Which sentence from the passage best supports the idea that the father was acting differently toward his son?
excerpt from New History
by A. Gautam
I did not know I knew so little about my father. The afternoon he picked me up from the airport was the first time I noticed his shriveled looks. I gave my father a hug and felt his bones in my arms. With Mom in the hospice, I figured he was not eating well. Instead of requesting him to take me to a drive-through restaurant because I could not wait for food till we got home, I kept thinking about my father's thin frame. Even his eyes seemed to stray into the distance as we waited for my luggage. He did not notice me trying to grab the suitcase from the conveyor belt. Even last summer, he would not have let me carry a light duffel bag on my own. He used to be the strongest man I knew. All the quarterbacks I had met in my life did not measure up to my father in strength. That was history now.
So, we left for home, already dreading getting there without Mom waiting for us. And, she was not with us in the car to fill the silence—we had to talk to each other. I remembered trying hard to get a word in between Mom and Dad's endless conversations. They laughed and giggled a whole lot. Every once in a while, Mom would turn around to check up on me and resume talking to my father.
"Welcome home, son," my father said. "Sure missed you a lot."
It was unusual for my father to be so expressive and emotional. "Yeah, Father. I missed you guys, too. We did well this season. I really have to hit the books hard, though. They are letting me retake the mid-terms I missed. Can you believe it?"
"Well, you are their star player. I am glad you are dedicated to your studies, too, my boy!" my father said, driving slowly.
How did he know I was getting serious about school?, I wondered. I hadn't told anyone about my plans for college either. I watched him as if I was really seeing him for the first time in my life. Then, I noticed that I had just seen him and not really heard him enough. Was he trying to take on the responsibilities of Mom? I found myself asking all these questions.