He Signed My Freedom Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 48
Once the pottery studio quieted down, I kneaded the clay in numb motions.
Chloe sat beside me, glancing up now and then.
“Are you very sad?”
“A little,” I said honestly. “But not because I made the wrong choice.”
Elias set a cup of warm water by my hand.
I looked at the unfinished bowl and thought of Noah and Iris’s thinner faces.
“They looked like they’d lost weight.”
“You can still feel sorry for them,” Elias said quietly. “Feeling sorry for them doesn’t mean you have to go back.”
That made my nose sting.
Everyone in the past had treated maternal love as a limitless duty. As long as I could still ache for the children, I was expected to go back, to keep caring for them, to keep forgiving.
Elias allowed two things to be true at once.
I could be heartbroken, and I could still refuse.
Chloe suddenly held up a lump of clay.
“Let’s make a house for Evelyn.”
“Why a house?” I asked.
“Because a home is supposed to make people happy,” she said seriously. “If the old one made you sad, then we’ll make a new one.”
Elias lowered his head and helped her shape the roof, the tips of his ears faintly pink.
Looking at the two of them, one big and one small, I felt the weight in my chest slowly ease.
“Thank you.”
Chloe threw herself into my arms.
“Then let’s stay together forever, okay?”
Elias immediately said, “Chloe, don’t pressure Evelyn.”
“It’s all right.” I smoothed a hand over her hair, then looked up at Elias. “I’m willing to become part of your lives.”
His eyes lit up, but he still didn’t seize the moment to ask for more.