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“Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t,” I promised. “I’ll always be here. Whatever happens, I will be here for you.”

She let me go, trying to wipe her eyes with her sleeve, smiling, a little embarrassed perhaps. I smiled too. Because she was here, and so was I.

“We start anew, right now. We’re family, and we’ll make this work. And we both need other people in our lives to make everything better. I’ve got Stewart, and I—”

“I get it,” she said, shuffling on her bed. “And it’s fine, Dad. It is.”

“And if you want the downstairs?”

She laughed in my face. “You’re too easy. I was just messing, but yeah? Maybe. That might…actually work. Itneeds painting, though, and I need new furniture. It looks like shit down there.”

Seriously? Yes. Maybe. But I still grabbed her face and kissed her forehead.

“Luckily, you’re cute, so I’ll forgive you for that little insult.”

“Luckily, you’re my dad, so I’ll let you get away with your awful interior design skills.”

“Bah,” I huffed, and she smiled.

“Go away. I have things to do.”

“You should sleep.”

“I’m jet-lagged as anything, and I’ll probably be up until morning. If you wake me up before midday, I’ll throw you off the balcony myself.”

“Constance,” I warned, but at the same time, I smiled. “We don’t have a balcony.”

“I have a fine window right here.” She stared at me. “It’s a solid threat.”

We’d be fine. I was fine. She was…strangely too. And life?

Life would just keep going. And we’d make it work. Whatever happened.

“Go to bed,” I said sternly.

She threw a teddy at me.

We were all fine. Just the way it was supposed to be.

29. Dylan

He was already in bed, scrolling on his phone, bare-chested and smiling, having turned the lights off and just left the small bedside one on, soft light bathing him in a warm glow.

The room should have made me feel uncomfortable, yet there was something about today that seemed to have completely changed my mindset, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I climbed under the covers with a smileon my face.

“I like the roof window,” he said. “I never noticed it before.”

“I always loved it. I was hoping to see the stars at night, but this is London. Not often you can see anything.”

“Clouds. Birds.”

“Planes. Sometimes even a helicopter.”

He laughed quietly.

“I meant what I said.” He moved his arm, allowing me to crawl into his embrace, my head on his chest, soft hairs under my hand as I shuffled into place. “I really loved what we did. That you…let me.”