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Deep remorse filters through her fallen features as she sobs, clutching her middle as she finally understands. “Please don’t keep them away from me. Please.”
“I won’t. I didn’t come back from hell to torture you or strip you of the family that you’ve almost forsaken. I could have, but I chose to open this dark pit of pain so we could close it together.”
She nods as her eyes blur from relief and gratitude. But I waver to close the gap between us even if I feel her abyss so familiar to mine. It will take time to heal and forgive and finally trust her.
“Will you ever forgive us?” she echoes my thoughts.
“With time,” I respond as a little baby cry echoes close to where we stand, snapping us from our argument.
“Can we join you?”
I nod, smiling at Leif, holding his precious angel in the crook of his hands. Helen glances at the little girl, and her tears start to flow like a river down her cheeks.
“I thought I was doing the right thing.” She hugs her middle and leaves us.
“I heard it all.” He motions for me to sit on the bench, passing his daughter into my arms, and I press her tiny form close to my palpitating heart.
“Do you think I’m wrong?”
He exhales and looks at me.
“No, but they were convinced this was the only way. You’ll have to forgive them, even if you know they should have done things differently to ensure your safety.”
“Did you know about all of this?” I change position as his little princess makes an unhappy noise.
“No.” Leif looks lost, trying to convince me and probably himself that we shouldn’t feel bitterness. It wasn’t one mistake that led us here but a chain of them. “We need to move on and mend what is broken. Otherwise, that monster wins.” He wraps his hand around my shoulder as I lift the little baby girl to my nose, inhaling her sweet scent of innocence.
“I’ll mend that bridge after we come back home,” I promise him. “I needed your mother to understand what their actions almost cost us. This time we were lucky. There can’t be another time.”
“I get it, I do.” He kisses my temple. “Now, go to Mark. You two need time alone to lick your wounds, heal your souls, make love.” His nostrils flare, and biceps flex with protectiveness. “In case someone would want to harm my wife and my baby angel, Aisha and I decided to stay. We will look after Liane and Leon.”
I kiss his unusually smooth cheek and pass him his daughter, who beams at her father like he is her whole world. “Thank you, brother. For everything.”
“Cassandra.”
I turn around.
“Nothing’s wrong with me being their father, you know? We are family. The more people love us, the happier we are. One day, you’ll tell them your story. One day, they will realize how fortunate they are to have us all.”
My eyes water as I nod at him.
He’s right, I’ll have to tell them about the past and the deep chasm that almost drowned me. About their father’s determination to save me and heal me with love. I’ll have to tell our story and how our lives are intertwined with pain and happiness.
When I wander into the house quarters where our bedroom is located, I find Mark sitting on the bench situated by the huge window. Resting his elbows on his knees, he watches the trees sway in a hypnotic rhythm. Lost in his thoughts, he doesn’t notice me at first as I take the seat next to him.
“They saved us.” A bird lands on the perfectly manicured lawn, tweeting and calling its friends to join him. “So why do I feel this way?” He wraps his hand around me, and I melt under his wing like a missing piece.
“Betrayed?”
He shakily exhales.
“Bitter to fully appreciate what they’ve done.” His eyebrows draw in line as he tries to filter through the emotions slashing him like a razor, trying to understand what this means.
I uncurl from under his wing, needing to give him a chance to feel this anguish, and grasp his face full of cuts and bruises. “Because they wronged you.”
“If they had told me, I would have accepted them, loved them. I would have had a family.” He chokes on his words. “They stole that choice from me, didn’t they?”
I squeeze his knee.
