Chapter 10
Then Rachel left.
Vincent and Claire were alone.
Claire looked toward the window.
“Did you do a DNA test?”
Vincent stiffened.
“No.”
“You didn’t?”
“No.”
“How do you know they’re yours?”
Vincent looked at her.
“I don’t need a test.”
Claire’s eyes narrowed.
“Thirteen months ago, apparently you did.”
“No. Thirteen months ago I needed courage.”
That silenced her.
Vincent moved to the chair beside the bed but didn’t sit.
“I told myself you left because you didn’t love me anymore.”
Claire said nothing.
“I told myself there had to be someone else.”
“There wasn’t.”
“I know.”
“You could have asked.”
“I know.”
“You could have come after me.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because every explanation I have sounds like an excuse.”
Claire finally looked at him.
For the first time that night, the anger in her expression softened.
Not into forgiveness.
Into sadness.
“You broke my heart, Vincent.”
His voice was barely audible.
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t think you do.”
A tear slid down her cheek.
“I loved you enough that when Vanessa told me you knew about the babies and didn’t want them, I still spent three weeks convincing myself she had misunderstood you.”
Vincent’s chest tightened.
“I wrote you letters.”
“I saw them tonight.”
“I rewrote the first one fourteen times.”
He closed his eyes.
“I kept thinking if I found the right words, you’d come.”
Claire looked toward the hallway where Noah had been taken.
“But eventually I had to stop waiting.”
Vincent sat down.
Not beside her.
Several feet away.
For once, he understood that distance could be respect rather than rejection.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me tonight.”
Claire looked at him.
“I’m not asking you to take me back.”
Her eyes flickered.
“I’m not even asking you to believe anything I say.”
“Then what are you asking?”
Vincent looked toward the hallway.
“For permission to be their father.”
Claire’s expression tightened.
“You are their father.”
“I mean to act like one.”
“That isn’t something you ask permission to pretend at for two weeks because you feel guilty.”
“I know.”
“Babies wake up at three in the morning.”
“I know.”
“They get sick.”
“I know.”
“They scream for no reason.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know.”
Vincent almost smiled.
“You’re right.”
Claire stared at him.
“They need consistency.”
“Then I’ll be consistent.”
“They need someone who shows up.”