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“Thank you, Langston For everything”

He cupsawayfor the heartbreak that was there before He won’t find it All he’ll find is forgiveness and gratitude

“I h a lot you and I We’ve failed each other so s that you know ot part of his life that I will never get I’ht deep down that if you ever did marry someone, it would be me

“But above it all, I’ht I was protecting hi him away, but you—you showed him love when I couldn’t You found him, protected him, loved him You became his father when you had no responsibility to do so He wasn’t your blood He was the lost child of a woman you hated You didn’t have to intervene You definitely didn’t have to becoh for what you did”

“I

hid your child I took hi you I had him And I married your cousin when I could have chosen you Don’t thank me for that”

I grab his hands and lift the them “No, you loved my child and became his father The rest is just messy detail I’ll never be able to repay you for what you did”

He scrunches his eyebrows and gruffs but doesn’t argue “Do you want to meet your son?”

I hear the children laughing just feet away from me My heart pulls toward thehter More than anything in the world

But I have to make sure it’s for the best tomore enemies into their life When I meet them, it has to be because it makes their lives better, not worse

So I answer the only way I can, “No”

2

Langston

She said no

My ers, and , or she just said the word because she’s used to telling me no