"Mum, where's dad?" Five year old Lydia Mchale asked quietly, glancing to her mother who was currently looking out the old window.

"I don't know." Came Sibeal's soft reply, and if one paid close attention. They could hint the sadness in her voice as she spoke. "He left before you were born"...

"Why?" Her daughter prodded curiously.

"Because he had to"...

"Cause he didn't love us?" Lydia asked, sounding almost heartbroken.

A slow nod was the answer she got.

The reply broke sibeal's heart even more.

"Why?" The young girl asked again, tears starting to fall as two arms wrapped tightly around her. And sat her in her mother's lap.

                                "I, I don't know "..

Now it was the woman who cried as she held her daughter close. "Lyd'a, yer dad may not be here , an' will probably never be. But I'll never leave ye an' that's a promise."

"You, you won't?"

"Aye, an tè bheag agam, never".

Translations:
an tè bheag agam: My little one (Scotts Gaelic) (or it's supposed to be anyways. 😁)

LucyBoal (How's this one?)