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MotorTranscript
00:00:00Air footied on the cold marble floor, my fingers trembling as I clutched the pregnancy test,
00:00:05laughter drifting from the bathroom.
00:00:07By noon, Cassian. She's gone by noon. You said it would be over.
00:00:13It will. The papers are already signed. She just doesn't know it yet.
00:00:17My name is Rin Ashford. Six months ago, I married Cassian Blackwell, CEO of Blackwell Industries,
00:00:22in what the press called the wedding of the decade. It was a contract. His grandfather's
00:00:26will demanded he marry before 30. I was the convenient nobody from a max-making agency.
00:00:30Plain, quiet, forgettable. The contract was simple. One year of marriage, no intimacy, a
00:00:36generous payout. Three months in, after a company gala where we both drank too much, the no intimacy
00:00:41clause was shattered. He didn't remember it the next morning. I never told him. The bathroom
00:00:48door opened. Oh, Rin, you're still up. Cassian said you'd be asleep by now.
00:00:56Rin. Good. Saves me the trouble of finding you.
00:01:00About the divorce papers on the counter? Or the ones you've already signed?
00:01:04You've seen the papers, so I'll be direct. The contract ends today. You'll receive the
00:01:10full settlement. A generous one. Mona has waited two years. I won't make her wait any longer.
00:01:16Two years? He'd been with her the entire time. Fine. I'll sign. Today, where's the pen?
00:01:24That's unexpected. Thank you for being reasonable. I'd hate for this to get ugly.
00:01:30Reasonable. He calls it reasonable when I don't fall apart at his feet. I'll protect you. Both
00:01:37of you. That night, I made three decisions. First, I would sign the papers. Second, I would
00:01:45disappear. Third, Casey and Blackdwell would never, ever learn about these babies.
00:02:03Seven, Gerald, his lawyer, waited downstairs. I signed the papers.
00:02:07Mrs. Blackweth, are you certain you don't want your own attorney to review?
00:02:11I'm certain.
00:02:14One more thing. My name is Rin Ashforth, not Mrs. Blackweth. Not anymore. The elevator ride
00:02:21back felt endless. Two hours to pack before nine. I moved through the penthouse like a ghost,
00:02:27taking only what was truly mine. Clothes from my old apartment, a worn sketchbook, my mother's
00:02:32locket. Everything else, untouched. Gone before Cassian woke. Before he could ask me to stay.
00:02:40You signed already? Without even saying goodbye?
00:02:43You want me to beg you to stay? Then you'll be disappointed.
00:02:47Ren, I never meant for it to end this way. But you knew what this was from the start.
00:02:53You didn't hurt me, Cassian. You'd have to matter to me for that. And contracts don't matter.
00:02:58They just expire. Mona Sinclair was waiting in the lobby. She saw my cakes and smiled.
00:03:07The kind of smile meant to wound. You're not even going to fight for him? How disappointing.
00:03:13I thought he married someone with a spine. She showed off his necklace, eyes fixed on me. When
00:03:18he ordered this necklace last week, I thought it was finally my turn. Mona, you'll get used to
00:03:24taking turns. He always picks the newest model. My old apartment was a studio in Brooklyn,
00:03:33cramped and cold, with a radiator that clacked like a dying animal. But it was mine. I dropped my
00:03:41suitcase and sank onto the bed, finally letting myself fall apart. The tears came hard. Not for
00:03:48Caslin, but for the loneliness and what lay ahead. Pregnant with twins. No job. No family.
00:03:56He'd frozen my money. The only lifeline I had. Gone. I stared at the screen. My blood running cold.
00:04:04You can freeze my money. But you can't freeze my children. The next morning, I took the first job
00:04:10offered. Receptionist at a small firm downtown. Modest pay, long hours, but health benefits after 30
00:04:16days. Day 29. One more day. My body gave out before the clock did.
00:04:30I woke up in a hospital bed. Fluorescent lights buzzing above me. Miss Ashford, you're severely
00:04:36dehydrated anemic. When was the last time you had a proper meal? Tuesday? No, Monday. Maybe Sunday?
00:04:43The babies are stable for now, but if you don't start taking care of yourself, we're looking at
00:04:48serious complications. You're carrying twins, and your body is under enormous strain.
00:04:54I know. I'm trying. Is there anyone I can call for you? A partner? Family? No. There's no one.
00:05:03She wrote something on her clipboard and left. I lay there, staring at the ceiling. When I was
00:05:10discharged two days later, I made a decision. New York was too small, too close, too suffocating.
00:05:18Every corner held the risk of running into Cassian, Mona, or someone who knew them.
00:05:24I needed to vanish completely. I used my last $400 to buy a bus ticket to Carmel,
00:05:30a small coastal town in Northern California where nobody knew my name.
00:05:38The bus ride took four days. I slept against the window, ate gas station crackers,
00:05:46and talked to my babies in whispers when no one was looking.
00:05:50We're going to be okay. Your mom's going to figure this out.
00:05:54Carmel was just as I remembered. Foggy mornings, wind-bent cycras, galleries and bookshops along
00:05:59the streets. I found a room above a bakery. The landlady, Dot, was kind, asked nothing,
00:06:05and charged $500 each month, utilities included. You look like you need feeding. Breakfast is on me
00:06:11every morning. Non-negotiable. I cried in the shower that night. Not from sadness,
00:06:19but from the simple, devastating kindness of a stranger.
00:06:25Over the next few months, I built a life from nothing. I got a job at a local art supply
00:06:30store,
00:06:31where my knowledge of materials and techniques impressed the owner enough to give me extra hours.
00:06:36I painted in the evenings, small pieces at first, seascapes, flowers, the view from my window.
00:06:43The owner let me display a few in the shop, and to my shock, they sold. The town waited outside,
00:06:52eyed for me and the twins. When the twins arrived, a boy and a girl, Leo and Luna,
00:06:57I thought my heart would burst.
00:07:03Dot held my hand through the delivery and cried harder than I did.
00:07:11For the first time in a long time, I felt something close to peace. Four years passed. Leo and Luna
00:07:20grew into wild, beautiful children with their father's gray eyes and my stubbornness. My paintings
00:07:28gained a following in the local art scene, and I'd saved enough to open a small gallery of my own.
00:07:35Life was quiet. Life was good. Then, one Tuesday afternoon, a black Bentley pulled up outside my
00:07:43gallery, and a man stepped out. He removed his sunglasses, tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a
00:07:50black suit that probably cost more than my entire inventory, and my blood turned to ice. Cassian Blackwell
00:07:57stood on the sidewalk, staring at my gallery sign, then at me through the window. His experience
00:08:04wasn't cold anymore. It wasn't indifferent. It was shattered. And standing beside him, tugging at his
00:08:14hand, was a little boy, dark-hated, gray-eyed, about four years old. Wait, that wasn't his child.
00:08:23That was my Leo, holding a stranger's hand, smiling up at the man who didn't know he was a father.
00:08:32My legs moved before my brain caught up. I burst through the gallery door, the bell clenning
00:08:38violently above me, and crossed the sidewalk in three strides. Leo, come here, now! Mommy! This
00:08:47man helped me find Biscay! Turin Avritomi helped me find Biscay! I snatched Leo into my arms,
00:08:58pulling him against my chest, my heart hammering so hard I was certain Cassian could hear it.
00:09:05Only then did I force myself to look at him. He was staring at Leo, then at me, then then
00:09:14back at Leo.
00:09:15The color had drained from his face. His lips parted, but no sound came out. I watched the
00:09:21exact moment the math clicked behind those steel-gray eyes. Leo's age, his features,
00:09:26the timing of our divorce. His jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle jump.
00:09:31When is he...
00:09:35Thank you for my son find his cat.
00:09:38When is he mine?
00:09:40You don't have a son, Mr. Blacklake. You made that very clear when you chose your life,
00:09:45and I chose mine. Something cracked in his expressions. Not anger. Something deeper,
00:09:50rawer, more devastating. He looked at Leo again, who was now chatting to Biscayt about a butterfly
00:09:56he'd chased that morning, completely a lewis of the earthquake happening between the two adults
00:10:00above him. He has my eyes. He has my mother's chin. Went for God's sake.
00:10:07Mommy, who is this man? He smells nice.
00:10:13Are you bothering my mommy?
00:10:19Cassian looked like he'd been shot. His gaze from Leo to Luna, twins,
00:10:24understakably his, and his entire body went ridgic. He took a step back, running both hands through
00:10:30his hair, his composure finally cramping. Twins, you were pregnant. You were pregnant when you
00:10:38left, and you never... How could I not tell you? You froze my settlement. You left me with nothing.
00:10:46I collapsed. I trunned Malnuchinotris at 29 days pregnant, because I couldn't afford to eat.
00:10:55I took a four-day bus ride across the country with $400 to my name, because I had nowhere else
00:11:01to go.
00:11:06You were engaged to Mona Sinclair before the ink on our divorce was dry.
00:11:10When exactly was I supposed to tell you, Cassian?
00:11:16Between your champagne toasts?
00:11:19The settlement. I didn't know Gerald froze it. I never authorized...
00:11:27It doesn't matter anymore.
00:11:29It four years went! I've been looking for you for four years!
00:11:38Why? Your contract purpose. You got your inheritance. You got your supermodel fiancée.
00:11:45I never married Mona.
00:11:49What?
00:11:50The engagement lasted two months. I called it off. I couldn't...
00:11:55I couldn't stop thinking about you.
00:12:00I deserved that. I know I deserved that, that.
00:12:04But it destroyed me, Wint.
00:12:08It destroyed me, Wint.
00:12:13I stared at him, searching for the lie, the angle, manipulation.
00:12:19But all I saw was a man who looked like he hadn't slept in four years.
00:12:26Mommy, why is the tall man crying?
00:12:30Cassian Blacklike, the man who controlled a billion-dollar empire,
00:12:33who never showed weakness, who had signed our divorce papers without,
00:12:36at a flicker of emotion,
00:12:38was standing on a sidewall coming in Karma, California,
00:12:41with tears streaming silently down his face.
00:12:47I need you to leave.
