Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Did you ever think we'd end up like this?"
Artemis looks up from the mess she's making out of paint on her sheet of paper, blinking blearily at Harrison as he, too, takes a break from his painting. Ellie and Caleb carry on without even glancing at their parents, content with making as much mess as they possibly can with their parents' permission.
Painting days are a tradition for the Hunter-Munroe family. Every other Saturday, the family will get together, regardless of who's day it is with the kids, and make a mess of the kitchen with paint and glitter and other craft tools.
"What do you mean?" She asks, glancing sideways at Ellie's... princess (?), an abstract work of pinks and purples in the middle of the forest of glued tissue paper that makes up the border.
Harry shrugs. "Like this. Divorced co-parents. You on the fast track to getting back with your ex-fiance and me... I don't know, going on dates with a woman who actually finds my jokes funny."
"Oh yeah," Artemis snorts, "In fact, on our wedding day I was thinking, 'I bet me and Harry will be divorced in the next few years.'" She rolls her eyes. "I never thought we'd end up like this, Harry, but I'm not exactly sad about it, you know? We're still.. we still have each other. I would have been sad if we ended up hating each other."
"I'm a little sad," Harry murmurs, flashing a quick smile at their son when he glances upwards. "Not for us, but for you guys. You and Chris. I came knocking at your door, confessing my love to you, only for us to... stop loving each other like that. If I'd kept my mouth shut... then you could have been happy together."
"Dad," Caleb sighs, exasperated, "If you and Mama never got married, then me and Ellie wouldn't be here!"
Maintaining eye contact with her ex-husband, Artemis motions at Caleb to show that he'd just made her point. "Listen to our son, Harry," she tells him, "If me and Chris are meant to be, then it'll happen. I don't regret a single moment with you."
Harry smiles. It's a soft, caring sort of thing. Artemis wonders how long he's been dwelling on this—how long he's been keeping this guilt at bay, as unsolicited as it is. But the smile he's wearing tells her that although he feels guilty for what happened all those years ago, he doesn't regret their relationship, either. Because Harry Munroe will always be her first love, and she will always be his.
A million times, Artemis has heard that a person's first love will last forever, even if they don't work out. She agrees. Because Artemis loves Harrison even now. As a friend and the father of her children. As her family. Her first love will last forever, and there's not a single thing she would do to change that.'
"So," Harry says as he picks up his paintbrush again, "Has Chris asked you to be his girlfriend yet?"
