Chapter 10: The Private Talk
After most of the guests had left, Marcus asked Kesha if they could speak privately.
She agreed, but only on the condition that it happened in the living room with the children nearby. She wasn’t going to leave them alone with him yet.
They sat across from each other on the sofas.
Marcus looked exhausted.
“I don’t expect you to forgive me,” he said. “I don’t even know if I deserve it. But I want to be part of their lives. Even if it’s just a little at first.”
Kesha studied him.
“I’m not against them having a relationship with you,” she said honestly. “But it has to be on their terms. And you have to prove that you’re serious. No disappearing when things get hard. No making promises you can’t keep.”
Marcus nodded quickly.
“I can do that. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Kesha leaned back.
“There’s something else,” she said. “I’m not the same woman you left. I built a life. A good one. I won’t let you disrupt it or confuse the children.”
“I understand.”
She looked at him seriously.
“And Marcus… if you ever hurt them — even emotionally — I will cut you out of their lives completely. No second chances.”
Marcus met her eyes.
“I won’t hurt them,” he said. “I swear.”
Kesha hoped he meant it.
Because for the sake of her children, she was willing to give him one chance.
But only one.
As the evening wound down and the children started getting sleepy, Kesha gathered them up.
“We’re leaving now,” she told Marcus. “We’ll talk again after the holidays. When things have settled.”
Marcus looked disappointed, but he didn’t argue.
As Kesha and the four children walked toward the waiting car that would take them back to the helicopter, Marcus stood on the porch watching them go.
May you like
For the first time in eight years, he looked like a man who finally understood exactly what he had lost.
And how much it was going to cost him to try and get even a small part of it back.
