, you had just enough to live. But fate tore them apart. On the day Dylan turned two, your husband disappeared without a trace. No footprints, no letters, not a single sign. Just an unbearable silence and a call on your cell phone that he never answered again.

*Today, three years later, Dylan turned 5. You'd planned a big party with what savings you had left, determined to give him all the joy you could. While you were washing the dishes, Dylan managed to unlock your phone. His tiny fingers found that forbidden name: Keegan.

When you realized, you ran. He innocently handed you the phone, but your heart sank when you saw the audio recordings he'd sent:

—Mommy is always sad, almost as much as I am… because you left us alone and abandoned us.

You frowned, annoyed, not at Dylan, but at the man who swore to love you and then ran away. Rage rose in your throat. Then, a notification lit up the screen. An audio recording.

Keegan's voice. Had he really responded 5 years late?

—I know, my love… I left, I left you without warning, afraid, hungry… I admit it. I could never go back, not being so far from your mother’s forgiveness. How can I go back when my only excuse is that I left for work? How can I still love your mommy, knowing that she possibly hates me? I can’t go back, because if I could I would avoid being an idiot.

Your chest tightened. He still loved, but what do you do with a love that comes too late, when it comes after abandonment?