I Taught My Son to Call His Father “Uncle Ethan” Chapter 06
Chapter 6 The Promise That Almost Mattered
One hour earlier.
Serena clutched Ethan’s sleeve, crying as if the world had ended.
“Ethan, what do I do? Teddy fell down the stairs. There was so much blood. I’m terrified.”
Teddy had a tissue pressed to his forehead and sobbed until he could barely breathe.
Ethan stayed pale the entire way.
He carried Teddy with one arm and called me with the other.
The moment I picked up, he spoke in a rush.
“Zoey, tell Leo I’m sorry. Teddy fell. I have to take him to the hospital. I don’t know if I can make it by three. If you and Leo can’t wait, go home first. Tell him I’m sorry.”
Then he ended the call.
That had always been his way.
He left me to explain.
He left Leo disappointed.
He believed we would keep waiting.
He believed “sorry” could somehow return the brightness to a child’s eyes.
Soon, the doctor finished examining Teddy.
His knees and elbows were scraped, and his forehead had only taken a minor bump. There was no
concussion.
When the nurse cleaned the wounds, Teddy cried a couple of times and then stopped.
The doctor handed the paperwork to Ethan.
“He’s fine. Use the ointment, observe him for a bit, then he can go home.”
Ethan’s shoulders relaxed.
He checked his phone.
Thirty-three minutes until three.
If he left now, there was still time.
But as he turned, Serena grabbed him again.
Fihan, where are you going?”
“I promised Zoey and Leo I’d take them to Dreamland Studios today.”
Serena’s eyes filled instantly.
“But Teddy is still crying.”
“The doctor said he’s fine.”
“Doctors can be wrong. What if he gets a fever tonight? What if there’s bleeding inside his head?”
Her tears fell harder.
“Ethan, I’m alone. I really can’t do this by myself.”
Before, tears like that were enough.
Ethan would always soften.
He would push Leo and me aside and then tell me, “They have no one. You have me. Zoey, be more understanding.”
But that day, Leo’s “Uncle” seemed to have lodged somewhere deep in him.
For the first time, Ethan did not immediately give in.
He looked down at Serena’s hand on his sleeve.
“Serena, I can’t break this promise again.”
Serena froze.
She clearly had never imagined he would refuse her.
The next second, she glanced toward Teddy.
While Ethan looked at his phone, she pinched Teddy’s injured arm hard.
Teddy screamed.
“Daddy Ethan, don’t go! Teddy hurts! Teddy’s scared!”
Ethan looked up.
His steps stopped.
Serena seized the chance and wrapped Teddy in her arms.
“Ethan, look at him. He really needs you. His own father divorced me and abandoned him. It took so much for him to finally treat you like his new dad. If you walk out now, you’re abandoning him again.”
Ethan’s frown deepened.
He looked at Teddy’s tear-soaked, reddened face.
Then he remembered Leo that morning.
Leo had cried too.
Only Leo had never cried this loudly.
His son swallowed everything.
He swallowed it until, at the end, all he could do was call him “Uncle.”
Something pressed heavily against Ethan’s chest.
He pulled Serena’s hand away.
“Serena, Teddy has you. But Leo is waiting for me, too.”
For a moment, Serena’s tears stopped.
She stared at him.
“Ethan, you didn’t use to be like this. Zoey waited so many times before. She was fine. She loves you, and she’s always been sensible. Why can’t she wait one more time?”
Ethan’s face changed.
For the first time, those words sounded wrong.
In Serena’s mind, Zoey and Leo’s waiting was not pain.
It was expected.
If I stayed quiet, then I was not hurt.
If Leo did not fall apart, then he did not count.
Ethan was silent for a few seconds.
“I promised them. I have to go this time.”
Serena tried again to stop him.
‘But Ethan had already taken his keys.
Before leaving, he crouched and touched Teddy’s head.
“Be good. Listen to your mom. Uncle Ethan will visit tomorrow.”
Teddy reached for him, crying.
Serena called his name behind him.
“Ethan!”
This time, Ethan did not turn around.
He walked out of the hospital.
Behind him, Serena’s expression slowly lost all warmth.
