Chapter 106 (2/2)

“Yeah” I held her tightly as she began tre

“Am I a terrible person, Rey?” she sniffed

“No, you’re not Why would you ask that?”

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“I-I called Arthur sick I didn’t take him seriously when he told us his secret… I didn’t want to take it seriously!” She looked up at me, the corner of her eyes filled with tears

“That’s normal I wouldn’t trust anyone who could easily accept what Arthur had told us,” I consoled, gently running h her hair

“Then a whether Arthur is our son?”

“”

I wanted to tell her no, but how could I when I called ? The pain and hurt I’ve been feeling ever since learning the truth about Arthur was from the selfish desires and dreams I placed on the child I called my son Alice was the one who actually birthed Arthur She went through the stress, disco the agony of labor She nursed hiht hi she knew about the child turned out to be a lie

I bitto keep silent

I needed to be the strong one…

I needed to be the one that my wife could rely on…

“I’m sorry,” ainst my shoulder so I couldn’t tell what sort of expression she had

“You did nothing to be sorry about, Honey We… we just need tis Arthur knew this, which hy he told us before he had to leave”

“How long will he be gone for?” she asked I , but my wife’s voice sounded somewhat brusque as she asked

“He said a few years,” I replied, expecting Alice to be surprised Instead, she gave ht nod as she ?” I pulled et a better look at her face Her eyes were dull, almost lifeless, as she refused to make eye contact with me

“I wonder what our son would’ve been like if Arthur hadn’t taken over?” she round

“A-Alice… please don’t say that Don’t ask so out in a sort of whi like you? Or maybe he would’ve been a bitdown her cheeks

“H-Honey, don’t Just don’t…” Tears began rolling downall I could to steady my voice “Arthur is… Arthur…”

“Arthur is what? Our son?” My wife met my eyes and I could see how desperate she was… how lost she was “If you haven’t noticed, Rey, not once have we referred to Arthur as our son since we started talking!”

I specifically reument came out; no sound, no words… only silence

I took a deep breath and wiped the tears off of“Just as it is for you, It’s hard for me to confidently call Arthur our son Hopefully, that’ll change the next tie the fact that we have considered hiht, we celebrated, we shed tears together Isn’t that what brought us close? Not the blood running through us, not e once were in the past, but ent through together?”

E “Remember when Arthur sacrificed his life for you in theto die that day You know very well he wouldn’t have done so like that if he didn’t consider you important So don’t dwell on the ‘what if’s and let’s try to accept what’s happening around us”

I could feelin my arnized that dull, lifeless look Alice had in her eyes It was the saht Arthur had died It was her trying to escape reality

We sat there for a while in each other’s arms until our tears ran dry and our sobs were reduced to soft whimpers

“Alice, you’re not a horrible person Believeto take us time to wrap our heads around this…” My voice trailed off as I heldevery detail of the wo right now,” she croaked, her voice hoarse fro

“You’re beautiful,” I stated while staring at her puffy red eyes and runny nose

My wife softly closed her eyes and leaned forward I pressedjust outside the tent

“Ma better now? Let me show you Boo!”

“No, co!” Elder Rinia’s voice rang just outside the tent as well

“A, okay Come on, Boo Let’s play with Grandma!”

Alice and I locked eyes in what felt like a long time and she finally s about?”a brow

“I’ll tell you later” Shooting her what I supposed to be a ith my swollen eyes, I wiped another stray tear from her face and resumed where we had left off