00:12:51I need you to leave.
00:12:52I'm not leaving. Not until we talk.
00:13:05There are four years of everything to talk about!
00:13:09Please.
00:13:12There's nothing to talk about.
00:13:14Rin,
00:13:15give me one hour.
00:13:16That's all I'm asking.
00:13:18Wern, honey,
00:13:19do I need to call someone?
00:13:22No, Dot.
00:13:23He was just leaving.
00:13:25Cassian looked at me,
00:13:26then at the children,
00:13:28then back at me.
00:13:29His expression shift is something I'd never seen for.
00:13:32Not command,
00:13:33not control,
00:13:35but surrender.
00:13:38I'll be at the inn on Ocean Avenue.
00:13:40I'll wait however long it takes.
00:13:42He turned and walked back to the Bentley.
00:13:45Then he was gone.
00:13:47That night,
00:13:48after the twins were asleep,
00:13:50I sat on my bed
00:13:51and stared at the wall for a long time.
00:13:53I didn't know about the settlement.
00:13:55Gerald acted on his own.
00:13:56I fired him three years ago when I found out.
00:13:59The full amount,
00:14:00plus interest,
00:14:01has been sitting in an account under your name since then.
00:14:04I never stopped looking.
00:14:06I never stopped.
00:14:07I turned the phone off
00:14:08and pressed my face into the pillow.
00:14:11I would not cry for Cassian Blackwake.
00:14:13Not it again.
00:14:14Not ever again.
00:14:32For three days,
00:14:34I pretended he didn't exist.
00:14:36I opened the gallery,
00:14:37taught my painting workshops,
00:14:39walked Leo and Luna to preschool,
00:14:41cooked dinner,
00:14:42read bedtime stories,
00:14:43normal,
00:14:44ordinary,
00:14:46safe.
00:14:47But Parmel is a small town,
00:14:49and Cassian Blackwake is not a small man.
00:14:53Mommy,
00:14:54the tall man was at at the park again.
00:14:58He was sitting on the bench,
00:15:00just sitting.
00:15:01He looked sad.
00:15:03He brought me a cookie.
00:15:05I didn't eat it because stranger danger,
00:15:07but it smelled really good.
00:15:11He talked to you?
00:15:13No.
00:15:15He just watched us play.
00:15:17Like a creep.
00:15:19Like a creep.
00:15:21But a sad creep.
00:15:26If you see him again,
00:15:27come find me immediately.
00:15:29Both of you.
00:15:31Is he a bad man, N?
00:15:34He's someone from my past.
00:15:39And sometimes the past needs to stay where it is.
00:15:42Luna nodded solemnly,
00:15:44as if we're the wisest thing she'd ever heard.
00:15:47Leo just looked confused and went back to his cereal.
00:16:01On day three,
00:16:02he came to the gallery.
00:16:04The bell chimed at 2 p.m.,
00:16:06and I looked up from a watercolor I was framing
00:16:09to find Cassian standing in the doorway,
00:16:12a paper bag in his hand.
00:16:14I brought lunch.
00:16:17From the Italian place on Dolores Street,
00:16:20the owner said you order the mushroom every Friday.
00:16:24You've been asking about me.
00:16:29I've been learning about you.
00:16:34Gwyn,
00:16:35I know you don't want me here.
00:16:37I know I have no right to be here.
00:16:41But I have questions.
00:16:43And I think...
00:16:46I think...
00:16:47I think you have them too.
00:16:48You have five minutes.
00:16:53He exhaled sharply,
00:16:55as if he'd been bracing for outright rejection.
00:16:57He pulled up a stool and sat,
00:17:00his large furniture making the small gallery feel even smaller.
00:17:04The settlement?
00:17:05Did you get my message?
00:17:07The account?
00:17:12I don't want your money, Cassian.
00:17:15It's not charity.
00:17:16It's what I owed you.
00:17:18What you were legally entitled to.
00:17:20Five minutes.
00:17:22When did you find out?
00:17:24About the pregnancy?
00:17:25The night you told me about the divorce.
00:17:28I was holding the pregnancy test
00:17:29when Mona walked out of your bedroom.
00:17:33You were that night?
00:17:35And you didn't...
00:17:36Say anything?
00:17:37No.
00:17:38Because you'd already made your choice,
00:17:40and I wasn't going to use a pregnancy
00:17:42to trap a man who didn't want me.
00:17:45I did want you.
00:17:46I just didn't know it yet.
00:17:51I was so fixated on what I thought I wanted.
00:17:55Mona.
00:17:56The lifestyle, the image,
00:17:57that I couldn't see what was right in front of me.
00:17:59That's not my problem.
00:18:04I know.
00:18:05Tell me about them.
00:18:07Please.
00:18:08Anything.
00:18:10Their names, their birthdays,
00:18:12what they like, what they're afraid of.
00:18:15His pain.
00:18:16It was real.
00:18:17And it mirrored something I'd carried alone for too long.
00:18:25Leo and Luna.
00:18:26Born March 15th.
00:18:28Leo's of thunderstorms.
00:18:30Luna's afraid of nothing,
00:18:32which is, frankly, terrifying.
00:18:36Leo likes dinosaurs and anything with wheels.
00:18:40Luna likes painting and bossing everyone around.
00:18:43They're the best thing that ever happened to me.
00:18:46March 15th.
00:18:48That's my mother's birthday.
00:18:50Your five minutes are up.
00:18:57Can I come back tomorrow?
00:18:58No.
00:19:00I'll come anyway.
00:19:01You can call the police if you want.
00:19:03I'll understand.
00:19:05He left.
00:19:08I locked the door,
00:19:09sat on the floor behind behind the counter,
00:19:11and pressed my hands to my face.
00:19:12This was not happening.
00:19:14I had built a life.
00:19:16A good life.
00:19:17My phone buzzed.
00:19:19A text from Dot.
00:19:21That man was in the bakery this morning.
00:19:23Bought every croissant I had.
00:19:25Asked about you.
00:19:27I told him nothing.
00:19:29But honey,
00:19:30he looks like a man
00:19:32who's lost everything that matters.
00:19:35I typed back.
00:19:36He lost it because he threw it away.
00:19:39Dot's reply was instant.
00:19:42True.
00:19:42But people who realize
00:19:44what they've thrown away
00:19:45sometimes deserve a chance to pick it up.
00:19:47I stared at her message for a long time,
00:19:50then deleted the entire conversation.
00:19:55He came back the next day.
00:19:58He never pushed.
00:19:59Never demanded.
00:20:01He'd arrive around lunchtime
00:20:02with food from a different restaurant each day.
00:20:05Always something I liked.
00:20:07Always paired with something for the kids.
00:20:09He'd sit in the gallery
00:20:11for exactly five minutes,
00:20:12ask one or two questions
00:20:14about Leo and Luna,
00:20:15and leave when I told him to.
00:20:19For the twins.
00:20:20The woman at the bookshop
00:20:22said these are popular with four-year-olds.
00:20:24I didn't accept them.
00:20:25Can I meet them?
00:20:27Properly?
00:20:29No.
00:20:30Okay.
00:20:32Rin, I know you think
00:20:33I'm doing this out of guilt,
00:20:35and maybe that's part of it,
00:20:37but I need you to know.
00:20:39I started looking for you
00:20:40three weeks after you left.
00:20:42Not four years later.
00:20:44Three weeks.
00:20:46The moment I realized what I'd lost.
00:20:51Three weeks.
00:20:52How romantic.
00:20:53That's almost as fast as your engagement to Mona.
00:20:58I deserve that.
00:21:00You deserve worse.
00:21:03I know.
00:21:24I walked to the bakery
00:21:26and found Dot waiting with tea
00:21:28and a knowing look.
00:21:31I am not.
00:21:34You're softening.
00:21:37Honey, I've been alive 68 years.
00:21:40I know softening when I see it.
00:21:44I sipped my tea and said nothing.
00:21:48The following Monday,
00:21:49everything changed.
00:21:50I picked Leo and Luna up from preschool.
00:21:53Miss Ashfield.
00:21:54A man came by today.
00:21:56Tall, dark-haired.
00:21:57He said he was the children's father
00:21:59and asked to be added to the pickup list.
00:22:04What did you tell him?
00:22:06I told him I couldn't release any information
00:22:09without your auto-authorization.
00:22:10He didn't press.
00:22:13But he sat in his car across the street
00:22:16for over an hour.
00:22:21I glio's hand tighter than I meant to.
00:22:24He jawed.
00:22:25Sorry, baby.
00:22:29Under no circumstance
00:22:30is that man to have access to my children.
00:22:33If he shows up again,
00:22:34call the police.
00:22:42That evening,
00:22:43I marched to the inn on Ocean Avenue.
00:22:45The consacres directed me to room 12
00:22:48and I pound on the door hard enough
00:22:50to rattle the frame.
00:22:56Cassian opened it
00:22:57mid-sentence on a phone call
00:22:59and the moment he saw my face,
00:23:02he hung up without a word.
00:23:06You went to their school.
00:23:08You went to their school, Cassian!
00:23:16I just wanted to see them.
00:23:17You terrified their teacher.
00:23:19You sat in your car like a stalker.
00:23:22Do you have any idea how that looks?
00:23:23How that feels?
00:23:33I can see them for five seconds a day
00:23:35through a gallery window rain.
00:23:39Do you know what that does to me?
00:23:41They're my children.
00:23:43My blood.
00:23:45And I can't even...
00:23:47They are my children.
00:23:50I carried them alone.
00:23:52I birthed them alone.
00:23:54I fed them, clothed them,
00:23:57held them through every fever
00:23:58and first day of school.
00:24:02You don't get to show up
00:24:04with coloring books and croissants
00:24:06and call yourself their father.
00:24:12Cassian stared at me,
00:24:13his chest heaving,
00:24:15his eyes bright with unshed tears.
00:24:17When he spoke,
00:24:19his voice was barely audible.
00:24:21You're right.
00:24:22I haven't earned it.
00:24:24I know that.
00:24:25But I want to.
00:24:27Rin, I am begging you.
00:24:29Let me try.
