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“I don’t believe it either”

“Yikes I hope you didn’t tell her that”

“Why not?”

Melody makes a face “Is that really how you want to start your reunion? You still love her You haven’t stopped pining over her since the day you lost her and now, against all odds, she is lying in your bed with your son”

I drag a hand down uilt that piercedinside of me “She ran froave her the world and she ran from me”

“You orking a ton of hours and traveling a lot She was alone and didn’t have anyone in her life I was busy with Ronnie andto fulfill every demand of Gran’s”

“You’re saying I should’ve taken her on trips where I couldn’t spend any tis all day?” That seemed like a quick way to break up

“I’ that’s all in the past You have a couple of options, Jonas You can either treat her like crap and try to extract asyour own pain, or you can let it go and try to live a new life together”

“I want to knohat happened”

“What if you don’t like what happened? Do you throw her out then? If you plan on staying together, then the past doesn’t matter”

She’s et over being angry I’ive and ht she had But I hear what Melody is saying I could lose the two of theain, just when I found them Melody pats me on the head and takes her leave I stare at the fire until the flarows cold When the last light flickers out, I drag my sorry ass into the bedroom Darby’s body is curled around our son The two of the bed When Ipreschool teacher At first, she couldn’t believe that I’d fallen for her She thought it was some kind of elaborate prank that her not very nice coworkers had set up

She was, as Melody pointed out, alone in this world I ave her promises—that I would always love her, that I would protect her, that she would never be alone I didn’t keep those prory with her or is it my failure that I can’t live with?

Chapter 12

Darby

I smile when I feel kisses onextra awake I open iant s me what’s really important

“Hey, angel” I pull hile It takes ht back all the eether I will not have a breakdown in front of Jax This ht be a lot for hi here is fa as an adult, then he must be, too

“I hungry,” he tellshim little kisses everywhere

“Okay Let Moh the s I spote left rab it but stop when I see Jonas lying on the other side of the bed watching us Jax followshis hand to point at him

“Hi!” Jax chirps at him before he starts to craard Jonas I know he doesn’t know that Jonas is his father, but it’s still shocking to see how quickly he’s taken to him He’s always so shy aroundmany around him on a daily basis

Jonas sits up, resting his back against the headboard while opening his arms for Jax He watches hi on He’s so curious about Jonas He reaches up to touch his face, tracing his little chubby finger along his nose I watch as Jonas stares back at hiin to tear up a little at their interaction

“Was dis?” Jax points to soets his first answer it spurs hi more Jonas patiently answers all of his questions

Jax points to ht of Jonas’ stare as he lifts his eyes to look at me

“That’s your o back and forth between us Jonas continues to stare at er raises up to point at Jonas

“Daddy” The word slips from my mouth before I can stop it I don’t even look up to see Jonas' expression

I slip off the bed to get Jax’s bag so I can change hiets cranky is when he’s hungry Not even when he’s tired does he cry He turns into a little cuddle ball

“I've got it” Jonas holds out his hand for the diaper bag I still don’t make eye contact with him

“I can do it” I’ on my own

“I’ve got it I put some of your stuff in the bathroom” He motions toward two double doors