I Love You This Much
A six year old Dib ran down the stairs and to his front yard. His dad had just pulled in the drive way after being gone for a whole year, and Dib just couldn't wait to see him again.
"Daddy! I missed you so much!" the little boy happily said as he held out his arms for a hug.
His father just brushed by him, completely consumed in the conversation he was having through the phone. Dib's face fell.
He sat down by a tall Oak tree and thought to himself "Does Daddy love me?"
He walked back into the house and up to his room. A few minutes later he came back down. His dad was sitting in the recliner, watching TV in the living room.
"Daddy, I made you a picture." the small boy said, handing his father a piece of paper.
It was a picture of the two of them holding hands and smiling. The man barely glanced at it and sat it on the side table.
"That's nice, Son. Go play outside." the man said in a tone that said he didn't want to mess with it.
"Oh, okay, Daddy." Dib said disappointed as he obeyed his father's request.
The man was working on some sort of device in his science lab. Dib looked up at him with huge eyes full of adoration.
The small boy stretched out his arms as far as they would go and whispered "I love you this much."
The man continued his work, not even seeming to know his child was in the room at all. Dib lowered his arms with a frown. He just wanted his father to show him some affection.
This went on for years, and the older Dib got, he began to recent his father.
"Why can't you see me, Dad?" the boy thought out loud. "Why do you hate me?"
He became rebellious and got in quite a bit of trouble through out his teenage years. When Dib would get in trouble, his dad always said "Do what you want with him." The boy eventully gave up on trying to get his father's attention.
Dib moved in with his boyfriend, Zim after high school. When he was twenty-three he got a phone call. His father had died in a chemical accident at work. His face was blank and emotionless as he told Zim the news. He didn't cry at all. In fact, he cursed his father for never being there for him.
"Are you okay, Dib?" Zim asked concerned.
"I'm fine." Dib replied.
At the service, as Dib was viewing the body, for the first time he broke down and cried. He was shaking as he reached out and touched his father's cold, lifeless hand.
Then he streached out his arms as far as they would reach and he said "I still love you this much."
He stayed there for a while before returning to his seat. As the choir was singging, he looked up above the preacher at the carved figure of Jesus and he got to thinking, maybe he wasn't all alone. He bowed his head and prayed, something that was rare for him.