00:24:41Why?
00:24:42So you can zapier it again
00:24:44when something shiner comes along?
00:24:48That won't happen.
00:24:52You'll forgive me
00:24:53if I don't take your word for it.
00:24:58Then let me prove it.
00:25:00Not with words.
00:25:02With time.
00:25:03With actions.
00:25:05Set the terms.
00:25:06Any terms,
00:25:06and I'll follow them.
00:25:08I stared at him,
00:25:10searching for the crack,
00:25:11the lie,
00:25:12the lie,
00:25:13the inevitable betrayal.
00:25:15My heart screamed
00:25:16to shut the door in his face,
00:25:19to run,
00:25:20to protect the fragile world
00:25:21I'd built.
00:25:23But my children
00:25:24had started asking questions.
00:25:28Two weeks.
00:25:30You get two weeks.
00:25:32Supervised visits only.
00:25:34One wrong move,
00:25:35and you're gone forever.
00:25:39Rin, I swear-
00:25:40Don't swear anything.
00:25:41Just show up.
00:25:42I turned and walked away,
00:25:44my hands trembling at my side.
00:25:48What had I just done?
00:25:52The first superized visit
00:25:54was a disaster.
00:25:56I'd arranged it
00:25:57at the park
00:25:58near the gallery.
00:25:59Neutral territory,
00:26:01public space,
00:26:02escape routes
00:26:03in every direction.
00:26:05Dot offered to come
00:26:06as backup,
00:26:07armed with nothing
00:26:07but a thermos of coffee
00:26:09and what she called
00:26:10grandmotherly intimidation.
00:26:15Kansian arrived
00:26:16ten minutes early,
00:26:17wearing a casual sweater
00:26:19that probably cost
00:26:20more than my car,
00:26:22carrying two gift bags
00:26:23that were definitely
00:26:24too extravagant
00:26:25for four-year-olds.
00:26:28No gifts.
00:26:31They're just small things.
00:26:32I said,
00:26:33no gifts,
00:26:34they don't need to be bought.
00:26:38He set the bags
00:26:39in his car
00:26:39without argument.
00:26:41When Leo and Luna arrived,
00:26:43holding Dot's hands,
00:26:45the tension in my chest
00:26:46was unbearable.
00:26:49You're the sad creep
00:26:50from the park.
00:26:52That's fair.
00:26:53I probably did look
00:26:54like a sad creep.
00:26:56I'm sorry if I scared you.
00:27:02Why were you watching us?
00:27:05Because I wanted to know
00:27:07if you were happy.
00:27:09And you looked very happy,
00:27:11so that made me happy too.
00:27:15Mommy,
00:27:16he talks weird,
00:27:17but I don't hate him.
00:27:19High praise.
00:27:23Hi, Leo.
00:27:24Your mom told me
00:27:25you like dinosaurs.
00:27:27Did you know
00:27:28the T-Rex's arms
00:27:29were so short
00:27:30they couldn't even clap?
00:27:32They couldn't clap?
00:27:38Nope.
00:27:40Imagine being
00:27:41the most powerful
00:27:41dinosaur in the world,
00:27:43and you can't even
00:27:44give someone
00:27:45a high five.
00:27:47A giggle escaped Leo.
00:27:50Small,
00:27:50surprised,
00:27:51beautiful.
00:27:52Cassian's face
00:27:53transformed,
00:27:54years of grief
00:27:55disloving
00:27:56in the warmth
00:27:56of his son's laughter.
00:27:58Cassian pushed him
00:27:59a swing,
00:28:00listened to Luna's
00:28:01lecture on
00:28:02why purple
00:28:02was the superior color,
00:28:04and let Leo show him
00:28:06every rock in the park.
00:28:07He was patient,
00:28:08attentive,
00:28:09and,
00:28:10infuriatingly,
00:28:11natural with them.
00:28:13But then Luna
00:28:14asked the question.
00:28:16The park went silent.
00:28:19Even the birds
00:28:20seemed to hold
00:28:21their breath.
00:28:22Cassian froze
00:28:23at push on the swing,
00:28:25his eyes darting
00:28:25to me in panic.
00:28:30Are you our daddy?
00:28:34Luna,
00:28:34we talked about this.
00:28:36Sometimes
00:28:37looks like Leo.
00:28:38Same eyes,
00:28:39same chin.
00:28:41Dot says Leo
00:28:42looks like his daddy.
00:28:43So,
00:28:44are you?
00:28:47Cassian looked at me.
00:28:48I gave the barest nod,
00:28:50because my daughter
00:28:51deserved the truth,
00:28:53even if it terrified me.
00:28:56Yes,
00:28:57Luna,
00:28:57I'm your dad.
00:28:59Okay,
00:29:00then why weren't
00:29:01you here before?
00:29:03Because I made
00:29:04a very big mistake.
00:29:06The biggest mistake
00:29:08of my life.
00:29:10And by the time
00:29:11I realized it,
00:29:13your mom had already
00:29:14taken you somewhere safe
00:29:15where I couldn't find you.
00:29:21Were you mean
00:29:22to mommy?
00:29:24Yes,
00:29:25I was.
00:29:26Mommy,
00:29:27was he mean to you?
00:29:29It's complicated,
00:29:31baby.
00:29:32Grown-ups always say that
00:29:33when it's not complicated
00:29:34at all.
00:29:37Leo,
00:29:38who had been silent
00:29:39through this exchange,
00:29:40walked up Cassiel
00:29:41and stared at him
00:29:42for a long moment.
00:29:44Then,
00:29:45without a word,
00:29:47he wrapped
00:29:47his small arms
00:29:48on Cass Hesvian's neck.
00:29:52Cassian broke.
00:29:54He pulled Leo close,
00:29:55one arm around his son,
00:29:57his face buried
00:29:58in Leo's hair,
00:29:59his shoulders shaking
00:30:00with silent sobs.
00:30:03Luna watched,
00:30:09patting Cassian's back
00:30:11like she was
00:30:12consoling a puppy.
00:30:14You okay, honey?
00:30:16No,
00:30:17but that they might be.
00:30:30That night,
00:30:31after the twins were asleep,
00:30:33I sat on my balcony
00:30:34and stared at the ocean.
00:30:36My phone buzzed and...
00:30:40Thank you for today.
00:30:42I don't deserve it,
00:30:43but thank you.
00:30:44Don't make me regret it.
00:30:46I won't.
00:30:47Not this time.
00:30:49I wanted it to believe him.
00:30:51God help me.
00:30:52I wanted it to believe him.
00:30:54But the scar tissue
00:30:56around my heart
00:30:57was thick,
00:30:57and trust,
00:30:59once shattered,
00:31:00doesn't rebuild
00:31:01with coruscants
00:31:02and dinosaur facts.
00:31:06Still,
00:31:07when I closed my eyes
00:31:08that night,
00:31:09I didn't see the penthouse
00:31:10or Mona
00:31:11nor the divorce papers.
00:31:13I saw Leo's arms
00:31:15around his father's neck
00:31:16and Luna's tiny hand
00:31:18patting a broken man's back,
00:31:20and I thought,
00:31:21maybe,
00:31:22just maybe.
00:31:44The two weeks'd faster
00:31:46than I wanted them to.
00:31:47Cassian was flawless.
00:31:49Arriving on time,
00:31:51respecting every boundary,
00:31:52never push her more
00:31:53than I offered.
00:31:55He learned Leo's bedtime routine
00:31:57by observation alone.
00:31:58He memorized Luna's favorite songs.
00:32:01He brought Dot fresh flowers
00:32:03every visit
00:32:04until she declared him
00:32:05tolerable,
00:32:06but on probation.
00:32:10I hated how easy
00:32:11it would be
00:32:11to let him back in.
00:32:14On day 12,
00:32:15he asked if he could
00:32:16take the twins
00:32:17for ice cream,
00:32:18just the three of them.
00:32:19I agreed,
00:32:21asked every instinct
00:32:22screaming at me
00:32:23to say no.
00:32:28They came back
00:32:29an hour later,
00:32:30Leo with chocolate
00:32:31smeared across his face,
00:32:32Luna carrying a small canvas.
00:32:35Daddy taught me
00:32:37to draw a horse.
00:32:40It was terrible.
00:32:42Cassian had clearly
00:32:44done most of it,
00:32:45and then he was no artist.
00:32:47Daddy.
00:32:49The word hit me
00:32:50like a freight train.
00:32:52She'd never used it before,
00:32:54not once in four years,
00:32:56and now it fell
00:32:57from her lips.
00:32:58Fell from her lips
00:33:00like it had always
00:33:01been there,
00:33:01waiting.
00:33:03Cassian caught my expression
00:33:04and looked away quickly,
00:33:05but not before I saw
00:33:07the raw emotion
00:33:07flash across his face.
00:33:10That evening,
00:33:11he lingered at the gallery door
00:33:13longer than usual.
00:33:14The two weeks
00:33:15are almost up,
00:33:16he said,
00:33:17his voice careful.
00:33:18The two weeks
00:33:19are almost up.
00:33:20I know.
00:33:22What happens after?
00:33:24What do you want
00:33:25to happen?
00:33:32I want to stay
00:33:34here
00:33:35in Carmi.
00:33:37I want to be part
00:33:38of their lives
00:33:39and yours,
00:33:41if you'll let me.
00:33:44I've already started
00:33:45transferring operations
00:33:46to a satellite office
00:33:47in Monterey.
00:33:48I can run things
00:33:49remotely.
00:33:52You're relocating
00:33:53your billion-dollar company
00:33:54for a town
00:33:55with one traffic light?
00:33:59I'm relocating
00:34:00my life
00:34:00for the three people
00:34:01who matter most
00:34:02in it.
00:34:05The sincerity
00:34:07in his voice
00:34:07was almost unbearable.
00:34:09I looked away,
00:34:11watching the fog
00:34:12roll in from the ocean,
00:34:13and said nothing.
00:34:18I know you don't
00:34:19trust me.
00:34:19I know I haven't
00:34:20earned it,
00:34:21but I'm asking
00:34:22for more time.
