Everything I knew about my biological father, I learned at the age of around eight, when I accidentally found some pictures of him in the house and asked my mom about him. Supposedly, he was a nice, charming man, full of love, caring, light-hearted... basically everything you would wish someone was. Mom says he was the perfect guy for her. But when I asked her why he had left us then, she told me that my father wasn't able to put up with having two children (me and my sister Candace) and an exhausting job, so he started drinking, and my mom started to dislike him for that. It eventually turned to hatred (one-sided, of course), so my father decided to leave, so he wouldn't hurt anyone else. At least that's all what my mom told me about him.

I don't blame him. Who knows, maybe I would do the same if I was him.

So, in the mall I was standing, looking at that man who looked exactly like the man I saw in those pictures. And he was looking at me. And I just felt it... It couldn't have been anyone else. And he knew me as well because... well, because he's my dad. And a triangle-shaped head is not exactly easily forgettable.

We were looking at each other for a few more seconds, and then, I smiled. Not him, it was me who did it first. I hugged him and still continued to smile. I thought about what my mom told me about him and... I guess it... Nah, it didn't matter at the moment. I was glad, happy, to finally meet my dad. After all, it was in his honour that I made all those inventions when I was a kid. I thought he would've been proud of me.

He hugged me too. I guess he felt the same way.

I tried to somehow begin a conversation between ourselves, but I just couldn't find the words to begin with.

"I'm... I can't... I..."

So he did it for me.

"I am happy to see you too, son. After all these years."

He looked me in the eyes. I accidentally let out a tear.

"You don't need to cry", he said and wiped out that tear.

"No, it's okay," I told him, "I was..." But I didn't finish the sentence.

"You were what?"

"Nothing, just..." I looked away in sadness, and then back at him. "I'm glad to see you."

He smiled too, and gave me a fist bump. I accepted it.

Even though my mom told me why he left us and everything, I still wanted to ask my dad the same question. I thought what mom told me just wasn't enough. I wanted to know what happened from his point of view. So I asked him.

"Why did you leave?"

"What?" he got a little confused.

"Why did you leave the family?" I said, with a little groaning inside me, gullibly expecting a different answer than the one my mom had given me. Turns out that wasn't so gullible.

"You know, Phineas," my dad started, "when two people feel deep affection to each other, it is perfectly reasonable for them to be together. To share things. To share a laugh with each other, to go out together, to visit places together. And if fate is on their side, they'll begin a new stage of their life together. But you see, the problem is with this word fate. Something like destiny can't be forced. You can't just jump from your everyday life to doing something you suddenly thought you are meant to do. If you do something like that, you will regret it. Sooner or later. And it will change your life."

He stopped for a second and looked down. I thought for a moment about his words and, all I can say is; every single one of them was true.

He continued:

"That is the mistake I made. I'm sorry if this will sound devastating to you, but... your mother and I weren't meant for each other. I may be the one for her, but she just wasn't the one for me. I realized it too late. And instead of ending things between us at that point, I stayed with her. She insisted. Eventually, we got married and we had two children. Your sister, and you. But... that's not what I wanted with my life. I didn't feel like it was a part of me, at all. So I explained everything to your mother. She was devastated. But I had to leave. It was for the best. Had I stayed, I would harm not only her, but you and your sister as well."

He looked me deep in the eyes once more.

"Please, forgive me", he said then.

Normally, one would expect me to be angry at him for what he did. But I wasn't. I had gone through a similar path of almost having to live on your own, losing the wish to be with people etc. So I indeed felt sorry for my dad.

I hugged him again. Yes, it looked weird; hugging a man in a yellow jacket, in the candies aisle of a supermarket, on Christmas Eve. But I didn't care what people around would think of me, and I'm quite sure neither did they care what I would think of them.

"I forgive you", I said to my dad. Then, he hugged me even more tightly.

"Thank you", he said. Now he let out a tear. We were in this hug for a few seconds, and then, my dad did something interesting. He took a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket and wrote something on it.

"Listen," he handed the paper to me, "if you ever want to visit me, you're always welcome."

I took that piece of paper and read what was on it. 14 Morgan Avenue, New York City. I will admit I was honestly surprised to find out my dad lives in New York. I've never been there, but from all I saw about New York City, it really seems like a great place.

"Thanks", I said. He nodded and gave me another fist bump.

"Merry Christmas, son."

"Merry Christmas, dad", I said to him, smiling. And then he left.

Until I came to this mall, I didn't even think for a second that anyone I knew would even show up there at the same time as I did. And look what happened; I met someone I wanted to meet my whole life. Yes, I'll admit, I was truly happy when this happened. So happy, in fact, I felt like a child again.

I waved at my dad. He waved back as he was disappearing.

I still stood there for some time. I looked at that piece of paper again. I didn't know what to do with it, so I put it in my pocket. I seriously considered visiting my dad in New York, maybe with Isabella. Those chocolates I had the whole time, I paid for them and sent them to my family by post. Terrible idea. For myself, I bought a bottle of Fanta. I came out of the mall and took a deep breath of fresh air. I was finally relaxed.

But what I came across, when I got back to my room in the dormitory, was beyond all of my expectations...