Page 8

Pulling her phone from the back pocket of her jeans, Seven checked the time. She was due to be at the hospital in a few hours, but Jeremy was offering free coffee. "Right after you," she agreed, gesturing for him to lead the way to the tricky coffee machine.

He led the way to the kitchen, pointing to the untouched coffeemaker that sat at the far corner of the counter. "Well, for starters, you have to take it out the box and plug it in," Seven stated with a sarcastic laugh.

Remy chuckled as he went ahead and did as he was told, unpacking the box. She made sure to clean the coffeemaker thoroughly before putting it to use. As the machine brewed them two cups of coffee, Seven and Jeremy sat across from each other.Silence engulfed them. Neither knew what to say. It had just been so long, and it was evident that they were both trying to push past all the thick tension and animosity.

"Your woman stop by to check up on you yet?" Seven questioned him as she toyed with her wedding ring, avoiding Jeremy’s blistering gaze. He couldn't take his eyes off her even if he tried.

He laughed while shaking his head. "Let's not do that, Seven."

"Do what?" Her face screwed up."I'm just asking a question."

"How's your husband?" Jeremy disregarded her response, opting to question her instead.

At the mention of her husband, Seven shifted around in her seat a bit. She knew that if Henderson had ever found out that she was sitting before Jeremy, preparing to enjoy a fresh coffee, he would blow his top. Something told her that Jeremy was aware of this too, but he didn't care. Just like all the other thingshe never cared about, it only intrigued Seven more; hence the fact that she had even popped up to his house in the first place. "He's fine. At the hospital now," Seven informed him with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Catch me up, Seven. Life went well for you," he told her with a light smile.

Able to decipher the pettiness in his tone, Seven shot him a mean mug. He wasn't being genuine, nor did he seem to care, but she was still going to tell him. "Well, I married Henderson the first year after my internship at the hospital, and we've been at it ever since." She smiled. "I didn't think I wanted any more kids after the hell-like labor Britain put me through, but I ended up having Brixton and Brea. Now we're here.”

A part of Jeremy wanted to storm out and display his inner pain to Seven; however, he kept himself calm, cool and collected. He understood that he missed his chance and now she was living the life they had planned together with someone else. He could no longer blame her for moving on. It was something that she had to do for not only her sake, but for Britain's sake as well.Jeremy had to admit that he didn’t believe he would’ve been as good a father as he was now if he had been in Britain's life while she was younger. He was young and just too reckless. Although it pained him deeply that he didn’t have many first-time memories with Britain, he had to agree that maybe Seven had done the right thing.

Licking his lips, Jeremy nodded his head, taking in all the new aspects of her life. "You love him?"

"What type of question is that?" Seven snarled in irritation. "Of course I love him. I married him and had him help me raise our daughter."

Jeremy smacked his lips in visible annoyance. "You raised Britain," he corrected her.

Seven shook her head, disagreeing with him. "It's hard to hear and accept, but Jeremy, you have to come to realization that Henderson played a huge role in Britain's upbringing. You're her father now, but before you, he was the only person she knew as her father."

Jeremy clenched his jaws, sharpening his jawline more than it already was. "This shit is therapeutic to you, isn't it? You finally get me to feel the pain that you felt all these years. Is that what it is?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

Coffee was turning into a disaster.

Seven gulped down as her eyes seared into his. "Jeremy, it's not always about you," she seethed.

"You left me far before I left you. Mentally, you were already gone, preparing yourself to be able to forget about me because you knew you were about to get caught up," she reminded him with a shake of her head. "Jeremy, I loved you. I gave my all to what we had going on, but it just didn't work. I have to accept that. You have to accept that.Wehave to accept that." Her voice and tone softened once she realized she wasn't only speaking to Jeremy, but she was also speaking to herself. She had emotions and thoughts that she was just far too afraid of to ever confront. It seemed like the only way she could come to terms with anything pertaining to Jeremy was by spewing it out angrily toward him.

Jeremy ran his hand down his face, stressed. "I just want to wake up with no more regrets," he confessed with a heavy sigh. "I keep holding onto what I should have done differently. I keep holding onto the fact that I should have given you more, given Britain more, done more, been around more. I'm less of a man for that, and I apologize."

Closure had always been on Seven's mind, but she always talked herself out of it. She didn't think she needed it until he apologized. She had been blamed and scrutinized for her lifechoices for herself and Britain since she was pregnant. Hearing him acknowledge that everything that transpired in her life since parting ways with Jeremy wasn't all her fault felt liberating.

"Wow." She took in a shaky breath as she reached for the napkins that were set at the center of the dining table. "I never knew I needed that," she murmured as she dabbed the tears that were brimming her eyes.

"Well, yeah. You don't get an apology from my mouth often." Remy shrugged his shoulders slyly. Seven chuckled since she knew that apologies weren't really Jeremy's thing. He believed that new and changed behavior was the best apology; however, if anyone in the world deserved an apology, it was Seven.

"Look, I don't hate you, nor do I have any ill will toward you. I want to be able to put this behind us. You're Britain's father and she adores you. Despite her being a full and capable adult, we still have a lot more to contribute to her as parents." Seven sighed. "I don't want to play this blame game every time we cross paths. I promise you I won't skate out on you and ghost you anymore if you can promise me that you'll heal yourself mentally and emotionally, Jeremy." Her eyes softened as they locked with his.

The two were gazing at each other in search of some familiarity. Their eyes filled with passion and longing for each other just as they used to. It was evident that where they left off wasn't a clean-cut ending. They still thought about each other and still loved each other. Jeremy reached across the island, cupping his hand around hers. Immediately, Seven's eyes glanced down at their conjoined hands. It felt familiar, like nothing had changed.The ding of the coffeemaker sounded off in their ears, causing Seven to quickly retract her hand from his.

Saved by the bell.

She cleared her throat as she stood up from her seat to fetch the coffee. Jeremy followed behind her to retrieve his owncoffee. They stood alongside each other in silence, sweetening their coffee to their liking. "You gotta stop waiting for me, Rem," she told him in a light voice that fell soft on his ears.

He shook his head. "My logic may seem crazy, but it makes sense to me.” He didn't bother to look at her as he spoke. He just continued to stir his coffee.

"And what's that?"

"You like to prove a point. Now that we've talked about this, I think you've made your point," he shrugged his shoulders while speaking vaguely. "I know what we have, and you know we have."