CHAPTER 19: The Song at the Window
Spring came quietly.
Elena planted herbs in the narrow window boxes outside her apartment. Oliver helped and spilled more soil than he placed. Marcus pretended not to know how to fix the crooked wooden planter so Oliver could teach him.
Their life did not become perfect. There were court dates, therapy sessions, nightmares, difficult questions, and school forms that did not know how to describe a family rebuilt after a crime. But there was also breakfast on Saturdays. There were park walks. There were evenings when Elena played piano downstairs while Oliver drew dragons at the kitchen table and Marcus washed dishes badly enough to make them both laugh.
One night, Oliver asked the question everyone had feared.
“Are you two going to get married?”
Elena dropped a spoon.
Marcus nearly broke a plate.
Oliver looked between them. “It’s okay if no. Dr. Bee says families can be shaped different.”
Elena smiled softly. “Dr. Bee is wise.”
Marcus dried his hands. “Your mother and I are taking our time.”
Oliver nodded seriously. “Because of the lying years.”
Elena’s eyes stung. “Yes. Because of the lying years.”
That night, after Oliver fell asleep, Marcus found Elena at the window listening to the city.
“I loved you,” he said quietly. “Before everything.”
She did not turn around. “I know.”
“I think I never stopped. But I also know love does not excuse ignorance.”
“No,” she said. “It does not.”
He stood beside her, leaving careful space.
“Then I will not ask for the past back.”
Elena looked at him then.
“What will you ask for?”
Marcus’s voice was low, urgent, and honest in a way it had not been in the ballroom.
“A chance to be worthy of the future. Yours, if you ever choose it. Oliver’s, whether you do or not.”
Elena looked out at the streetlights.
After a long moment, she reached for his hand.
May you like
Only for a second.
But this time, no one took it away.
