Shattered Hearts (TP1)

Megan finished feeding Abbie and sat holding her for a long time. With the twins off with Pete for the weekend, she could just enjoy the feel of her in her arms. She was glad about her relationship with Evan. She loved this little baby even though she came from a union that wasn't love. Megan learned a lot about herself last summer and in the months that followed. She had changed, and the pain of the past had slipped away bit by bit.

Things with Pete had changed over the past few months. Just the fact that she thought of him as Pete again spoke volumes. For a long time he was Peter or her ex. Somehow they had become friends again. She was learning to rely on him and he helped her more than she could have asked for after Abbie was born. He also came to her as his friend when he needed one after he heard from his father. She knew that just being friends again would not be enough for either of them. First there was that great divide to cross. They needed to discuss the past and put it behind them. For the first time in over six years, she realized she was ready. She just wasn't sure how to begin.

As she sat rocking her sleeping daughter, she listened to her mews, and other little sounds. A light rapping on the door interrupted the moment. Her first thought it was Kristi, because she had just seen her. She was going to the supermarket to get ready for a cookout later with Dan's friends.

Carefully standing so she didn't wake the baby, she walked to the front door. She could see it was him on the other side through the stained glass half pane. Opening the door, he dressed for a run.

"Is she asleep?" he whispered, and she turned so he could see for himself. He reached out and touched her downy head.

"Let me put her down," she whispered and walked into her bedroom and placed her in the bassinet. She stood over her a moment to make sure she settled and wondered why he was he here. Truthfully she knew what he came for, she had been avoiding this moment for six and a half years. In the meantime, she ruined everything - their family, their marriage, her relationship with her mother. All were casualties in her path of destruction.

She felt nervous and part of her wanted to continue avoiding the truth. She took a deep breath and walked out of her bedroom. He was there waiting, pacing. She could tell he was nervous too.

"Were you out for a run?"

"No, I walked over. Your mother thinks I'm running. The twins are with her, but you probably figured that out."

He had stopped pacing and was looking at her from across the room. She had just stepped out of the doorway, but hadn't moved closer neither had he. She really looked at him and realized so much was the same, but he was also different. Now thirty, he had filled out. Gone was that lanky quality of his early twenties. She knew he ran regularly and could tell he was in good shape. His legs which she first noticed in high school were even more muscular and his shoulders were broader. His eyes that were piercing into her were the same. The same as she saw most every day on their son and the same she fell in love with a lifetime ago.

He broke the silence. "We can't put it off any longer. For over six years, Lord almost seven, you refused to let me apologize or explain. I need to do that for you, for me, for Nick and Sophie and even Abbie."

Megan began to respond, but he stopped her by putting his hand out like a traffic cop. "Please let me talk. I have been thinking about what I want to say for years, but more specifically the past few weeks."

Megan nodded, because she felt things changing, especially since Abbie's birth. Even Sophie noticed. "Is daddy your friend now?"

"First, I want to tell you I love you. I never stopped. I loved you when I was in second grade, when you hated me in eighth grade, when I sat down next to you in the library for the first time. I loved you when you kissed me and every moment after including when I stormed out the door. I loved you when you pushed me away. Maybe not when you served the divorce papers, but even when I wanted to hate you, I couldn't. I loved you too much."