Chapter 5 - Cole Moved Into My World to Earn Back the Seven Years He Lost, One Morning at a TimeCole didn't move into my penthouse immediately.
He started with breakfast.
Then school drop-offs.
Then bedtime stories.
He learned how Theo liked his pancakes.
He learned that Finn slept with one sock on.
He learned that both boys woke up whenever thunder struck.
The boys adored him.
Sometimes I watched from the hallway.
Cole kneeling beside their beds.
Reading.
Laughing.
Listening.
It hurt.
But it was a good kind of hurt.
The kind that meant something lost was being rebuilt.
One evening, Theo asked:
“Are you staying?”
Cole paused.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“As long as you'll have me.”
Theo smiled.
“Okay.”
Finn looked at him.
“Then you can be Dad.”
Cole's eyes filled.
“Thank you.”
I turned away.
I cried silently.
The next morning, Cole came into the kitchen.
“You didn't have to leave the room.”
“I wasn't leaving.”
“You were crying.”
“I had something in my eye.”
He smiled.
“You've always been terrible at lying.”
I laughed.
“So have you.”
He sat beside me.
“I want to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Would you ever consider trying again?”
I stared.
“Marriage?”
“Yes.”
“It's too soon.”
“I know.”
“I don't trust you completely.”
“I know.”
“I don't trust your family.”
“You shouldn't.”
“And I don't know whether I can forgive seven years.”
“You don't have to.”
He took my hand.
“I'm willing to spend the rest of my life earning one day at a time.”
I looked at him.
That was more convincing than a grand promise.
Because he didn't ask for forgiveness.
He asked for time.
I said:
“Let's see.”
May you like
He smiled.
“That's enough.”
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