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“I think that if she wants to give it a shot, you can do that while still protecting the kids. I think they should get the opportunity to know their mother. You mentioned counseling?”
“Yes, she said she suffered from serious postpartum depression,” he said.
“I hear that that is very serious and can make women do things they never would otherwise,” I offered.
“Yeah, but she wanted to get rid of the kids before they were even born, so that doesn’t explain everything away,” he said.
“Are you sure she’s getting help?” I asked.
“She says she is. But I don’t know if she’s telling the truth. Maybe it’s just an emotional reaction to knowing Sydney had been taken, or maybe she just wants a shot at my money. It’s hard to know with her.”
I took a second to digest all of what he said before my eyes turned out the window. It killed me, knowing a mother who had walked out on those kids was suddenly wanting back into the picture. After such a trauma, there was the possibility that she might walk out again, that this woman would come back, realize why she left, and leave again. Only this time, they would know her, and it would undoubtedly affect them. I knew that was what Kevin was thinking. It was my fear, too.
But they weren’t my children, and I was in no position to tell him what he should do with them.
No matter how much it killed me inside.
“I think if she wants to give it a shot, then you should try. If she’s been battling something like that, then she’s been in a hell all her own. And who knows? Maybe this whole thing with the island and stuff shocked some sense into her. You never know. She could come back in and be the mother you wished she had been the first time around.”
“That’s the thing. That never should have happened in the first place,” he said.
“But you can’t hold that against her forever,” I said. “Eventually, you have to either forgive her and try this out or move on and tell her it’s not happening.”
“But you think I should do it for the kids,” he said.
“I think that if you don’t, there’s the possibility they could hold you responsible later on for not having a relationship with their mother. You’re their father, so no one is going to know better than you. But if she’s reaching out to you and asking for this, then it at least shows a willingness on her part.”
I sipped on the rest of my wine to keep myself from talking because I was even convincing myself this was a good idea.
“And that’s your honest opinion?” Kevin asked.
I swallowed down the last of my wine before I placed the glass on the table.
“Yes,” I lied. “It is.”
CHAPTER 31
KEVIN
“So, you’re going to try counseling? After everything that woman put you through?” Owen asked.
“Like Brooke said, I owe it to my kids to give this a shot,” I said.
“I still can’t believe you ran into Sarah on the island,” he said.
“Me neither. It still feels like I was watching a really shitty movie.”
“And what Brooke did for your kids? Come on. You’ve got to see what I see.”
“I’m not following.”
“The woman’s in love with you, Kevin.”
“Brooke isn’t in love with me,” I said.
“She put into motion the plan that saved your daughter at great personal risk. After knowing you had kids for a week. After breaking her heart in college,” he said.
“Exactly. I treated her like shit before. And if she was in love with me, why would she tell me to go back to Sarah?”
