Chapter 8 - The Man I Was Supposed to ForgetMy relationship with Daniel didn't happen overnight.
That mattered.
We didn't suddenly become a perfect couple.
We were two adults carrying complicated histories.
He had spent years alone.
I had spent years believing I was loved.
We learned each other slowly.
He came to my doctor's appointments.
He never missed one.
When I was exhausted, he cooked.
Badly.
Very badly.
“You burned the pasta.”
“I was distracted.”
“By what?”
“You.”
I laughed.
“You're terrible.”
“I've been waiting twenty years to hear you say that.”
He never tried to replace what I'd lost.
He never treated my pregnancy as a reason to possess me.
He simply stayed.
One evening, we sat beside the nursery window.
Daniel looked at the crib.
“Have you thought of a name?”
I smiled.
“Maybe.”
“What?”
“Eleanor.”
He nodded.
“Beautiful.”
“After my grandmother.”
He looked at me.
“I thought you'd choose something connected to the lake.”
I smiled.
“Maybe her middle name.”
“What?”
“Blue.”
He laughed.
“You're serious?”
“Yes.”
He leaned toward me.
“I like it.”
I rested my head against his shoulder.
“Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“Do you ever wonder what would've happened if we hadn't been separated?”
“All the time.”
“What do you think?”
He looked at me.
“I think we would've grown up together.”
“And?”
“I think I would've loved you badly when we were young.”
I smiled.
“And now?”
“Now I know how to love you properly.”
That was the moment I kissed him.
May you like
Not because he was my past.
Because he had become my future.
