“You didn’t want help. She tried, I heard her. Besides, I doubt she knows that I still come here. Children don’t always know what their parents are up to, thank God.” He chuckled. “I came to this group when Auntie was pregnant with Nilay. I didn’t want to have another baby. I was already consumed with protecting Annika from every speck of dust. But we had a baby coming, and a friend suggested I try out this group. I was highly skeptical—what kind of man can’t handle his own head? The way I grew up, men showed their strength by simply moving on. Go to work, make a living. They didn’t talk about their feelings, let alone deal with them. I was doing what I had to—providing for my family, protecting, all the things a ‘man’ should do.” Anil dropped his gaze and his tone went flat. “I was trying to make up for not protecting my Vipul. For not being able to save him.” He shrugged, looked back at Daniel. “Every day, my wife would tell me something wonderful about the new baby to come, and every day I ignored her. As if by not acknowledging her pregnancy, somehow the baby would not come.” Anil looked past Daniel, his voice gruff with emotion. “One day, I saw the love in her eyes turn to fear, and I realized that the distance I was putting between us had put that fear in her eyes. I had to make a change. I had to be the man she deserved.” He gave Daniel a small smile. “So, I made myself come here.” Anil stopped at his car.

Daniel nodded.

“What I found here was that while I was taking care of business, I was losing out on everything else—including my wife and daughter.” He shrugged. “I wanted to be a better father for my daughter and new baby, and a better husband for my wife. So I kept coming back. I took over the group eight years ago when our leader moved out of the state. Many of these men had turned to alcohol and drugs and other destructive behaviors before they came here. Many of them were also workaholics. We are an adjunct to whatever regular therapy they seek.”

“Why did you come to me?”

“Because you’re a father. And you need help. Because I’m a father who can offer that help. Not to mention my daughter is in love with you.” He handed Daniel another card. “This group is great. But sometimes we need more than what the group can offer. This guy—” he nodded at the card “—is one of us.”

Daniel took the card, wondering about this brotherhood he seemed to have become an unwilling member of. As if he’d read Daniel’s mind, Anil spoke. “None of us ever planned to be here. But here we are, and we do the best we can.”