The second night, she woke to Sophia crying. “I dreamt mommy came back,” Sophia sobbed. “Why won’t she come back? ”
Eleanor held her.
No good answer existed for that question. After a while, Sophia calmed down. “Are you going to leave, too? ”
“No,” Eleanor said.
“I’m not going anywhere. ”
“Promise? ”
She looked at the small, frightened child. There was no other answer.
“I promise. ”
The next morning, Harper asked, “Are you going to be our stepmom? ”
Eleanor sat down. “Your father and I like each other.
But we’re still figuring out what that means. I don’t want to promise what I can’t keep. ”
“You’re not leaving, though? ”
“I promise I’m not.
”
Harper smiled. “Then that’s fine. ”
When Liam returned, he pulled Eleanor onto the porch. She told him about the promise, about Harper’s question.
He held her face. “You realize what you’re doing, don’t you? You’re becoming their mother. ”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I know. And I want that. ”
He kissed her deeply. “I love you,” he said.
“I know it’s early, but I can’t keep it inside. ”
“I love you, too. ”
They kissed again under the starlight. Then he asked, “So we make this official?
Dating? ”
Eleanor laughed through her tears. “I think the children already introduced us to each other. But yes.
”
They walked back inside hand in hand. When she left that night, she knew she wasn’t truly leaving. That house, those children, that man — they were her home now.
And she was finally home.