Book5Chapter10
A few weeks later, Lucas approached me with a proposition.
“I know this is going to sound crazy,” he began, his voice hesitant, “But I have an idea. A crazy, impossible idea.”
He took a deep breath and met my gaze, his eyes filled with a mixture of hope and
uncertainty.
“Move in with us,” he blurted out.
I stared at him, my mind reeling. “Move in? With you? And Liam?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice gaining confidence. “You and Liam, you have this… connection. I’ve never seen him so happy, so relaxed. And you, Evelyn, you’re like a different person when you’re with him. You’re… lighter, somehow.”
He reached for my hand, his touch gentle and reassuring.
“I know this is a lot to ask,” he continued, his voice softening. “And I’m not asking you to be his mother, or anything like that. But I see the way you look at him, Evelyn. The way he looks at you. You two, you’re good for each other. And God knows, we could both use a little more love and happiness in our lives.”
He was right. We were good for each other. Liam brought out a side of me I had forgotten existed, a tenderness, a capacity for love that I thought I had lost forever. And Liam, well, he needed someone to love him, someone to help him navigate the choppy waters of childhood grief, someone to be there for him, unconditionally.
“Okay,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Okay?” Lucas asked, his eyes widening in surprise.
Book5Chapter11
Book5Chapter11
Life with Lucas and Liam was chaotic, unpredictable, and messy. But it was also filled with a love and laughter I had never thought possible.
I never tried to replace Liam’s parents. I knew that their place in his heart would always be sacred. But I was there for him, as a friend, as a confidante, as…as a mother, even though I never dared to voice that word aloud. He was the son I had always wanted, and I was the mother he needed.
David eventually remarried, as I knew he would. His new wife was everything Emma wasn’t: kind, intelligent, and most importantly, she loved Ethan unconditionally.
I saw them occasionally, at school events or birthday parties, and each time, I felt a pang of sadness, a twinge of what might have been. But it was a dull ache now, a distant memory. The raw, visceral pain of betrayal had faded, replaced by a quiet
acceptance.
Life had a way of surprising you, of leading you down unexpected paths. I had started out wanting the perfect life, the perfect husband, the perfect family. But somewhere along the way, I had discovered that perfection was an illusion. That true happiness lay not in achieving some idealized version of life, but in embracing the messy, unpredictable, and often heartbreaking reality of it all.
One sunny afternoon, a few years after I had moved in with Lucas and Liam, I was in the kitchen baking cookies with Liam, my heart full of contentment.
The doorbell rang, and Liam raced to answer it, his laughter echoing through the
house.
“It’s for you, Mom!” he called out from the hallway.
Mom.
BooksChapter11
The word no longer felt strange, no longer felt like a betrayal of my own past. It
felt right.
I wiped my hands on my apron and walked into the hallway, a smile spreading across my face as I saw Lucas standing in the doorway.
He was holding a bouquet of lilies. My least favorite.
But today, for some reason, their cloying scent didn’t bother me. In fact, they looked almost…. beautiful.
“These are for you,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “Happy Anniversary.”
I took the flowers from him, my heart swelling with love for this kind, complicated man who had shown me that true love wasn’t about perfection, but about
acceptance, forgiveness, and second chances.
“Thank you,” I whispered, my eyes welling up.
He leaned down and kissed me softly, his lips warm and familiar against mine.
“I love you, Evelyn,” he murmured against my skin. “More than words can say.”
I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close, and whispered back, “I love you too, Lucas. And I love our life together.”
As I stood there, embraced in his arms, Liam came bounding into the room, his face beaming.
“Group hug!” he shouted, squeezing between us, his small arms wrapping around. us both.
We stood there for a long moment, the three of us, bound together by love and laughter, our past heartaches fading into distant memories.
We were a family. Perfectly imperfect, and perfectly content.
