“That’s very beautiful,” Cherie murmured.
“Yes. But I wasn’t sure if he was right. Of course, back then I thought you and I would never have children. But now that we have, I realize he was completely and utterly right.” He squeezed her hand back. “I spent so long feeling unworthy of my father. He truly made me feel that I was unworthy. But I would nevermake our sons feel that way. There is nothing they could do to ever make me treat them like that.”
“I know,” Cherie said, once more choking up. “And you know, my brother told me a little bit about that conversation you two had. He said that you wouldn’t always feel unworthy, once you learned to see yourself through my eyes.”
“And he was right again,” Thomas said, laughing. “I had to stop trying to be the man my father wanted me to be and start being the manyouwanted me to be, which, coincidentally, is also the manIwanted to be.”
“And so here we are,” Cherie said. “Safe from your father’s disapproval. Safe from Rochford’s nefariousness, now that he’s behind bars. And safe from ever pushing each other away again.”
“Yes.” Thomas smiled and shook his head. “In fact, I’m sure it’s the opposite: you can’t get rid of me now.”
She laid her head on his shoulder and stared down at the sleeping boys. “No, I can’t get rid of you now,” she murmured.
And she never wanted to.
The End?
