"Because he didn't fit into the mold you thought he should. He never felt accepted. You didn't appreciate his individuality. He knew he could never measure up to your expectations, so he gave up trying. He acts hard and cold and cynical, but that's a defense mechanism. He wants desperately to be loved. He wants you, his parents, to love him."
"I tried to love him," Sarah said. "He never stood still long enough. He didn't cuddle like Hal did. He wasn't well behaved like Hal. It was difficult to love Cage. His rambunctiousness, that wild streak, frightened me."
"I know what you mean," Jenny said, smiling privately and patting Sarah's hand in understanding. "I learned to see through that into the man. I love him deeply."
Bob was the first to speak. "Do you, Jenny?"
"Yes. Very much."
"How can you, so soon after Hal's death?"
"I loved Hal. But he was more like a brother to me. I only realized when Cage and I began spending time together that I had loved him for a long time. I, like you, was afraid of him."
Bob said, "It may take us some time to get used to the idea of you and Cage together."
"It's taken me some time."
"We know we haven't been fair to you," Sarah said. "We wanted to keep you with us to fill the vacancy in our lives that Hal's death made."
"I have my own life."
"We realize that now. The only way we can keep you is to let you go."
"I won't be going far," she assured them with a smile. "I love you both. It broke my heart for there to be this rift between us."
"The baby was a shock to us, Jenny." Bob's eyes flickered down to her stomach. "Surely you can understand that. But, well, it's Hal's child, too. We'll accept it and love it for that reason."
Jenny opened her mouth to speak, but another voice interrupted. "Reverend Hendren?" They turned and recognized Dr. Mabry in his operating room greens. They were sweat stained. He looked haggard. Jenny clu
tched her middle, as though to protect her child from hearing bad news about his father.
"He's alive," the doctor said, relieving them of their primary fear. "Barely. He's still in critical condition. He was in shock when they brought him in. His insides were a mess. He was bleeding internally. We had to give him several pints of blood. It was a real patch-up job, but I think we got everything sewed back together. His right tibia has a clean break and there's a hairline fracture in his right femur. Bruises and lacerations all over him. They're the least of his problems."
"Will he live, Dr. Mabry?" Sarah asked the question as if her own life hinged on the answer.
"He has a good chance because he's as strong as a bull and tough as a boot. He came through the crash and the surgery. If he can survive those two traumas, I'm laying good money on his making it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd better get back."
"Can we see him?" Jenny asked, catching the doctor's sleeve.
The doctor pondered the question, but the anxiety on their faces convinced him. "As soon as he's moved to an ICU, one of you can go in for three minutes. I'll be in touch." He turned and headed back down the hall at a brisk pace.
"I have to see him," Sarah said. "I need to tell him how much we do care about him."
"Of course, darling," Bob agreed. "You go."
"No," Jenny said firmly. "I'm going in to see him. You had all his life to tell him you love him, but you didn't. I hope you have the rest of your lives to make that up to him. But I'm going to see him tonight. He needs me. Oh, and about the baby…" She felt the last string of oppression being clipped from her heart. "Hal didn't father him. Cage did. I'm carrying Cage's child."
Their mouths fell open in mute surprise, but Jenny was beyond caring whether they approved or not. This time she wouldn't let convention or the habits of a lifetime intimidate her.
"I hope you'll love us all—Cage, me, and the baby." Jenny laid a hand on each of their shoulders and spoke from her heart. "We love you and would like to be a family." She drew a ragged breath and let her hands fall to her sides. The tears she felt flooding her eyes were sniffed away quickly, lest Cage's parents mistake their source as weakness rather than relief. "But if you can't accept us for what we are, if you can't accept the love we have for each other, then that's all right, too. It will be your loss."
Courage and hope bubbled up inside her, and she took heart, smiling through her tears. "I love Cage and he loves me, and I refuse to feel guilty about that. We're going to marry and raise our child, and he'll know every day of his life that he's loved for what he is, not for what we want or expect him to be."
And half an hour later when the doctor returned to lead one of them down the hall to Cage's ICU, it was Jenny who left the waiting room and went with him.
* * *
Epilogue