He stood with his back to her, tall and lean as ever, though perhaps a bit thinner now.
Briony Kensington watched him in silence.
Minutes slipped by without a word.
At last, Briony sighed a sound of release, almost relief.
"Stewart Wentworth, I've made my peace with everything. You shouldn't keep dwelling on the past, either."
Stewart paused, then turned to face her.
He crossed the room and knelt down in front of her, his long, narrow eyes fixed on hers, the corners rimmed with red.
She could tell he'd been crying.
"You've grown more sentimental than before," she said, her tone gentle, teasing, a hint of warmth in her voice.
Stewart's dark eyes reflected her own pale, drawn face.
"Bryn, I know there's no going back for us. After everything that's happened, I realize now how unforgivable so much of my behavior was. I put you through hell, and still, you chose to raise our two children on your own. For that alone, I could never repay you, not in a lifetime."
His voice was low and sincere.
Stewart, neither of us came from happy homes. Let's learn from that. From now on, let's co-parent-give them both a mother's and a father's love, so they can have the safe, happy childhood we never
"How so?"
"You're... more human, somehow."
her
made me numb.
Briony nodded. "That's good."
quietly, like old
their children who had healed
together, support one another, and
they would never love each other again, but they had a shared
on, they would be friends or perhaps something like
...
days later, Briony's
went to
her pregnancy—a scare that nearly
careful
Briony to the
then stepped out to
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