Chapter 6 - THE FIRST NIGHT OF MANY
Night fell,
and the paparazzi finally retreated as a heavy rain began to fall.
The children were tucked into their beds,
exhausted from the excitement of their new "friend" being around.
Graham was sitting on the sofa,
his head resting against the back.
He looked more tired than I had ever seen him.
“You should go to a hotel,”
I said softly,
bringing him a blanket.
“No,”
he said,
reaching out to catch my hand.
“Please,
Emily.”
“Let me stay.”
“I’ll sleep on the floor,
anything.”
“I just can't be away from them right now.”
I looked at his hand on mine,
the warmth spreading up my arm.
“One night,”
I whispered.
I let him take the sofa,
and I went to my room.
But I couldn't sleep.
I kept thinking about the envelope and the safety deposit box.
The key was still on my dresser.
What had Graham’s father hidden for us?
I heard a noise in the hallway and got up.
I found Graham standing in the doorway of the nursery.
He was just watching them sleep,
the moonlight hitting his face.
He looked like a man who had finally found water in a desert.
“I missed their first words,”
he whispered,
not turning around.
“I missed their first steps.”
“I missed every single moment that mattered.”
I walked up behind him,
resting my hand on his shoulder.
“You’re here for the rest of them,”
I said.
He turned and pulled me into his arms,
his grip tight and desperate.
I cried then,
letting out all the pain of the last eighteen months.
He held me through the storm,
his heart beating against mine in the same rhythm as our children’s.
May you like
It wasn't a fix,
but it was a start.
