A faint, self-directed exhale passed through him.
“I thought the children needed you,” Gabriel continued, voice steadier now. “And I believed that alone was enough reason.”
Something in Amelia’s chest tightened, not with fear this time but with the strange, disorienting pull of disappointment.
He wanted to marry me just for the children.
“And now?” she asked though she was not entirely sure she trusted her own voice.
“Now I realize I was wrong,” he said simply, holding her gaze without hesitation.
The world seemed to narrow around that look.
Amelia felt her pulse shift, sharp, uneven, in a way that frightened her more than any uncertainty ever had.
Of course, he realized he was wrong. Why would he marry me?
Gabriel stepped closer again but gently. Carefully. As if every movement had to be chosen.
“I do not want you as a wife who stays out of duty to the children,” he said. “I want you asmywife. Not because they need you. Because I do.”
The words struck something deep and unguarded within her.
Her breath caught, small, involuntary.
“I cannot imagine my life without you,” he admitted, quieter now, as though the admission itself required restraint. “I willprotect you, but I will not take your choices from you. That I promise.”
His eyes did not leave hers. “I love you,” he said simply. “I want you to marry me, but only if you choose it freely.”
The silence that followed was no longer uncertain. It was full.
Amelia stared at him, and for the first time, there were no careful thoughts forming in defense. No rehearsed restraint. No arguments with herself.
Only certainty.
“I love you too,” she said softly. Then, almost breathless, she added, “I never intended to leave.”
Something in him loosened at that, something held too tightly for too long. His shoulders dropped. And then the distance between them vanished entirely.
He reached for her carefully, as though she might still disappear, and Amelia stepped into him without fear.
The kiss was not sudden. Not desperate. It was steady, full of everything they had both been forced to hold back for too long, finally allowed to exist without apology.
She felt his warmth flood through her. The kiss was filled with love and sweetness as his lips brushed against hers.
Deep within her, her heart pounded. A light grew inside of her.
When they parted, neither of them moved away quickly.
Gabriel exhaled slowly, like a man remembering he was allowed to breathe again.
“There is so much to plan,” he began, a quiet thread of disbelief in his voice. “The future, the children, arrangements… rules.”
Amelia gently pressed a finger to his lips and smiled.
“Before any of that,” she said, a faint, almost shy smile breaking through, “I need to explain everything to my family.”
He blinked once. Then, to her surprise, he let out a short breath that might have been laughter.
