Cassian knew about the drawing.

He did not know it had been chosen.

On the first afternoon of his trip, Poppy came home carrying the news.

Miriam was away for two days helping her older sister after a move. A familiar temporary caregiver, Nina, collected Poppy from school.

Viola said she would supervise the evening herself.

Poppy called her father from the small family tablet.

His number rang.

Viola answered downstairs in his study.

“He’s working.”

“Can you tell him about the drawing?”

“Later.”

Poppy waited.

Then she called again before dinner.

This time, Viola sounded irritated.

“He doesn’t want to talk right now.”

Poppy asked whether she should send a picture.

Viola said she would handle it.

The next morning, Cassian received a photograph from Viola of Poppy’s breakfast.

She was smiling.

Under it was a message.

Happy morning. Busy day ahead.

He replied with a heart and asked Viola to tell Poppy he loved her.

Viola sent back a thumbs-up.

He remembered the exchange clearly.

He had felt connected.

His daughter had spent the same morning wondering whether smiling properly might persuade him to call.

When Poppy tried again after school, Viola said he was disappointed that she had interrupted him so often.

“What did I do?” Poppy asked.

“You keep making everything about you.”

The drawing remained inside her school bag.

By the end of the second day, she was no longer calling to share good news.

She was calling to repair something she did not understand.

Cassian heard only part of that account from Poppy.

The rest came later, in separate conversations with the adults who had been present.

For now, his daughter sat on the sofa and asked a question that made the room feel smaller.

“Were you happier when I stopped?”

He leaned forward.

“No.”

“Then why didn’t you call?”

He could have blamed meetings.

Flights.

Viola.

All of those things had played a part.

None of them answered the question he owed his daughter.

“I asked Viola to help arrange calls. When she told me you were tired or didn’t feel like talking, I accepted it instead of checking with you myself.”

Poppy looked confused.

“I always felt like talking.”

“I know that now.”

“You could’ve asked Miriam.”