00:34:24Not for us.
00:34:25I know that's
00:34:26not on the table.
00:34:28Just for them.
00:34:31Let me be
00:34:32their father,
00:34:33please.
00:34:36Not for us.
00:34:42Unless
00:34:43you wanted it to be.
00:34:46I don't.
00:34:51Okay.
00:34:52Then just
00:34:53for them.
00:34:56I agreed
00:34:57to extend
00:34:58the arrangement,
00:34:59open-ended,
00:35:00with conditions.
00:35:02He could see
00:35:03the twins,
00:35:03twins three times
00:35:04a week,
00:35:05always in public
00:35:06or at the gallery.
00:35:08And he was
00:35:09to have zero
00:35:10contact with
00:35:10my personal life
00:35:11beyond co-parenting
00:35:13logistics.
00:35:15He agreed to
00:35:16every term
00:35:17without negotiation.
00:35:20For the next
00:35:21two months,
00:35:22we settled
00:35:22into a rhythm.
00:35:24He'd arrive,
00:35:25spend time with
00:35:26Theo and Luna,
00:35:27exchange a few
00:35:27polite words with me,
00:35:29and leave.
00:35:30It was civil,
00:35:32functional,
00:35:33hollow.
00:35:36and then
00:35:37Mona Stinclair
00:35:38showed up
00:35:38in Carmel.
00:35:41I was closing
00:35:42the gallery
00:35:43on a Thursday
00:35:44evening
00:35:44when a pearl
00:35:45white Porsche
00:35:46pulled up,
00:35:46and she emerged
00:35:48like a venomous
00:35:49apparition.
00:35:51Stilettos,
00:35:52designer
00:35:53sunglasses,
00:35:54a smile
00:35:55sharp enough
00:35:55to draw blood.
00:36:00Brayne Ashford,
00:36:01or should I say
00:36:03the woman
00:36:03who faked
00:36:04her own
00:36:04disappearance
00:36:05to trap
00:36:05Cassian
00:36:06with a pair
00:36:06of bramps.
00:36:08What are you
00:36:09doing here,
00:36:10Mona?
00:36:15I'm here
00:36:16because
00:36:16Gian has
00:36:17lost his mind.
00:36:18He's
00:36:19magically
00:36:20enabling
00:36:20his empire
00:36:20to play
00:36:21house
00:36:21in this
00:36:21pathetic
00:36:22little town
00:36:22and a town
00:36:23and it's
00:36:23your fault.
00:36:25It's your
00:36:26fault.
00:36:27His choices
00:36:28are his own.
00:36:30His choices
00:36:31are delusional.
00:36:32We were
00:36:33happy before
00:36:34you crawled
00:36:34back into
00:36:35his life.
00:36:36We were
00:36:36engaged.
00:36:37We were
00:36:38building
00:36:38something.
00:36:40And then
00:36:41he found
00:36:41out about
00:36:41those kids
00:36:42and threw
00:36:42everything
00:36:43away.
00:36:44He called
00:36:44off your
00:36:45engagement
00:36:45two months
00:36:46in,
00:36:46Mona.
00:36:47That was
00:36:48four years
00:36:49ago.
00:36:50Whatever
00:36:50you think
00:36:51you had,
00:36:52I had
00:36:53him.
00:36:54I had
00:36:54him for
00:36:55two years
00:36:55before you
00:36:56and then I
00:36:56had him
00:36:57after.
00:36:58And then you
00:36:58disappeared like
00:36:59some tragic
00:37:00real one.
00:37:05Do you know
00:37:06what it's like
00:37:06to watch the
00:37:07man you love
00:37:08search for
00:37:08another woman?
00:37:10To hold
00:37:11him at night
00:37:11while he
00:37:12whispers
00:37:12someone else's
00:37:13name?
00:37:17you ruined
00:37:18him for
00:37:18me.
00:37:19You ruined
00:37:19everything.
00:37:21You knew
00:37:22he was
00:37:22married when
00:37:23you started
00:37:23seeing him.
00:37:25You moved
00:37:26to my home
00:37:27before I'd
00:37:28even left
00:37:28the building.
00:37:30Whatever
00:37:30Cassian did
00:37:31to you,
00:37:31you helped
00:37:32him do
00:37:33worse to
00:37:33me.
00:37:36I came
00:37:37here to
00:37:37warn you.
00:37:39Cassian's
00:37:40family,
00:37:40his mother
00:37:41spithically is
00:37:42furious about
00:37:43the twins.
00:37:44She's already
00:37:45consulted
00:37:45attorneys about
00:37:46custody.
00:37:47She thinks
00:37:48you're unfit,
00:37:50a single
00:37:51mother with
00:37:52no resources,
00:37:53hiding children
00:37:54from their
00:37:55father.
00:37:56The words
00:37:57hit their
00:37:57mark and
00:37:59Mona knew
00:37:59it.
00:38:00She smiled,
00:38:02thin and
00:38:02cruel.
00:38:03Enjoy your
00:38:04little gallery
00:38:05while you
00:38:05can,
00:38:05Wern.
00:38:06The Black
00:38:06Lakes always
00:38:07get what
00:38:07they want.
00:38:13Oh,
00:38:14and one
00:38:14more thing.
00:38:16Cassian
00:38:16doesn't love
00:38:17you.
00:38:17He loves
00:38:18the idea
00:38:19of you.
00:38:19The guilty,
00:38:21the redemption
00:38:21arc,
00:38:22the second
00:38:22chance.
00:38:23Once the
00:38:24novelty wears
00:38:25off,
00:38:25he'll come
00:38:25back to
00:38:26me.
00:38:26He always
00:38:27does.
00:38:31The Porsche
00:38:32disappeared
00:38:32around the
00:38:33corner,
00:38:33and I stood
00:38:34on the
00:38:34sidewalk,
00:38:35my keys
00:38:36digging into
00:38:36my palm,
00:38:37Mona's
00:38:37final words
00:38:38echoing in
00:38:39my skull.
00:38:41The Black
00:38:42Lakes always
00:38:43get what
00:38:43they want.
00:38:46I pulled
00:38:46out my
00:38:47phone and
00:38:47called the
00:38:48only lawyer
00:38:48I knew,
00:38:49a woman
00:38:50named Grace
00:38:50Chen,
00:38:51recommended
00:38:52by Dot's
00:38:53niece,
00:38:53who handled
00:38:54family cases
00:38:55in Monterey.
00:38:57I need
00:38:58to talk
00:38:59about custody
00:38:59protection
00:39:01immediately.
00:39:02Wren,
00:39:03what's going
00:39:03on?
00:39:06Grace Chen
00:39:07was a
00:39:08petite
00:39:08woman with
00:39:09sharp eyes
00:39:10and an
00:39:11even sharper
00:39:11legal mind.
00:39:16We met
00:39:16the next
00:39:17morning at
00:39:17her office
00:39:18in Monterey,
00:39:19a modest
00:39:19space lined
00:39:20with law
00:39:21books and
00:39:21framed degrees.
00:39:23Grace
00:39:24listened without
00:39:25interrupting,
00:39:26her expression
00:39:27unreadable.
00:39:29When I
00:39:30finished,
00:39:31she set her
00:39:31pen down
00:39:32and looked
00:39:32at me
00:39:32directly.
00:39:34Here's the
00:39:35reality,
00:39:36Wren.
00:39:36You have a
00:39:37strong case
00:39:38for primary
00:39:39custody.
00:39:42You've been
00:39:43the sole
00:39:43caretaker
00:39:44for four
00:39:45years,
00:39:45you're
00:39:46financially
00:39:46stable,
00:39:47and the
00:39:48children are
00:39:48thriving.
00:39:51However,
00:39:53the Brackwell
00:39:53family has
00:39:54resources.
00:39:56If Cassian's
00:39:57mother is
00:39:57involved,
00:39:58they'll hire
00:39:59the most
00:39:59aggressive
00:40:00attorneys money
00:40:00can buy.
00:40:03they'll
00:40:04argue that
00:40:05you
00:40:05deliberately
00:40:06concealed
00:40:06the
00:40:07children
00:40:08from
00:40:08their
00:40:08father,
00:40:09which
00:40:09some
00:40:10judges
00:40:10view
00:40:11unfavorably.
00:40:14I
00:40:15concealed
00:40:16them
00:40:16because I
00:40:16had no
00:40:17choice.
00:40:19I
00:40:20understand
00:40:20that,
00:40:21and will
00:40:21make that
00:40:22argument,
00:40:23but you
00:40:23need to be
00:40:24for a fight.
00:40:27You need
00:40:28to be
00:40:28prepared for
00:40:29a fight.
00:40:30I left
00:40:31her office
00:40:31with a knot
00:40:32in my
00:40:32stomach and
00:40:33a retainer
00:40:34agreement that
00:40:34consumed most
00:40:35of my
00:40:36savings.
00:40:39That
00:40:40afternoon,
00:40:41Cassian
00:40:41arrived for
00:40:42his scheduled
00:40:43visit with
00:40:43the twins.
00:40:44He looked
00:40:45different,
00:40:47tense,
00:40:47distracted,
00:40:49a muscle
00:40:49jumping in
00:40:50his jaw as
00:40:51he,
00:40:51Leo,
00:40:51and Luna
00:40:52play in
00:40:52the gallery's
00:40:53small
00:40:53backyard.
00:40:56Your
00:40:57mother sent
00:40:57Mona.
00:40:59What?
00:41:09Your
00:41:10mother is
00:41:10pursuing
00:41:11custody.
00:41:17Don't.
00:41:18Don't call
00:41:19her.
00:41:19Don't tip
00:41:20her off.
00:41:22I have a
00:41:23lawyer,
00:41:24and I need
00:41:24you to
00:41:25stay out
00:41:25of it.
00:41:27Stay out
00:41:28of it?
00:41:29These are
00:41:29my children
00:41:30too!
00:41:31And if
00:41:31you want
00:41:32to help
00:41:32them,
00:41:33you'll let
00:41:33me handle
00:41:34this my
00:41:34way.
