Nobody spoke.
The broken glass remained on the floor near Lorraine's feet.
Terrence was still staring at the children.
His fiancée looked from him to me, then back at the children.
I could see her trying to understand what had just happened.
She glanced at the engagement ring box lying on the floor.
Then she looked at Terrence's face.
"Terrence, I'm asking you something."
He didn't answer.
Mason moved closer to my side.
I felt his little hand touch mine.
"Mama, why is everyone so quiet?"
I looked down at him.
"Sometimes people need a moment to understand something."
He nodded.
That was all.
I wasn't going to explain the entire past in front of four children who had done nothing wrong.
Terrence finally moved.
He took one step toward us, then stopped.
His eyes went back to Mason.
"How old are they?"
His voice sounded different from the one I remembered.
Quieter.
Almost uncertain.
I looked directly at him.
"Eight."
He swallowed.
"All of them?"
"Yes."
His fiancée turned sharply.
"Eight?"
I nodded.
"Eight years old."
The room seemed to become even quieter.
Terrence looked at the children again.
I watched him count.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
There was no need for me to explain the timing.
He understood.
Or at least, he was beginning to.
His mother had one hand against the doorway.
She looked as though she wanted to speak but couldn't find the words.
I remembered her from years earlier.
She had been part of the family I once believed would always be mine.
Now she was looking at four children who carried her son's features.
"Keahu," she finally whispered.
I turned toward her.
"Hello, Lorraine."
Her eyes filled with tears.
She looked at the children again.
"Are these…?"
I gently nodded.
"Yes."
She covered her mouth.
Terrence's fiancée stepped away from him.
"You're telling me these are his children?"
I didn't look away from her.
"They're mine."
I paused.
"And they're Terrence's."
She stared at him.
He still hadn't said anything.
I could understand why she was confused.
From her position, I was an unexpected guest arriving at Christmas with four children and making a statement that changed everything she thought she knew about her future husband.
But the truth hadn't started that morning.
It had started eight years earlier.
I had simply brought it through the front door.
Mason looked toward Terrence.
Then he looked at me.
"Is that Grandpa?"
I felt my throat tighten.
I hadn't expected the question to come so quickly.
I rested my hand on his shoulder.
"Yes, sweetheart."
Mason studied the man standing in front of him.
Terrence looked back at him.
For the first time, I saw something other than shock in his expression.
He looked frightened.
Not of the children.
Of what their existence meant.
Wyatt stepped beside his brother.
Delilah and Savannah remained close to me.
Lorraine took a small step forward.
"Can I see them?"
I looked at the children.
They seemed uncertain.
I didn't want to force them into anyone's arms.
So I simply nodded.
"Of course. You can say hello."
Lorraine approached slowly.
She stopped in front of Mason.
Her eyes moved across his face.
Then she looked at Wyatt.
She seemed to recognize something in each of them.
When she reached the girls, tears finally rolled down her cheeks.
"Oh, my goodness."
She looked at me.
"They look so much like him."
I didn't disagree.
"They always have."
Terrence heard that.
His head lifted.
He looked at me as if he wanted to ask something.
But the words still wouldn't come.
I wasn't going to rescue him from the silence.
He had created enough of it.
And now he had to stand inside it.
Click here to continue reading: PART 6: Eight Years of Questions Were Suddenly Standing in His Mother’s Living Room, and Nobody Knew Which One to Ask First
Eight Years After He Abandoned Me, My Ex-Husband Sent an Invitation That Revealed Exactly What He Still Thought of Me
Part 5 of 20
