“I would.”
So that’s what we do.
I come for therapy with him three times a week for the remainder of his three-week stay in rehab.
He has to do PT on his knee during the day, and individual sessions as well, so he stays busy.
Every day he gets stronger. I see it. It’s a visible improvement.
His father visits him, and when he drops by the house afterward, he’s pleased.
“He’s better than I’ve ever seen him,” he announces as he sits at the kitchen table with me for a cup of tea. “He looks so healthy.”
“He is healthy,” I say proudly. “He’s doing so well.”
“Did he tell you that I attended therapy with him?” Paul asks me. This is news. I shake my head.
“No.”
“I did. Twice. He had some pent-up issues with me, issues he didn’t even know he had. After Susanna died… I wasn’t very available to him. I’m sorry for that. I wasn’t handling my grief, and it affected him. It has affected you, as well. I’m terribly sorry for that.”
I reach out and squeeze his arm. “You didn’t mean to hurt him,” I say, and I completely believe that. “Grief does strange things to a person.”
“It does,’ he agrees. “It really does. I was hurting the most important person in my life, and didn’t even realize it.”
“Well, from now on, we only go forward,” I decide, sipping my tea. “And we don’t dwell on the past. Is that a deal?”
“Absolutely,” Paul agrees. He pauses. “Also, I looked at William’s will again. There’s a clause in it concerning force majeure.”
“Force majeure?” I stare at him.
“Yeah. It’s a set of unforeseen circumstances that might prevent someone from fulfilling a contract. It’s usually something natural, like a hurricane or something. But sometimes, in a case like this, it can be applied.”
“A case like this?”
“William stipulated that you had to live in his house. Given the circumstances that you were held captive in it, and someone died in it, I believe that force majeure would apply. I know that William wouldn’t want to force you into staying there under these conditions. I’m going to speak with the judge overseeing the estate, and see if he agrees. If he does, you can sell, and buy a new house, while Pax can still take over his grandfather’s business and fortune, as planned.”
Relief floods me. “That would be a blessing,” I tell him. “I hate it here.”
“I know you do,” he answers. “But hopefully soon, we’ll get it straightened out.”
We finish our tea in silence, and as Paul stands up to go, he turns to me.
“Thank you for loving my son so much,” he tells me, and his voice is a little choked up. “You’ve given him the life that I always dreamed he would have.”
“He’s given me the life I always dreamed I would have,” I tell him. “So I’m grateful to you for bringing him into this world.”
He hugs me, and then he’s gone.
I watch Zuzu through the window, running and playing with Chelcie, and I cup my belly with my hand. Soon, she’ll have a brother or sister to play with. And we’ll be in a brand-new home, with a brand-new beginning.
36
Chapter Thirty-Five
Pax
Three weeks of therapy has passed slowly and quickly at the same time.