The soft light of the evening had filtered through the glass window of the restaurant and fallen onto the table. A chocolate milkshake was placed in front of little Rihan. He was absorbed in sipping cold coffee through a straw. But the eyes of the man sitting right in front of Rihan were not on the glass of coffee; his entire world seemed to be captured in Rihan's sweet little smile.
The man was none other than Rihan's father.
Two and a half long years! Perhaps only a few months on the calendar, but for an expatriate father, this time felt like an eternity. When Rihan was very small and spoke in half-formed words, his father had departed for distant lands. He would see his son on a video call on the small screen of his phone, but how could that peace of holding him close be found on that glass screen? How Rihan was growing, how he learned to walk, how his voice changed—everything the father could only feel from a distance but could not touch.
Today that wait has come to an end. After two and a half long years, the father has returned to his homeland, to the piece of his heart, Rihan.
Sitting in the restaurant this evening, the father gazes at his son with unwavering eyes. He feels that just the other day he had held him in his arms, and now look how much he has grown! He is holding the straw himself and drinking coffee, sharing little stories. Every small movement of Rihan, every flutter of his eyes—it's as if the father is framing them on the canvas of his mind for a lifetime. Perhaps there are no grand words on their lips, but in the affectionate gaze of the father and Rihan's carefree presence lies the most beautiful language in the world.
This evening is no ordinary evening. It marks the end of two and a half years of solitude and the beginning of a new journey for father and son. Like the sweetness of chocolate in the glass of coffee, this moment will remain a beautiful memory, like a fairy tale, in the lives of Rihan and his father forever.
