"James, give me a cigarette," he said with a smile, reaching out his hand.
I nodded, took out one of my specially blended cigarettes, lit it, and placed it between his fingers. "Dad, I couldn't bring Emma back."
"I know, you've done your best."
After taking a drag, my father-in-law chuckled bitterly, "It's also my fault. I pushed you two together, and it ended up harming you."
"Don't say that, Dad."
"At least I got married and found a father I never had. I'm quite content with that."
I also lit a cigarette and sat beside his bed. That was the truth because my relationship with my father-in-law was genuinely like father and son. We shared remarkably similar values, and since he was a military man who had seen combat, he was the type of person I admired most. I often thought that if my biological father were still alive, he would be just like my father-in-law. Even though Emma and Dave were entangled, I never pursued it, and after failing to persuade her, I simply let it be.