Sunshine After The Rain

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Sophie stared from the doorway at her young daughter as she slept, with Lucas standing over her, looking down. She'd barely made it through dinner, swaying in and out of consciousness. During the hour long break between dinner and dessert, Ella became more or less comatose on the couch. Lucas picked her up without being asked, and she followed him up the steps and watched as he laid her down. 

The tears that appeared in her eyes were a mix of sorrow and joy. This was what it felt like to have a partner in life. Jason loved both his children, but Lucas showed it in every look and every action. It was a love he wasn't yet ready to allow to fill his life, but the small moments she'd witnessed since meeting him all acted as an undeniable truth. 

Lucas was a family man. A father. A husband. A protector. All the things he was once before, and all the things that were embedded in his bones. 

"Why are you crying, kid?"

Sophie opened her eyes, feeling fresh tears fall onto her cheeks, and saw him standing in front of her. She did her best to put a smile on her face and shook her head. "It's nothing."

"Bullshit." Lucas cupped the right side of her face in the palm of his hand.

She couldn't help but lean into the act. The man felt like home. Her home. Her children's home. Sophie could move to the other side of the world, and her heart would remain forever with him. "Watching you with Ella... Sometimes you feel like this dream come true. Except the dream hasn't come true."

Lucas' hand left her cheek and slid down to her own hand, leading her out of the room and closing the door behind them. 

The sounds of the party below were a mix of drunken cackles and the football game blaring from the television. Up here, they were in their own little world of make believe. 

Lucas entwined their fingers and rest his forehead against her own, sucking in a long breath through his mouth before letting it out through his nose. "Listen to me, kid. You and I aren't perfect. We both got baggage, just like everyone else in the world. But we will have this. Once we've both got our heads on straight, I'm going to come for you and those kids. And once that happens, I'm going to make you happy. 

"I'll piss you off sometimes and bug the crap out of you, because no relationship is flawless, but when you're old and watching your grandchildren grow, you're going to look back on your life and see that you and I had it damn good despite this rocky start. 

"Right now, we both have battles that need to be fought on our own. I don't want you to go, Soph, but it's what we both need. It sucks having to admit that, but that's our reality. You need to find your place in this world and figure out who you are without a relationship before you can properly be in one, and I need to get my shit together, find my peace, and say the hardest goodbye of my life. It's the only way I can give you and the kids what you deserve and make those dreams of yours come true. And I promise you, I will."

Lucas kissed the tears away on her stained face, placing a final kiss on her lips that Sophie fully relished in. 

"Our goodbye won't last forever," Lucas continued, his words spoken against her lips. "I'm going to come for you, take you out on a date, settle down with you, and one day I'm going to put a ring on that beautiful hand of yours because you're it for me, kid."

Sophie's body shook in his grasp as she took it all in. She wasn't meant to find love in her sorrow. She wasn't meant to fall in love so deeply so soon after falling out of it. Lucas' past words stuck with her. They were two right people who fell in love at the wrong time. Someday, hopefully in the not so distant future, it would be their time.