00:41:35Your
00:41:36family's
00:41:36involvement
00:41:36is the
00:41:37threat,
00:41:37Cassian.
00:41:39You can't
00:41:39fight your
00:41:40own mother
00:41:40and expect
00:41:41me to
00:41:41trust that
00:41:42you'll
00:41:42choose us.
00:41:43The word
00:41:44us slipped
00:41:45out before
00:41:46I could
00:41:46catch it,
00:41:47and we
00:41:47both heard
00:41:48it.
00:41:49His
00:41:49expression
00:41:50shifted,
00:41:51something
00:41:51fierce,
00:41:52tender,
00:41:52igniting
00:41:53behind
00:41:53his eyes.
00:41:56I will
00:41:56always choose
00:41:57you.
00:41:58You and
00:41:59Leo and
00:42:00Luna.
00:42:01Over my
00:42:02mother of
00:42:02the company,
00:42:03over
00:42:04everything.
00:42:05Words.
00:42:05I've
00:42:05heard your
00:42:06words
00:42:06before.
00:42:07The
00:42:07silence
00:42:07stretched
00:42:08between
00:42:08us.
00:42:09What if
00:42:10I testify?
00:42:12What if
00:42:13I testify
00:42:14on your
00:42:14behalf?
00:42:15Tell the
00:42:15court that
00:42:16you're an
00:42:16extraordinary
00:42:17mother,
00:42:17that the
00:42:18children are
00:42:19happy,
00:42:19healthy,
00:42:19and healthy,
00:42:20that I
00:42:21support your
00:42:21primary custody?
00:42:22Your own
00:42:23mother's lawyers
00:42:23would tear you
00:42:24apart.
00:42:25Let them.
00:42:26I spent
00:42:27four years
00:42:27being the
00:42:28man who
00:42:28lost
00:42:29everything
00:42:29because
00:42:30was too
00:42:30proud
00:42:30and too
00:42:31blind to
00:42:32see what
00:42:32mattered.
00:42:35I won't
00:42:35make that
00:42:36mistake
00:42:36again.
00:42:37If
00:42:38testifying
00:42:38for me
00:42:38is going
00:42:39to war
00:42:39with my
00:42:39family,
00:42:41then I'll
00:42:42burn that
00:42:42bridge and
00:42:43salt the
00:42:43earth behind
00:42:44me.
00:42:44Something
00:42:45cracked inside
00:42:45my chest,
00:42:46not breaking,
00:42:48but thawning.
00:42:49A wall I'd
00:42:50spent four
00:42:51years reinforcing,
00:42:53weakening under
00:42:53the weight of
00:42:54his words.
00:42:55Why?
00:42:56Why now?
00:42:57Why all of
00:42:58this?
00:43:01He stepped
00:43:02closer,
00:43:02slowly,
00:43:03giving me
00:43:04every chance
00:43:05to retreat.
00:43:05I didn't.
00:43:08Because the
00:43:09night you
00:43:09left,
00:43:11I went to
00:43:12make coffee
00:43:12in the morning
00:43:12and found
00:43:13your mug
00:43:13still in the
00:43:14sink.
00:43:19And I
00:43:19stood there
00:43:20holding that
00:43:21stupid mug,
00:43:23and I
00:43:23realized I
00:43:24couldn't
00:43:24remember the
00:43:25last night
00:43:25I'd asked
00:43:25you how
00:43:26your day
00:43:26was.
00:43:27I
00:43:28couldn't
00:43:28remember
00:43:29the last
00:43:29time I'd
00:43:29looked at
00:43:30you,
00:43:31really
00:43:31looked at
00:43:32you,
00:43:32and seen
00:43:33you.
00:43:34Not the
00:43:35contract,
00:43:36not the
00:43:39arrangement,
00:43:40but the
00:43:41woman who
00:43:41drank coffee
00:43:42from a
00:43:42broken mug
00:43:43because she
00:43:44said it
00:43:44had character.
00:43:59he was
00:43:59close enough
00:44:00now that
00:44:00I could
00:44:01see the
00:44:01flecks of
00:44:02blue in
00:44:02his gray
00:44:02eyes.
00:44:04The
00:44:05faint scar
00:44:05on his
00:44:06jaw from
00:44:06a childhood
00:44:07Xidaxton
00:44:08he'd told
00:44:08me about
00:44:09once,
00:44:10in a rare
00:44:11moment of
00:44:11vulnerability.
00:44:12vulnerability.
00:44:13I kept
00:44:14that mug.
00:44:16It's in
00:44:16my apartment,
00:44:17on the
00:44:18same
00:44:18mud,
00:44:19on the
00:44:20shelf.
00:44:22I look at
00:44:23it every
00:44:23morning and
00:44:24I think
00:44:24what an
00:44:24idiot I
00:44:25was.
00:44:26And I
00:44:27promise
00:44:28myself that
00:44:29if I ever
00:44:29find you,
00:44:31I'll spend
00:44:31the rest of
00:44:32my life
00:44:32deserving
00:44:32you,
00:44:34deserving
00:44:35of you.
00:44:36A mug.
00:44:39You kept
00:44:40a mug.
00:44:41I kept
00:44:41everything.
00:44:43Your
00:44:43sketchbooks
00:44:44that you
00:44:44left behind.
00:44:46Your
00:44:46mother's
00:44:47recipe for
00:44:47lemon cake
00:44:48that was
00:44:48stuck to
00:44:48the fridge.
00:44:50The
00:44:50grocery list
00:44:51you wrote
00:44:52the week
00:44:52before,
00:44:53with your
00:44:53terrible
00:44:54handwriting.
00:44:59I kept
00:44:59it all,
00:45:00Wynn,
00:45:01because it
00:45:01was all I
00:45:02had left
00:45:02of you.
00:45:07Mommy!
00:45:08Look what I
00:45:08made!
00:45:09It's our
00:45:09family!
00:45:10See?
00:45:12That's me,
00:45:13that's Leo,
00:45:14that's you,
00:45:15and that's...
00:45:18That's Daddy.
00:45:22I looked
00:45:23at the
00:45:23drawing.
00:45:24Four stick
00:45:25figures,
00:45:26holding hands,
00:45:27standing in
00:45:28front of a
00:45:28house with a
00:45:29trocad chimney
00:45:30and a
00:45:30purple door.
00:45:33A family.
00:45:37It's
00:45:37beautiful,
00:45:38baby.
00:45:39Is that
00:45:40me?
00:45:41You made
00:45:41me very
00:45:42tall.
00:45:42You are
00:45:43very tall.
00:45:44Also,
00:45:45I gave you
00:45:46a cape,
00:45:46because Daddy
00:45:47should have
00:45:47capes.
00:45:50He laughed,
00:45:51a real
00:45:51laugh,
00:45:52the first
00:45:52I'd heard
00:45:53from him,
00:45:53and pulled
00:45:54her into
00:45:54a hug.
00:45:55Over
00:45:56Luna's
00:45:56shoulder,
00:45:57his eyes
00:45:57found mine,
00:45:58glistening,
00:45:59hopeful,
00:46:00terrified.
00:46:02I didn't
00:46:03look away.
00:46:16The custody
00:46:17hearing was
00:46:18set for
00:46:18three weeks
00:46:19out.
00:46:20Grace worked
00:46:21around the
00:46:22clock,
00:46:23building a
00:46:23case that
00:46:23round the
00:46:24clock,
00:46:25putting a
00:46:25case that
00:46:26documented
00:46:27every moment
00:46:27of my life
00:46:28as a single
00:46:29mother,
00:46:30medical records,
00:46:31school reports,
00:46:32tax returns,
00:46:33testimony from
00:46:34Dot,
00:46:35from the
00:46:35art supply
00:46:36store owner,
00:46:37from Miss
00:46:38Beatrice at
00:46:38the preschool,
00:46:40a portrait
00:46:41of a woman
00:46:42who had
00:46:42built a
00:46:43life from
00:46:43wreckage.
00:46:46Cassian,
00:46:47true to his
00:46:47word,
00:46:48submitted a
00:46:48voluntary
00:46:49declaration
00:46:50supporting my
00:46:50custody.
00:46:51His legal
00:46:52team,
00:46:53the same
00:46:53one his
00:46:53mother had
00:46:54hired,
00:46:55resigned in
00:46:55protest.
00:46:56He didn't
00:46:57flinch.
00:46:58You just
00:46:58fired a
00:46:59$2,000
00:47:00an hour
00:47:00law firm.
00:47:01They work
00:47:02for my
00:47:02mother.
00:47:03I work
00:47:04for my
00:47:04kids.
00:47:05The night
00:47:06before the
00:47:06hearing,
00:47:07I couldn't
00:47:07sleep.
00:47:08I sat at
00:47:10my kitchen
00:47:10table,
00:47:11surrounded by
00:47:11legal documents
00:47:12and cold
00:47:13coffee,
00:47:14running through
00:47:14worst-case
00:47:15scenarios.
00:47:16What if the
00:47:17judge sided
00:47:17with the
00:47:18blacklouts?
00:47:19What if
00:47:19money and
00:47:20power trumped
00:47:21everything I'd
00:47:21built?
00:47:22What if I
00:47:23lost Leo
00:47:24in Luna?
00:47:27A door
00:47:27knocks at
00:47:2811 Oclat
00:47:29night.
00:47:30I opened
00:47:31it to find
00:47:31Cassian,
00:47:32rain-soaked,
00:47:34holding a
00:47:34paper bag.
00:47:38Mushroom
00:47:39risotto.
00:47:40You haven't
00:47:41eaten.
00:47:42I asked
00:47:43Dot.
00:47:45Dot is a
00:47:46traitor.
00:47:47Dot is a
00:47:49national
00:47:49treasure.
00:47:51Eat.
00:47:52You need
00:47:53your strength
00:47:53for tomorrow.
00:47:55I took the
00:47:56bag, and
00:47:57against my
00:47:57better judgment,
00:47:58I let him
00:47:59in.
00:48:00He sat at
00:48:01my kitchen
00:48:01table, the
00:48:02first time he'd
00:48:03been inside my
00:48:04home, and
00:48:05looked around
00:48:06with an
00:48:06expression of
00:48:07quiet wonder.
