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She’s so beautiful, cradling her stomach like the precious bundle inside there is everything to her. He is as well, I just know it. He might have come as a bit of a surprise to us, but in a really good way. It forced us to accept that we’re meant to be together, that we’re in love, and that we have a future together even if other people have been against us the whole time.
It’s a shame that Bill and June haven’t spoken to us since that moment, that’s it’s all on bad terms. Much as everything is perfect, it’s just the one last little hole in our lives. Unfortunately, it isn’t for me to push. I can’t get into the middle of the Westfamily drama, especially since I am the cause of it. All I can do is wait to see if anything ever changes.
I have a lot of guilt about it. Alotof guilt, because I did betray my friend, but when it’s love, what can I do? IknowI can’t turn off my feelings for Stella, and I wouldn’t want to, either. She’s worth absolutely everything to me. So much so that it wasn’t even an issue to sell my apartment and sell my business as well. I don’t need any of that when I have her. We have both had to give up a lot to be together, which is sad. It’s a shame that we can’t just have our love, but I only focus on the positives.
In the future, I will start up another business on a smaller scale, so I can keep being a family man as well. I still like the idea of being my own boss, but for now, the concept of being a father is much more appealing to me. I’m lucky that I am in the financial position where I can really be there. That’s something I want to take full advantage of.
I send Stella a message back letting her know just how stunning she really is, and how I just need to grab a few more things from my old office before I will be back home with her to cook her dinner and rub her feet. Whatever I can do to help Stella feel comfortable through her pregnancy, I will do it. Her happiness is my main and only focus at the moment.
It’s still weirdly like the end of an era as I take my last box of things out to my car. I do feel odd about it. I know full well that I have sold my company to a good man and it will be well looked after, but it’s still a little weird to let go of it like this. Taking my last box and putting it in the car is saying goodbye to a whole chapter of my life. Luckily, the next one is better.
“Finn?” When I hear my name, I expect it to be one of my ex-employees. We have had a farewell party and they have alldiscussed everything with me, but this could be one last little comment from someone. A last goodbye. “Do you have a sec?”
The last person I expect to turn around and see is Bill West, though. The sight of him, with June not far behind him, makes my blood run cold. The last time Bill and I had an interaction, it ended up with my getting punched in the face. I don’t want round two. He doesn’t look as amped up and angry as he was on that day, but that doesn’t change my feelings. I’m still nervous.
But the thought of that stunning picture on my cell phone, of the woman I am going to marry and who’s the mother of my child, who would feel a whole lot better if this wasn’t an issue any longer, that’s what forces me to relax a little.
“Sure, what’s going on?” There’s an edge to my tone, though. I can’t hide that. “Is everything… alright?”
Bill’s eyes hit the floor, and I see the anxiety rolling off June in waves. There is such a thick tension between us that I nearly feel compelled to break the silence even though it isn’t really my job to, or my right to, at this point.
“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry,” Bill finally half-whispers at me. “Sorry for everything. I know I overreacted and behaved in a terrible way. What I did to you was unforgivable, and I am totally ashamed of myself. Because of that, it has taken me a long time to work up the courage to come and speak to you at all. I know that I have acted foolishly. I should have sucked it up.”
“Oh.” I don’t really know what to say about that. It’s honestly such a shock for me. I was really trying to prepare myself for a lot more yelling and freaking out. “Well, that’s okay. I understand your reaction. It was an awful situation at the time.”
“That doesn’t excuse anything, though. It might explain it, but it doesn’t excuse it. I didn’t take the time to listen to either you or Stella, and that was wrong of me. I just saw red and that has me very upset now, with time passing and me cooling down.”
“It’s okay.” I can see him killing himself over this, which isn’t what I want at all. Through everything, he’s a good person, and to be honest, I’m not the one who needs the apology, anyway. It isn’t me who’s in the middle of this. “We were all stressed.”
“But you love my daughter,” Bill replies acceptingly. “I see that now. All that you have done for her. You love her. You tried to tell me as much, and I found it hard, but you do. And you’re going to have a baby together. You’re going to be a family, and even though we might not deserve it, we would like to be a part of that too. Seriously. We want to show you how sorry we are.”
I think about Stella and how much this will mean to her. Having the last jigsaw piece put in place will make her so joyful. So, I take out my cell phone and I text Bill our address so he can come with me now to make everything right.
“Come to our house,” I tell them both in turn. “Then you can speak to Stella yourself. I know that’s what you want.”
June breaks past her husband and throws her arms tightly around me. In this hug, I can feel how much she has been stuck in the middle of this mess as well. She has been just as hurt as Stella by male pride, which is crazy and something that we all need to toss to one side. As she whispers her thanks to me, I kinda wish that I had done more.
We make our arrangements to go and see one another at the house, and as soon as I start driving, I use the Bluetooth to callStella so she knows what to expect. I don’t knowhowshe’s going to react to this. I really hope I did the right thing.
“Hi, Finn, are you on the way back?” she asks in a sing song tone of voice, so happy because she doesn’t know what I have brought upon her. “Shall I make us some drinks so we can sit out in the garden in the sunshine for the afternoon?”
“Before you make any plans, I have something to tell you.” I suck in a slightly panicky breath as I think about how this might come across. Hopefully, really well, fingers crossed. “I bumped into your parents today and they want to come to the house.”
“Why?” She has the same tension in her voice that I had when I first started talking to them.
“Because they want to say sorry. To make things up with you. To be a family once more. They really do feel bad now. You father has said a lot of things to me, and I think it might be good for you to hear them as well.”
Forgiveness is going to be key here to moving forward. To having all the happiness in the world. I hope she sees that.
“Good.” My heart rises from the pit of my stomach as she seems to see the light. “Good, that sounds nice. So, are they going to come with you now? Because actually, we can all sit in the garden for the afternoon in the sunshine.”
I can finally smile again and relax once more knowing that everything is going to be alright. Stella makes her plans while I drive, and I can almost feel the brand-new ease to the air. I still won’t regret all the life choices that I have made because I know that even with things right with her parents, she wouldn’t want to live next door to them. Stella absolutely loves where welive now, and so do I. It isn’t necessarily the life that I thought I would have, but I wouldn’t change it for the world now.
Watching Stella weep in her father’s arms, but happy tears this time around, is the best feeling in the world. I can feel that hole repairing in my chest, sealing back up. It might not have been my family drama, and it wasn’t me losing out, but I’ve been feeling it wholeheartedly, anyway. Just knowing that Stella will be better now is perfect. With her mom and dad supporting her, Stella will feel like she can take on the world, making all of us proud.
Since agreeing to get married, we haven’t really spent much time planning the wedding. We have continually told ourselves that it’s because we have a baby on the way and enough going on with the house and business sale, but deep down, I have always known that it’s because Stella wants things to be right with her parents first. She hasn’t wanted to take such a big step in her life without them. Honestly, I don’t know what we would have done if this moment never came around.
But the forgiveness is here, the healing is beginning, and now I know that we can all move forward together. Our child will have his whole family in his life, which is all I really want. A fulfilling life with all of us in the picture.
