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“After a few seconds, she was gone,” Aero whispered, remembering the feeling of Nora going limp in his arms and the soft, serene look on her pretty little face. “I held her for a long time after that. They let me sit there. I don’t know if it was minutes or hours. It could have been days, even. My sisters eventually told me it was time to let them take her.”
Sam blinked, not knowing what to say.
“They had us leave the room so they could clean her up and take her away,” Aero whispered. “I don’t remember much after that.”
They sat on the sand, not speaking, the only noise coming from the seagulls above them and waves before them, for several minutes. It was pitch black out, the sky a velvet expanse above them, the moon having slipped behind a cloud. Sam and Aero were in their own bubble, alone in the sea of misery and understanding that was pooling beneath them, together in the darkness.
“We buried them together,” Aero said, his voice startling Sam. “It was sunny and beautiful out. I’ll never forget that.”
“I’m sure they’re safe and happy,” Sam said, hoping she wouldn’t upset him with her optimism.
He nodded in agreement. “I miss them.”
“Of course you do, love,” Sam said, kissing his shoulder. “They’re your family.”
Aero’s head whipped toward her, and he stared down at her. Byrd talked about Sarah and Nora in the present tense, too. He felt a twisting in his chest as he told her, “You’re my family now.”
“We all can be, Aero. There’s room in your heart for all of us.”
His eyes burned with tears at her words. “Are you sure?”
Sam smiled at him. “I don’t want you to think you have to forget them or give them up for me. I wanna be an addition to your life, not a replacement. They are your family, and you love them. You can love me, too, without loving them any less.”
Aero was in awe of her. He’d anticipated her being angry, dismissive, or even horrified, but here she was supporting him and standing by him regardless of his admissions. The weight of a million worries and what-ifs lifted from his shoulders, and he fell even more deeply in love with her.
“They’re buried in my hometown. I haven’t been back there since the funeral.”
Sam understood now. “That’s why you haven’t seen your family. You don’t want to go back to where you lost them.”
Aero swallowed hard and nodded.
“Would you like to go see them? I could come with you.”
“It would be hard,” Aero admitted.
“Yes,” Sam agreed, “but I think it might help you heal. You don’t have to go at all, or not right now, but think about it, okay?”
He nodded. “You would’ve liked Sarah. She was like you, in a way. Not physically. She was tall, and her eyes were blue. She loved kids, especially babies. I guess that’s what I see in you that reminds me of her. You’re both compassionate and patient.”
Sam, instead of feeling jealous that he was comparing her to his wife, felt honored. To be put on the same level as a woman that Aero clearly loved, that he saw only positive similarities between them, and that he had shared their history with her, made Sam melt inside. “I’m glad you think that.”
“Sarah was a great mother. You would be, too,” Aero said, looking down at her.
“Aero, do you want kids?” Sam asked, just then realizing why he’d asked her that when they first started seeing each other. Of course, he was nervous about dating someone desperate for a family. If she’d started hinting about having babies, Aero would’ve panicked and run because he hadn’t dealt with his past yet.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I loved being Nora’s dad. I guess I’m just afraid that…”
He trailed off, and Sam finished, “You’ll lose them.”
Aero nodded. “I like the idea of having a baby. I just worry that I’m different now, and I won’t be as good a father to them as I was to Nora.”
Sam took his face in her hands and made him look at her.
“You’ll be an incredible father, Aero, not in spite of Nora but because of her. You can be the dad she would’ve wanted you to be. You can have a family, Aero. There’s no shame in trying again,” Sam said, a flutter of excitement in her stomach at the idea of having Aero’s baby. She’d not given it much thought, instead choosing to focus on her students. Now that she realized it was on the table, she wanted it. Maybe not right away, but someday.
Aero smiled at her, new tears glistening in his emerald eyes. “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry that happened to them. And to you,” Sam said, rubbing a hand up and down his back.
