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At her usually gruff brother's soft voice, she finally looked up. Part of her wanted to run to him. Finn was her mate and she loved him, but Tristan had been the one to fight for her when she'd been younger, in place of her father.
And she'd missed him.
As if reading her thoughts, Tristan closed the distance between them and opened his arms. Without a word, Finn released her hand and Tristan hugged her close. He murmured, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."
Shaking her head against her brother’s chest, she replied, "No, it's okay. I just missed you."
Tristan grunted. "With the twins being older, I'm sure we can visit more often." He leaned back and touched her chin. "Just tell us what you want to do right now and I'm sure we'll all follow it."
She glanced at Finn and he nodded his agreement.
The easiest path would be to say she wanted to leave,
go back to her children, and forget about the male who'd abandoned her as a teenager.
And yet, to do so would erase much of the progress she'd made over the last few years.
She'd promised herself that she wouldn't run again, and Arabella was determined to fulfill that vow.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed away from Tristan and took a few steps toward her father.
Standing just behind her dad, she noticed the metal crutches lying next to him. Since he hadn't needed them before, something must've happened to him to.
Despite everything, she wanted to know what.
Mustering her courage, Arabella moved to stand in front of her father. Since he still didn't look up, she spoke. "Dad, look at me."
One beat passed and then another. Just as she debated squatting to see his face, George MacLeod met her gaze.
The guilt and self-hatred in his brown eyes were more than familiar. Arabella had seen it in the mirror every day for years.
She might still be angry and wouldn't forgive him without a lot more discussion and time, but in that moment, she knew she wanted to help him.
Because she sensed that if she didn't, he might not live much longer. And despite everything that had happened, her children deserved to have another grandparent.
Not just because her father's genetics might better help understand what was going on with Freya, but because somewhere deep inside the self-loathing male in front of her was the male she remembered. The one with pieces of her and Tristan's quirks and personalities.
On top of that, he was one of the few links to her mother.
Crouching down, she took her father's hands in hers. He tried to pull them away, but she tightened her grip. "No, I'm not going to let you hide and run away any longer." His gaze shot to the healed burns on her neck. She growled. "Yes, I suffered when I was younger. And of course, I missed my father and wished he would've been around to help. But right now, you're the one who needs support, and I'm going to give it to you."
She barely heard his words, "I'm not worth it."
"Stop. Because if you keep it up, I'll call in a female here by the name of Aunt Lorna. And I assure you, she's a much stronger force to be reckoned with than me. But one way or the other, I'm going to help you, Father. You have five grandchildren so far, and they deserve to know the male I remember, not this half-shadow you've become."
She held her breath and waited. From her own experience, Arabella knew that sometimes a person needed a little time to voice a thought, or even accept someone's offer of help.
The others in the room must've sensed the same, because they remained silent, too.
Her father finally spoke again. "I abandoned you and Tristan, Ara. You should be angry with me."
She raised an eyebrow. "I am, but we can deal with that later, once you stop hating yourself. Because I was once just like you. It took a lot of love from Tristan and his mate, as well as finding my own true mate, to finally move past it. The experience taught me that love can heal many wounds, including the ones you have now." She squeezed his hands in hers. "But I also know that it won't make any sort of difference unless you want to live."
Arabella released her dad's hands and took out her mobile. After finding a picture of her three babies sleeping together, she turned it toward them. "Here are three reasons you should fight, Dad. These are my three babies—Freya, Grayson, and Declan." She changed to another picture of two toddlers. "And here are two more. These are Tristan's twins, Jack and Annabel." Lowering the phone, she whispered, "So the most important question is—do you want to fight for the chance to know your grandbabies? Or do you want to give up, and abandon all of us again?"
Her father's gaze moved to Tristan. "Do you agree with Ara?"
Tristan grunted. "Yes. I've been trying to tell you that for months, but you never listened. However, know that if you walk away this time, I won't follow. This is it, George. Either allow us to help you heal, or you'll never see or hear from us again."
