Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
"Lex," Gideon said softly.
"Go," I told him and then I dropped his hand because I knew that was what he was waiting for. He was afraid to leave me there by myself, but at the moment, his daughter needed him more. And I wasn't afraid. Even if I couldn't necessarily keep track of where Gideon was, I knew he'd always come back to me. He'd always find me.
I stood completely still and zeroed in on Gideon's heavier footsteps as he moved away from me.
"Daddy!" I heard Emma sob.
Gideon's footsteps quickened and I knew he was running. The chattering of all the girls that had been around us as they’d left school suddenly died down and I knew that meant Gideon and his daughter had an audience for their reunion. But I doubted if either of them noticed. Not with Emma sobbing like she was and Gideon murmuring to her. He was close enough to hear, but not close enough that I could make out the actual words. But it didn't matter because I knew he was comforting his daughter and telling her how much he loved her and that he'd missed her and how sorry he was.
I knew that because I knew Gideon.
I couldn't say how long the embrace between Gideon and Emma lasted because I lost track of them briefly when the girls around me began moving again. Eventually, the schoolyard emptied out enough that I was once again able to pick up on Gideon's voice. I smiled to myself when I realized Emma was introducing him to her girlfriend. I could hear the nervousness as well as the defiance in Emma's voice as she spoke. I wanted to tell her that the man in front of her would never, ever judge her, but she'd see that for herself soon enough. She'd discover a lot of truths about her father that she'd never known.
When I heard footsteps coming my direction, I tried to turn my attention that way. It was still disorienting not to be able to focus on any one thing in particular. My vision was just too far gone for that and I no longer bothered trying to identify any specific shapes. Sounds were easier for me to pick up on if I didn’t.
"Lex, I want you to meet someone," Gideon said as his fingers intertwined with mine. There was no missing the stark joy in his voice or the hint of tension that still lingered in his body. I knew that there would be time enough later to tell him that no matter what, we’d figure all of this out. That nothing and no one would take his child from him again and that when he was ready, we would all be a family.
But until then, I did my best to tell him those things without words as I gripped his hand in mine. When he returned the gentle embrace, I knew he'd heard me and so I focused all my senses on meeting his daughter… the daughter I hoped that I too would someday get to call my own.
Epilogue
Gideon
FOUR MONTHS LATER
As the driver pulled the sedan up to the wide set of stairs leading up to the double front doors, I said, "We're here."
Lex nodded nervously. He’d been quiet since we’d left the hotel, but I couldn't really blame him. This day had been a long time coming and while I truly believed he'd built up the reactions he would face from his brothers in his head, I wasn't about to minimize his fears.
Part of the problem was that he'd ended up staying away much longer than he'd intended, and that was because of me and Emma. As well as the reunion in Argentina had gone, there had been a lot of things to deal with in the aftermath. While Emma had been seemingly happy to see me, we’d had a lot of emotions to work through and rather than try to muddle through them by ourselves, I'd enlisted the aid of a child psychologist to help my daughter and me talk through everything. That process had taken months and continued to be an ongoing thing.
During that time, Emma had been terrified that my arrival meant she’d be torn away from not only the people who’d become her family in the months after her grandparents had kicked her out, but from the girl she'd fallen head over heels in love with. Once I'd assured her that she wasn't going anywhere, she’d been able to relax enough to start opening up about what had happened in the years since I'd seen her.
It had been a painful process for both of us to talk about Serena and Bethie's deaths. Emma held a lot of guilt for having pushed me away like she had, but she also still had a certain amount of loyalty to her mother. I hadn't wanted to tell Emma the truth about her mother's and my relationship, but the psychologist had assured me that the only way either of us could move forward was to deal with things head on. Between our individual and joint sessions, Emma and I had finally gotten to a point where we were comfortable enough to talk on our own, though we were careful not to tread into sensitive territory. We saved those conversations for when there was a professional present who could help us see things in a different light.