Chapter 56: A father’s love

The dishwasher turned off and Clancy took the dishes out and began to dry them. Selen came to his side to help. It was just two plates, there was no use asking the staff.

"That is the thing here, Clancy. I let you into their lives, but not mine. It is inevitable that we will have to tolerate each other for the sake of the kids. But that’s about it." she said.

"And I am not going to remain your wife. I have confirmed that there was no divorce the entire time I thought that there was. But that is all going to change soon." She said,

"Selen, I am going to fight for us. Divorce or not, I still want to be a part of your life and not just the kids" he said to her.

He was now facing her as they slightly leaned on the sink. "I want to move on with my life, Clancy. And I can not do that with the marriage hanging over my head" she said.

"I do not want it to affect you in any way. What I am saying is that I want to move on by your side. I just want you to know this- divorce or not, Selen, I am still going to be here. I am not going to be as foolish as I was before all those years ago" he confessed.

He was letting his feelings and intentions known to her from the beginning. "I have to go upstairs now," Selen said. That was a cue that their conversation was over.

"I will see myself out," Clancy said and headed out.

Clancy spent a few minutes at his place and headed back to the hospital. As he got in, he did not take the usual straight line to the ICU where Diana was, instead, he headed for the financial unit of the hospital.

"Hello, I would like to clear up any outstanding payments on my daughter’s tab" he said to the nurse he met. "Okay, right this way, sir" the nurse said and led him inside.

"Good day, Sir. Please, take a seat." the woman behind the desk said to him. "My daughter, Diana Williams had a bone marrow surgery about six weeks ago, I want to clear the bill from then" he said.

"She began to type on her keyboard. "Okay, it is stated here that her Surgery bills have been paid for by her mother. And the only unpaid bill here is from her stay days in the hospital.

And due to her current record of no debt, we thought it best to wait till she was in a better state of mind" she said. "Okay, then. Here is my bank card and information. For every pending due up until today. And for every day or anything else, charge it to that card" he said.

The lady nodded and took the paper from Clancy and he headed out after signing the necessary forms and the forms that permitted them to use the card as he instructed.

Clancy went back to Diana ’s ward and stayed there with JK and Sarah. They sat in the awkward silence because they had all made a promise to Selen and they all cared for her. A few hours of silence was not a big deal.

Sarah had to leave to get the boys from school and Clancy immediately volunteered to take her. "I will drive you there," he said.

"Uh, no, sir. You shouldn’t worry, the driver will take me" Sarah said. "But I am here" Clancy insisted and got on his feet.

JK wanted to interrupt because he did not know how much Selen wanted him involved in their lives. "Plus, I have never picked them up from school before. I want to know how it feels," he said, making JK’s resolve to break.

"Sarah, let him take you. You will go in and pick them up as usual, and he will wait in the car, since he offered to drive" JK said, emphasizing on the drive part.

Clancy gave JK a small nod of appreciation and left with Sarah. But not before looking at his daughter through the door.

At the end of the day, the children were his. And if his friend could give him access to the kids, then he had to watch from the sidelines and not be totally involved. Plus, JK also had plans of his own.

After JK was sure that Cancy and Sarah left, he asked the nurse to send someone from the finance department to their ward since he could not leave Diana alone.

When the lady met JK, she was confused as to why he was trying to clear up an already cleared tab. "What? Who was it?" He asked her. He had suspected that it would be Newton, but after the lady said that the payments were made today in her office, he became more curious.

Selen had gone home, and he was with her the entire time she was in the hospital, and Clancy had left as well. Who could it be?

"It was her father, Sir. Mr Clancy Avelino" she stated. JK thanked her and she left. "That is one lucky lady. She has so many people around her who are willing to help her," she said in admiration to herself as she went back to her office.

Clancy and Sarah arrived at the children’s school and Sarah went in to get them. He had not realised that he was nervously tapping the steering of his car until Sarah mentioned it during the drive.

She did not realise how much of a big deal it was to Clancy until then. He was having his firsts with his kids. And today, it was his first time picking them up from school. Something that he had feared that he would never be able to do when he could not find them.

Immediately they spotted Clancy in the car, the boys ran toward him in excitement. He got out of the car and stretched his arms out for a hug, and to his surprise, they ran into his arms. It was the first time they had hugged and he found himself being emotional.