"I should have protected him."
Elias remained silent, allowing Kade to continue.
"I was his father..." Kade said quietly, his voice carrying a pain he had never allowed anyone to hear. "Yet for three years another man watched him grow while I never even knew he existed."
His hand curled into a fist at his side.
"When he took his first steps... I wasn't there."
"When he spoke his first words... I wasn't there."
"When he cried... when he was frightened... when he was sick..."
His voice faltered for the briefest moment.
"...I wasn't there."
The room fell silent once more.
Elias slowly turned toward him.
"You cannot blame yourself for a truth that was stolen from you."
Kade gave a faint, bitter smile.
"Perhaps not."
His eyes returned to Cooper.
"But that doesn't change the fact that my son suffered while I lived in ignorance."
Elias studied him quietly before speaking.
"Then do not waste your strength mourning the years you cannot reclaim."
Kade looked at him.
