The first day, with the first woman, he cried. He cried because she had had enough. He cried because he could not make it better. Too much had happened and they could no longer be a family. So she took their two sons and left. He could see the sadness in one son's eyes, and the anger in the other's.
And though he hurt because she took them away, he knew he would always love her.
The second day, with the second woman, everyone cried. They had to. They cried because it hurt too much. They cried because they could not cry together. The coffin was their divide. A man and a woman on one side. A man and a woman on the other. And he could still see the anger in his surviving son's eyes. The first woman could not even look at him. She would offer him no comfort. So he took the hand of the second woman, and she squeezed it.
And though he had just met her the day before, he knew he would always love her.
The third day, with the third woman, he debated whether or not he should cry. Would it be appropriate? They were not blood. They were not lovers. And many times they had resented each other. There was no passion between them, only a begrudging respect. Forged because while their views may have differed, they were both doing what they thought was best. He stared at her coffin, but there was no divide. And he saw no anger in his son's eyes, only grief. The three of them stood on the same side and saluted. Later he stopped debating and just cried.
And though she had held no official place in the course of his life, he knew he would always love her.
The fourth day, with the fourth woman, he was smiling. The second woman was screaming. "You think this is funny?" she hissed through clenched teeth. He just laughed. He looked in his son's eyes and saw no anger, only joy. And when the cries came, they were not from him. And they were not from sadness. They were from instinct. Because the fourth woman didn't know. She didn't know that this was a happy day. She took her first breath and cried. Because that's what babies do.
And when he held her in his arms for the first time, he knew he would always love her.
And he realized that day that he had loved four women in his life.
The first woman brought his sons into his world.
The other three were brought into his world by his sons.
-finis