00:48:09The children's
00:48:10drawings on
00:48:11the fridge, the
00:48:12stack of
00:48:12picture books by
00:48:13the couch, the
00:48:15small, imperfect
00:48:16evidence of a
00:48:17life filled
00:48:18with love.
00:48:20You had
00:48:21yourself.
00:48:22You're the
00:48:23strongest person
00:48:24I've ever
00:48:24known,
00:48:25Wern.
00:48:27And I'm
00:48:27sorry it took
00:48:28losing you to
00:48:29see it.
00:48:31We sat in
00:48:32silence for a
00:48:33while, the
00:48:34rain tapping
00:48:35against the
00:48:35windows.
00:48:36If the judge
00:48:37asked me to
00:48:38choose between
00:48:38my family name
00:48:39and my
00:48:39children, there's
00:48:40no choice to
00:48:41make.
00:48:42Leo and
00:48:43Luna come
00:48:44first.
00:48:46You come
00:48:47first.
00:48:47first.
00:48:49I come
00:48:50first?
00:48:53You always
00:48:55did.
00:48:57I was just
00:48:58too blind to
00:48:59see it.
00:49:02The hearing the
00:49:04next morning was
00:49:04held in a
00:49:05Monterey
00:49:06courthouse, a
00:49:07stately building
00:49:08that smelled of
00:49:09old wood and
00:49:10tension.
00:49:12Grace sat
00:49:13beside me, calm
00:49:15and prepared.
00:49:16Across the
00:49:17aisle, Margaret
00:49:17Blacklight,
00:49:18Cassian's mother,
00:49:19sat with her team
00:49:20of attorneys, her
00:49:21posture rigid, her
00:49:23expression glacy.
00:49:25She didn't look at
00:49:26me.
00:49:27Not once.
00:49:28The proceedings were
00:49:29clinical at first.
00:49:30Evidence presented
00:49:31witnesses called,
00:49:33legal arguments
00:49:33made.
00:49:35Grace was
00:49:36brilliant,
00:49:36pathetical,
00:49:37devastating in her
00:49:38cross-examinations.
00:49:40Grace countered with
00:49:41medical records showing
00:49:42my collapse from
00:49:43malterition, the
00:49:45frozen settlement, and
00:49:46Cassian's own
00:49:47infidelity.
00:49:50Then,
00:49:50Canyon took the
00:49:51stand.
00:49:53The courtroom
00:49:54shifted.
00:49:55Margaret's lawyers
00:49:55objected to his
00:49:56testimony, arguing
00:49:58conflict of interest.
00:49:59The judge overruled
00:50:00them.
00:50:02Cassian sat in the
00:50:03witness box, his
00:50:04hands clasped, his
00:50:05expression resolute.
00:50:07Mr. Brackley, can
00:50:08you describe your
00:50:09relationship with the
00:50:10petitioner, Wren Ashford?
00:50:14She was my wife, and
00:50:17I failed her in every
00:50:18way a husband can
00:50:19fail.
00:50:20The courtroom went
00:50:21quiet.
00:50:23I was unfaithful.
00:50:24I was neglectful.
00:50:27I froze her legally
00:50:28entitled settlement
00:50:29through my attorney
00:50:31without my knowledge.
00:50:33But I should have
00:50:34known.
00:50:34I should have been
00:50:36paying attention.
00:50:38Instead, I was
00:50:39consumed with my own
00:50:39life, my own wants,
00:50:41and I left her with
00:50:41nothing.
00:50:43No, but maybe I
00:50:44should be.
00:50:47And, Awadi, I
00:50:48should be.
00:50:51Because the reason
00:50:52Wayne hid my
00:50:53children from me is
00:50:54because I gave
00:50:54reason to believe I
00:50:55would hurt them the
00:50:56way I hurt.
00:50:59I ever hurt them
00:51:00the way I hurt her.
00:51:04And she was right
00:51:05to protect them.
00:51:11Margaret's face went
00:51:12white.
00:51:15Your Honor,
00:51:17Rain Ashford is the
00:51:18best mother I have
00:51:19ever seen.
00:51:20She raised two
00:51:21incredible children
00:51:22alone, with no
00:51:24support, no resources,
00:51:27and no help from me.
00:51:31If this court is
00:51:32looking for the
00:51:32parent who has
00:51:33consistently put
00:51:34Leo and Luna's
00:51:35well-nail first,
00:51:36it's her.
00:51:40It has always been
00:51:41her.
00:51:44And if I spend the
00:51:45rest of my life
00:51:46trying to be half
00:51:46the parent she is,
00:51:48I'll consider that
00:51:48that a life well-lived.
00:51:49The judge called
00:51:50a recess.
00:51:52In the hallway,
00:51:53Margaret Branklau
00:51:54cornered her son,
00:51:55her voice a furious
00:51:56whisper that carried
00:51:57despite her efforts.
00:51:59You've humiliated
00:52:00this family.
00:52:02You've thrown away
00:52:03everything I've built!
00:52:05You built an empire,
00:52:07Mother.
00:52:08I'm trying to
00:52:09build a family.
00:52:09That woman is
00:52:11manipulating you.
00:52:12That woman raised
00:52:13my children while I
00:52:15was too busy being
00:52:15your perfect son to
00:52:17notice I'd become a
00:52:18terrible man.
00:52:20Margaret recoiled
00:52:21as if slapped.
00:52:23For one long moment,
00:52:25mother and son
00:52:25stared at each other.
00:52:28Then Cassian turned
00:52:29and walked away,
00:52:31straight to where
00:52:31I stood with grace.
00:52:33Whatever the ruling
00:52:34is, I meant every word.
00:52:37I nodded,
00:52:38not trusting my voice.
00:52:41The judge returned
00:52:42her decision that
00:52:43afternoon.
00:52:44Full primary
00:52:45custody to me,
00:52:46with generous
00:52:47vitation rights for
00:52:48Cassian,
00:52:48and a restraining
00:52:50order against
00:52:50Margaret Blackley's
00:52:51legal team from
00:52:52pursuing further
00:52:53custody challenges.
00:52:54It was over.
00:53:03The weeks after the
00:53:04hearing were strange
00:53:05and quiet.
00:53:06The threat was gone,
00:53:07but its shadow
00:53:08lingered,
00:53:09leaving me jumpy,
00:53:10suspicious,
00:53:11waiting for the next
00:53:11blow.
00:53:12It didn't come.
00:53:13What came instead
00:53:15was a slow,
00:53:16cautious rebuilding.
00:53:17Cassian moved into
00:53:18a modest rental house
00:53:19two streets from
00:53:20mine.
00:53:21He walked Leo and
00:53:22Luna to preschool
00:53:22every morning,
00:53:23rain or shine.
00:53:24He learned to
00:53:25braid Luna's hair
00:53:26badly.
00:53:28He sat through
00:53:29Leo's hour-long
00:53:30dinosaur presentations
00:53:31with the focused
00:53:32attention of a man
00:53:33attending a board
00:53:34meeting.
00:53:35He was trying,
00:53:37genuinely,
00:53:38relentlessly trying.
00:53:39One evening,
00:53:40after the twins
00:53:41were in bed,
00:53:41I found a package
00:53:42on my doorstep.
00:53:43Inside was my
00:53:44mother's locket.
00:53:45I held it to my
00:53:46chest and cried.
00:53:47My phone buzzed.
00:53:49Cassian,
00:53:50found it in storage
00:53:51last week.
00:53:52It belongs with you.
00:53:53It always did.
00:53:54I didn't reply.
00:53:58But I wore the locket
00:53:59every day after that
00:54:00and he noticed.
00:54:01And he said nothing,
00:54:03just smiled,
00:54:04soft and private.
00:54:14Spring arrived in
00:54:15Carmel with its
00:54:16usual drama.
00:54:18Wildflowers erupting
00:54:19across every hillside.
00:54:20My gallery hosted
00:54:22its first major
00:54:22exhibition,
00:54:23featuring 20 new
00:54:24pieces I'd painted
00:54:25over the winter.
00:54:26The local press
00:54:28covered it.
00:54:28A San Francisco
00:54:30collector bought
00:54:31three paintings.
00:54:32For the first time,
00:54:33I felt like an artist
00:54:34again.
00:54:34Not Cassian's ex-wife,
00:54:36not a single mother
00:54:37surviving,
00:54:38but Wren Ashford
00:54:39painter.
00:54:40Cassian came to
00:54:40the opening.
00:54:41He wore a simple
00:54:43navy suit,
00:54:44no tie,
00:54:44and he stood in front
00:54:45of one painting
00:54:46for 20 minutes
00:54:47without moving.
00:54:48This I'd titled
00:54:49First Light,
00:54:51a dawn sea state,
00:54:52golden and fierce,
00:54:54painted the morning
00:54:55after I'd had arrived
00:54:57in Carmel
00:54:57four years ago.
00:55:00This is extraordinary.
00:55:02When did you paint it?
00:55:04The day after I got here.
00:55:06I had $12 left
00:55:08and no food
00:55:08in the apartment,
00:55:09but I had paints,
00:55:10so I painted.
00:55:12You painted your way
00:55:14out of the dark?
00:55:14I painted my way
00:55:16into the light.
00:55:27He smiled,
00:55:29slow,
00:55:30warm,
00:55:31aching,
00:55:31and something shifted
00:55:33between us.
00:55:34Not a grand gesture,
00:55:36not a decoration,
00:55:37just a quiet tilt
00:55:38of the axis,
00:55:39like the first degree
00:55:40of a door opening.
00:55:44That night,
00:55:45as the last guests
00:55:45filtered out
00:55:46and I locked up
00:55:47the gallery,
00:55:49Cassian lingered.
00:55:50Warren,
00:55:50I need to tell you
00:55:51something.
00:55:52What?
00:55:54I turned down
00:55:55a merger last week.
00:55:56A big one.
00:55:57Blackwell Industries
00:55:58and Harrington Corp.
00:56:00It would have required
00:56:00to relocate
00:56:01to New York.
00:56:04Okay.
