Chapter 216

Aria’s POV

Seeing William and Joe safe and sound at that table sent a rush of relief through me so quickly that I very nearly lost my balance. Liam, as if noticing, placed a hand at the small of my back just in time to keep me upright.

I didn’t have time to think about anything else going on, or how hurt I was, not with my lost children right there in front of me. Without thinking, I leaned into Liam slightly, sharing my joy with him. In response, his hand pressed a little more firmly against my back.

Wordless, together we stepped toward the table.

I was ready to rush there and shower the boys with reassurance and affection, but before I could take more than a few steps, Isabelle rose and stepped into our path, blocking us.

Never before had I been as annoyed at my friend as I was at this moment.

“You must convince William,” she whispered to us. “He thinks that if you get divorced, he will be abandoned.”

The thought made me sick to my stomach. Not that long ago, William had asked me if Liam and I were getting divorced. I’d convinced him then that we weren’t.

Now, I realized that my tactics had been all wrong. Instead of convincing him Liam and I would stay together forever, I should have helped him understand that Liam and I would love him regardless, and that he’d always have a home, whether we were together or not.

“He won’t just leave,” Isabelle said. “Not until he’s convinced.”

“Thank you, Isabelle,” Liam said.

“Thank you,” I said, softer, feeling guilty now for my initial rage at her intervention.

I glanced at Liam and he looked at me in return. We hadn’t been on the same page lately about anything, with so many secrets and so much hurt and mistrust building up between us. Yet, in the past, we’d always came together for the sake of the children.

With the worry in his eyes, I could see that we were still on the same page in this. Whatever else divided us, our mutual love for our children never would.

Isabelle stepped to the side, and Liam and I moved to the table and sat down. While Isabelle had been speaking to us, Joe had slid in beside William. This meant that Liam and I sat on one side of the booth, with William and Joe on the other.

I felt a bit like I was attending the most important board meeting of my life, or perhaps an interview. I needed to convince my children that I loved them and would be their mom no matter what happened in the future.

Isabelle grabbed her coffee from the table and moved to one of the stools at the counter near the cash register. The waitress there immediately came to talk to her. They both glanced over now and then, watchful.

Liam and I couldn’t screw this up.

“It’s past time we have a family discussion about everything that’s been going on lately,” Liam said.

Joe’s eyes were wide. William placed his hands on the table, lacing his fingers together like a little CEO.

“I have questions,” William said.

“Ask them,” I said.

He glanced at me. Beneath the hard glare of anger was the frightened gaze of a lost, lonely, little boy.

How had I ever let things get this far? I should have been more attentive so that I could see the way his fear was growing. If I had intervened in time, then none of this would have happened.

But it did happen.

I needed to focus. Needed to make things right.

I couldn’t undo the mistakes of the past, but I could ensure those mistakes were not repeated. The first step in that? Being there for my children, reassuring them however they needed, and making sure they knew how loved they were.

“Are you guys breaking up?” William asked.

Liam glanced at me, but I avoided looking at him. Now wasn’t the time to make these decisions, nor was it the time to lie.

“I don’t want to,” Liam said.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

Joe’s eyes went impossibly wider. William seemed surprised by my response, like he expected me to sugar-coat everything and had been preparing for some kind of fight. Instead, now, he leaned back in the both.

“Your father and I are going through a rough patch,” I said. “There’s no denying that. While the nature of my relationship with you dad might change, our relationship with you both never will.”

“Even if…” Liam hesitated, like he didn’t want to say it. I looked at him, urging him to continue. This was too important to mess up. Seeing me, he straightened somewhat. “Even if your mom and I break up… our situation will not change. We are a family, through and through. I am your Dad, Aria is your Mom. That is that.”

As William’s anger started to fade, the fear became more pronounced and obvious. “You won’t get sick of me?”

“No,” Liam said firmly.

“Never,” I agreed. “You are my son, William. And you always will be.”

Suddenly, big fat tears formed in William’s eyes and he started to cry in earnest. Liam and I pushed out of the booth, and William did to, flying into our waiting arms. We knelt down to hug him more fully.

Behind him, I saw Joe also crying now and waved him toward us.

Once he joined us, our family hug was truly complete.

I was so relieved that I didn’t even mind Liam’s arm wrapped around my waist, or the way he squeezed me closer as he pulled the boys in too.

In that moment, nothing mattered but the four of us.

“I want to go home,” William sniffled, and we were happy to oblige him.

At home, Liam and I tuck in the boys together, one by one, making sure each is snuggly in their pajamas, secure under the blankets, and comforted with dozens of hugs and butterfly kisses.

Liam even reads the boys a bedtime story each, like they were much younger than they were. The boys don’t complain though, and I listen too, letting the steady cadence of Liam’s voice wash away the last of my terror over what could have transpired tonight.

We were so lucky that Joe had been so brave, to not leave William alone, and that he had found a nice person in that waitress at the diner who had leant him her phone for him to call Isabelle.

I shuddered to think what might have happened had they run into anyone with less good intentions. But, no. The boys were safe now, soundly resting.

As the fear subsided, listening to Liam’s deep voice, my heartache returned.

How many moments more would I have like this? Before Joanna would come into our lives and take over them?

Yes, I’d always be the boys’ mother, but that didn’t mean we’d be a four-person unit forever. The boys would have two good homes, and every other week I’d shower them with love. But Liam and I would still be distant.

With the children resting now, Liam and I stepped into the hallway. My thoughts darkened, thinking once more of Liam’s betrayal. Of my pain. Of all the terrible moments that led up to tonight.

Liam looked at me for a long moment, as if studying my face.

Then, he said, “It’s time for us to talk, Aria. If you are willing to listen.”