Chapter 5: The Slow Approach
True to his word, Luca didn’t disappear.
He rented a small house at the edge of town and started appearing around the bakery almost every day. He never forced his way in. He would simply sit at one of the outdoor tables with a coffee, watching the bakery quietly like a man trying to memorize every detail of a life he had missed.
At first, I kept the twins upstairs as much as possible. But children are curious, and Lena especially kept asking about “the big man who looks sad.”
After a week, I allowed supervised visits in the bakery — short ones. Ten minutes at a time. Luca was surprisingly patient. He didn’t overwhelm them. He simply sat with them, asked gentle questions, and listened when they talked about their favorite cartoons or the new words they were learning.
I watched from behind the counter, my heart in my throat.
Leo was shy at first, but he slowly warmed up to Luca’s quiet presence. Lena, on the other hand, took to him faster than I expected. She would climb onto the chair beside him and show him her drawings. Luca would study each one like it was the most important thing in the world.
One afternoon, while the twins were napping upstairs, Luca stayed behind after closing.
“You’re good with them,” I said quietly as I wiped down the tables.
He looked surprised by the compliment.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” he admitted. “I’ve never been around children before. But I want to learn.”
I stopped cleaning and looked at him.
“Why are you really doing this, Luca? Is it because you feel guilty? Or because you actually want to be their father?”
He met my eyes without hesitation.
“Both,” he said honestly. “I feel guilty for everything I put you through. And I want to be their father. More than anything.”
I looked away.
“I’m not ready to trust you again,” I said. “Not with them. Not with me.”
“I know,” Luca replied. “I’m not asking you to. I’m just asking you to let me try.”
May you like
I didn’t answer.
But I also didn’t tell him to leave.