00:56:05My board thinks
00:56:06I've lost my mind.
00:56:08My mother thinks
00:56:09my mind.
00:56:09Mona called to tell me
00:56:10I've lost my mind.
00:56:12But I looked at proposal
00:56:14and all I could think
00:56:15was if I take this deal,
00:56:18I miss Luna's
00:56:19dance session
00:56:19in June.
00:56:20I miss Leo's
00:56:21t-ball game
00:56:22on Saturdays.
00:56:23I miss...
00:56:26I miss the chance
00:56:27to be here,
00:56:28where you are.
00:56:31Cassian.
00:56:32I'm not asking
00:56:33for anything.
00:56:34I know where we stand.
00:56:39I just wanted you
00:56:40to know that
00:56:41when I said
00:56:41I'd choose you
00:56:42over everything,
00:56:43I meant it.
00:56:45This is me
00:56:46choosing,
00:56:47choosing.
00:56:49The streetlight
00:56:50caught his face,
00:56:52highlighting the earnestness
00:56:53in his expression,
00:56:55the vulnerability
00:56:55he'd never shown me
00:56:56during our marriage.
00:56:58This wasn't
00:56:58the Cassian Brachley
00:57:00who'd signed
00:57:00divorce papers
00:57:01without looking up.
00:57:02This was someone
00:57:03else entirely.
00:57:05Someone broken
00:57:06and rebuilt,
00:57:08just like me.
00:57:10Thank you
00:57:11for telling me.
00:57:14He walked away
00:57:16and I stood there,
00:57:18clutching the gallery keys,
00:57:19my heart doing something
00:57:21it hadn't done
00:57:21in four years.
00:57:23It was hoping,
00:57:24and that terrified me
00:57:26more than anything
00:57:27Mona or Margaret
00:57:28or any courtroom
00:57:29could throw at me.
00:57:33Summer hit Carme
00:57:35like a warm exhale.
00:57:37The twins turned five
00:57:38in March,
00:57:39and by June,
00:57:41they were feral
00:57:42with energy.
00:57:44Leo chasing waves
00:57:45at the beach,
00:57:46Luna staging
00:57:47elaborate art shows
00:57:48in the backyard
00:57:49using Biscuit
00:57:50as an unwilling model.
00:57:54Cassian had become
00:57:55a fixture in our lives,
00:57:57as steady and reliable
00:57:58as the tide.
00:58:00He never overstepped.
00:58:02Never pushed.
00:58:03Never made me feel
00:58:04like I owed him anything.
00:58:06He was simply present.
00:58:09And that consistency,
00:58:11more than any grand gesture,
00:58:13was slowly demantling
00:58:14the walls I'd spent
00:58:15four years building.
00:58:17It was Luna's dance
00:58:19citadel that broke me.
00:58:22The community center
00:58:23was packed.
00:58:24Luna stood on stage
00:58:25in a purple tutor,
00:58:27her color,
00:58:27always,
00:58:28looking sammintamnously
00:58:29terrified and fury,
00:58:31which was her default state.
00:58:33Leo sat between Cassian
00:58:35and me,
00:58:35narrating the performance
00:58:37in loud whispers.
00:58:40She's doing the spinny thing!
00:58:42Look, Daddy,
00:58:43she's doing the spinny thing!
00:58:47Cassian watched Luna
00:58:48with an expression
00:58:49of such raw,
00:58:50unguarded love
00:58:51that it physically hurt
00:58:52to look at him.
00:58:57That's my girl.
00:59:00When she stumbled mid-Pirouel
00:59:02and caught herself
00:59:03with a defiant hair flip,
00:59:05he burst into applause
00:59:06so loud
00:59:07that the parents
00:59:08around us startled.
00:59:14Did you see me?
00:59:15I almost fell,
00:59:16but I didn't.
00:59:19You were Megithithith.
00:59:21She wrapped her arms
00:59:22around his neck
00:59:23and whispered
00:59:24something in his ear.
00:59:25His face crumbled
00:59:27just for a second
00:59:28before he deposed himself
00:59:30and kissed her forehead.
00:59:36She said,
00:59:37I'm glad you're here, Daddy.
00:59:39Don't leave again, okay?
00:59:45Dot cornered me
00:59:47in the bakery kitchen
00:59:48with the subtlety
00:59:49of a freight train.
00:59:50You love him.
00:59:52I do not.
00:59:55When, Elizabeth Ashfield,
00:59:57I have watched you
00:59:59stare at that man
01:00:00like he's the last sunset
01:00:02you'll ever see,
01:00:03you love him.
01:00:05The question is
01:00:06what you're going
01:00:06to do about it.
01:00:09Nothing.
01:00:10I'm going to do nothing.
01:00:13Because loving Cassian Blackley
01:00:15nearly killed me once
01:00:16and I have two children
01:00:16who need their mother
01:00:17alive and functional.
01:00:23Honey,
01:00:24there's a difference
01:00:25between protecting yourself
01:00:27and punishing yourself.
01:00:29You've been so busy
01:00:30making sure
01:00:31he can't hurt you again
01:00:32that you haven't noticed
01:00:34he's not the same man.
01:00:38People don't change, Dot.
01:00:42Of course they do.
01:00:43I've changed.
01:00:45You've changed.
01:00:47Those babies changed us both.
01:00:50Why is he the only one
01:00:52who doesn't get that grace?
01:00:54I opened my mouth to argue
01:00:56but nothing came out
01:00:57because she was right
01:00:59and I hated her for it.
01:01:03The following Saturday
01:01:04we took the twins
01:01:05to the beach.
01:01:06It was one of those
01:01:07perfect caramel days.
01:01:09Fog burned off by noon.
01:01:11The sand warm.
01:01:12The water sparkling.
01:01:14Leo built a sand tassel
01:01:15the size of a small dog.
01:01:18Luna declared herself
01:01:19queen of the ocean
01:01:20and waded in up to her knees
01:01:22streaking with delight.
01:01:24Kansian and I sat on a blanket
01:01:26watching them
01:01:27a careful two feet
01:01:28of space between us.
01:01:30The distance felt
01:01:31both necessary
01:01:32and absurd.
01:01:34Bryn,
01:01:35I need to ask you something
01:01:36and I need you to be honest.
01:01:40Okay.
01:01:41Do you think you could
01:01:42ever forgive me?
01:01:44The question hung
01:01:46in the salt air.
01:01:47I watched Luna
01:01:48splash Leo
01:01:49heard his outage howl
01:01:51saw them dissolve
01:01:53into laughter.
01:01:55I forgave you
01:01:56a long time ago.
01:01:58Somewhere between
01:01:59Leo's first steps
01:02:00and Luna's first word.
01:02:04I forgave you
01:02:05because carrying that anger
01:02:07was heavier than
01:02:07raising two children alone
01:02:09and I couldn't do both, both.
01:02:11You-
01:02:12Forgiving you
01:02:13isn't the hard part, Kassian.
01:02:15Trusting you is.
01:02:17What would it take?
01:02:19I don't know.
01:02:20Maybe time.
01:02:22Maybe nothing.
01:02:23Maybe it's already happening
01:02:25and I'm too scared to see it.
01:02:28He reached out
01:02:30slowly,
01:02:31carefully,
01:02:32giving me every chance
01:02:33to pull away
01:02:34and took my hand.
01:02:35His palm was warm
01:02:37rough,
01:02:38familiar in a way
01:02:39that ached.
01:02:41I didn't pull away.
01:02:44We sat there,
01:02:45hand in hand,
01:02:46watching our children
01:02:47play in the waves
01:02:48and for the first time
01:02:49in five years,
01:02:51the silence wasn't filled
01:02:52with lies
01:02:53or loneliness.
01:02:54It was filled with possibility.
01:02:57It was filled with possibility.
01:02:59Mommy!
01:03:01Daddy!
01:03:02Look!
01:03:03It's shaped like a heart!
01:03:06It's shaped like a potato, Leo.
01:03:09It's a heart potato!
01:03:14Cassian laughed and I laughed
01:03:16and the sound of it,
01:03:17all four of us,
01:03:19together under the wide
01:03:20California sky,
01:03:22felt like coming home.
01:03:31The call came on a Tuesday.
01:03:35I was in the gallery
01:03:36prepping for a new exhibition
01:03:38when my phone rang.
01:03:40An unfamiliar number
01:03:42with a New York area code.
01:03:43I almost let it go to voicemail,
01:03:46but something,
01:03:47instinct,
01:03:48fate,
01:03:49bad luck,
01:03:50made me answer.
01:03:52Mrs. Ashford?
01:03:53This is Dr. Patel
01:03:54at Mount Sinai Hospital.
01:03:55I'm calling a guarding
01:03:56Margaret Weinlein.
01:03:58Why are you calling me?
01:04:00Mrs. Blackley listed you
01:04:02as her emergency contact.
01:04:03She's been admitted
01:04:04with cardiac arrest.
01:04:05She's stable
01:04:05but in critical condition.
01:04:06She's asking to see you.
01:04:09I almost laughed.
01:04:11Margaret laughed.
01:04:12Margaret Brantleud,
01:04:13the woman who'd tried
01:04:14to take my children,
01:04:15had listed me
01:04:16as her emergency contact.
01:04:18It had to be a mistake.
01:04:21There must be an error.
01:04:22No error, ma'am.
01:04:23She was quite specific.
01:04:25She said,
01:04:26and I quote,
01:04:27Call the mother
01:04:27of my grandchildren.
01:04:28She's the only
01:04:29honest person I know.
01:04:41I called Cassian.
01:04:42He answered on the first ring,
01:04:44his voice tight with worry
01:04:45when I told him,
01:04:46I'll book us flights.
01:04:47Can Dot watch the kids?
01:04:49Us?
01:04:51She's my mother, Wren.
01:04:52Whatever she's done,
01:04:53she's my mother.
01:04:55And she asked for you.
01:04:58Haken.
01:04:59We flew to New York
01:05:01that evening,
01:05:02leaving the twins with Dot
01:05:03and a freezer full
01:05:04of pre-made meals.
01:05:07The flight was tense.
01:05:09Cassian gripping the armrest
01:05:10like it owed him money.
01:05:12His jaw clenched.
01:05:15She had a heart condition.
01:05:17She never told me.
01:05:19Found out from her assistant
01:05:20last year.
01:05:22She refused treatment
01:05:24because she said
01:05:25black clouds don't show weakness.
01:05:26That's the most
01:05:27Margaret Blacklight thing
01:05:28I've ever heard.
01:05:31The hospital.
01:05:33Margaret looked nothing like
01:05:35the iron-willed matriarch
01:05:37who tried to destroy me
01:05:38in court.
01:05:39She looked small.
01:05:41Fragile.
01:05:45Her silver hair
01:05:46was loose against the pillow,
01:05:48her skin paper-thin,
01:05:49monitors beeping steadily
01:05:51around her.
01:05:53When she saw me,
01:05:54her eyes,
01:05:56gray,
01:05:57like Cassian's,
01:05:58like Leo's,
01:05:59you came,
01:06:01you called.
01:06:02Why me, Margaret?
01:06:05Because the only person
01:06:06who's ever told my son
01:06:07the truth.
01:06:09everyone else tells him
01:06:10what he wants to hear.
01:06:11You told him
01:06:12what he needed to hear.
01:06:23I also told your lawyers
01:06:25to go to hell.
01:06:27Yes.
01:06:28That too.
01:06:30come here.
01:06:33Cassian,
01:06:34please.
01:06:35I've made mistakes
01:06:37with you,
01:06:38with your father,
01:06:40with this family.
01:06:41I tried to control everything
01:06:43because I was terrified
01:06:44of losing it.
01:06:45And in doing so,
01:06:47I lost the only things
01:06:48that mattered.
01:06:50Mother.
01:06:51Let me finish.
01:06:54I tried to take
01:06:55your children.
01:06:56I sent Mona
01:06:57to intimidate you.
01:06:59I treated an obstacle
01:07:01when you were
01:07:01the best thing
01:07:02that ever happened
01:07:03to my son.
01:07:03I'd like to meet
01:07:04my grandchildren,
01:07:05if you'll allow it.
01:07:07Not to interfere.
01:07:08Not control.
01:07:10Just to...
01:07:11know them.
01:07:13Before I can't anymore,
01:07:14I looked at Cassian.
01:07:16His eyes were red.
01:07:17His grip on his mother's hand
01:07:18whiten us.
01:07:19He didn't plead with me.
01:07:20Didn't even look at me
01:07:22for an answer.
01:07:22He just waited,
01:07:24leaving the decision
01:07:25entirely in my hands.
01:07:26I'll think about it.
01:07:29That's more than I deserve.
01:07:32On the flight home,
01:07:34Cassie sat beside me,
01:07:36staring out the window
01:07:37at the dark sky.
01:07:42For going.
01:07:43She's their grandmother.
01:07:44She tried to take them
01:07:45from you.
01:07:46I know.
01:07:47But people change.
01:07:49Someone very wise
01:07:50told me that, really.
01:07:55We're in...
01:07:55Don't.
01:07:56Not yet.
01:07:57I'm not ready.
01:07:59I know.
01:08:01I'll wait.
01:08:02You've been waiting.
01:08:04I'll keep waiting.
01:08:05As long as it takes.
01:08:10Autumn came to Camel
01:08:12in shades of amber and gold.
01:08:15The sapers trees
01:08:16catching fire
01:08:17against the oceans
01:08:18in endless blue.
01:08:20My gallery exhibition,
01:08:22First Light,
01:08:23a collection,
01:08:24opened to a packed house.
01:08:26Every painting sold
01:08:27within the first hour.
01:08:29The San Francisco Crono
01:08:30called it
01:08:31a luminous meditation
01:08:32on resilience.
01:08:34The New York Times
01:08:36art critic
01:08:36who'd flown out
01:08:37for the event
01:08:38wrote,
01:08:39Ashford paints like
01:08:41someone who has
01:08:41walked through fire
01:08:42and found beauty
01:08:44in the ashes.
01:08:47I read the review
01:08:48standing behind
01:08:49the gallery counter,
01:08:50Leo on one hip,
01:08:52Luna tugging
01:08:53at my dress.
01:08:56Mommy,
01:08:57the newspaper lady
01:08:58said you're luminous.
01:08:59What's luminous?
01:09:01It means glowing
01:09:02like a lightsaber.
01:09:06Mommy's a lightsaber!
01:09:10Margaret came
01:09:12for Thanksgiving.
01:09:13She arrived
01:09:14in a town car,
01:09:15moving slowly,
01:09:16a cane in one hand
01:09:18and a bag of gifts
01:09:19in the other.
01:09:24She'd lost weight
01:09:25since the hospital,
01:09:27but her eyes
01:09:28were bright.
01:09:31You're our grandmother
01:09:33and I've prepared
01:09:33to review questions.
01:09:37I'd expect
01:09:38nothing less.
01:09:40By the end
01:09:41of the weekend,
01:09:42she was reading
01:09:42bedtime stories
01:09:43in funny voices,
01:09:46teaching Leo
01:09:46to play chess,
01:09:48and letting Luna
01:09:49paint her nails
01:09:50an aggressive
01:09:51shade of purple.
01:09:54She pulled me aside
01:09:56on her last evening,
01:09:57her expression serious.
01:10:00I've changed
01:10:01my will.
01:10:02Everything goes
01:10:03to Leo and Luna
01:10:04in a trust
01:10:05you'll control
01:10:06until they're 2025.
01:10:08Cassian agreed.
01:10:10Margaret,
01:10:10that's not necessary.
01:10:11It's not about necessity.
01:10:13It's about making right
01:10:14what I made wrong.
01:10:17You're a remarkable
01:10:18woman, Wend.
01:10:19I wish I'd seen
01:10:20it sooner.
01:10:22I accepted
01:10:23her words
01:10:24the way I'd learned
01:10:25to accept many things
01:10:26over the past year,
01:10:27with grace
01:10:28and without the need
01:10:30to forgive
01:10:30on anyone's time
01:10:31mine but my own.
01:10:34Christmas Eve,
01:10:36snow in Carmel,
01:10:37a rare miracle
01:10:39that had the whole
01:10:39town buzzing.
01:10:44The twins were
01:10:45delirial with excitement,
01:10:46building a lopsided
01:10:48snowman in the yard
01:10:49while Dot supervised
01:10:50from the porch
01:10:51the porch
01:10:52with hot cocoa.
01:10:56Cassian and I
01:10:57stood in the kitchen
01:10:58cooking dinner together.
01:11:00He was chopping onions
01:11:01badly
01:11:02while I stirred
01:11:03the soup.
01:11:04The mastic-tarity
01:11:06of it felt surreal,
01:11:07like a life
01:11:08I'd dreamed about
01:11:09but never believed
01:11:10I'd have.
01:11:12You're crying.
01:11:14It's the onions.
01:11:16You're holding
01:11:16a potato.
01:11:17He looked down
01:11:18at his hand,
01:11:19then at me,
01:11:20and burst out laughing.
01:11:21The sound filled
01:11:22the kitchen,
01:11:23warm and unrestrained,
01:11:25and something inside me,
01:11:27the last frozen
01:11:28fragment of fear,
01:11:29finally,
01:11:30finally thawmed.
01:11:33Cassian,
01:11:34I'm ready.
01:11:39ready for what?
01:11:42For you.
01:11:43For us.
01:11:44For whatever this is.
01:11:47I'm terrified.
01:11:48I'll probably be terrified
01:11:50for a long time.
01:11:52But
01:11:53I don't want to spend
01:11:54the rest of my life
01:11:55life being safe
01:11:56when I could spend
01:11:56it being happy.
01:12:02Are you sure?
01:12:04Because I need you
01:12:05to be sure.
01:12:06I can't,
01:12:07I won't survive
01:12:07losing you again.
01:12:11I'm sure.
01:12:12I love you.
01:12:15I think I've loved you
01:12:16since the chipped coffee mug,
01:12:17and I've been too stubborn
01:12:18and too scared
01:12:19to admit it.
01:12:23He kissed me,
01:12:25slow,
01:12:26deep,
01:12:26the kind of kiss
01:12:27that rewrites history.
01:12:29His hands trembled
01:12:30against my skin,
01:12:31and I realized
01:12:32he was crying,
01:12:33and I was crying,
01:12:34and neither of us cared.
01:12:38Because this was real.
01:12:40This was true.
01:12:41This was the love
01:12:43I'd stopped believing in.
01:12:45Standing in my kitchen
01:12:46on Christmas Eve,
01:12:47with snow falling outside,
01:12:50and our children
01:12:51laughter drifting
01:12:52through the window.
01:12:54Daddy's kissing Mommy!
01:12:57Finally.
01:13:00How long have you two
01:13:01been standing there?
01:13:03Long enough.
01:13:04Now can we open presents?
01:13:06Later that night,
01:13:08after the gifts
01:13:08were unwrapped
01:13:09and the twins were asleep
01:13:10in a nest of blankets
01:13:12and new toys,
01:13:13Cassian and I
01:13:14sat on the porch,
01:13:15wrapped in a shared blanket,
01:13:17watching the snow
01:13:18fall over the ocean.
01:13:21I have something for you.
01:13:23It's not a ring.
01:13:25Not yet.
01:13:25Not until you're ready for that.
01:13:27I laughed,
01:13:28a broken,
01:13:29beautiful,
01:13:30healing laugh,
01:13:31and let him
01:13:31clasp it around my neck,
01:13:33his fingers warm
01:13:34against my skin.
01:13:35I leaned into him,
01:13:37his arm tightening around me,
01:13:38and we sat there
01:13:39as the snow-blanket
01:13:40Carmelian White,
01:13:41two imperfect people
01:13:42who had hurt each other,
01:13:44lost each other,
01:13:45found each other,
01:13:45and chosen
01:13:47against all odds
01:13:48to try again.
01:13:50To be continued...
01:13:52to be continued...
01:13:53to be continued...
01:13:55to be continued...
01:13:56You