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As soon as Alden and Serenity left the house, Valerie let out a long sigh of relief. She knew how hard it was for Marcus to accept that his little girl was not only pregnant but also had a partner. If someone had told him a year ago everything that would happen, he probably never would have agreed to move to Valentia.
The only truly gratifying thing for Marcus in all of this was that justice had finally been served for the Bartz name. Thanks to Peter and that man named Moriarty, the Bartzs had finally stepped out of the shadows of a surname that had been tainted by the corruption and crimes of the Levetts and Palmers in the past.
“Marcus, my love,” Valerie said, settling into his lap.
“What is it, sweetheart?” Marcus asked gently, looking at her and wrapping his arms around her.
“What’s the plan now? Have you thought about what we’ll do from here on out? I know there have been a lot of big changes. We weren’t expecting Serenity to get pregnant let alone for her to have a partner. But once she gets married, my love…” Valerie tilted his chin up so he would look at her. “Serenity is a grown woman now. She’s about to become a mother. I know it’s hard to accept, but she’s going to start her own family.
“And you–you–still have two little princes who are only eight, a baby who’s almost a year old, and your princess, Caroline. Don’t forget that they need you too.”
“I know, my love! It’s just… it’s hard for me to stop seeing Serenity as the little girl I met–the tiny thing with flushed cheeks, burning up with fever. The little girl who stole my heart the second she came into my life. Forgive me if I sound insensitive to my other kids, but it hurts to let go of my Serene. It feels like someone is ripping a piece of me away when I see her leaving with that bastard who stole her from me. If it were up to me, I would’ve been happy if she had told me she wanted to be a nun.”
“Marcus! Are you even listening to yourself?” Valerie scolded him. “Even if she were a nun, she would still leave someday. Whether it was to follow a calling or, in this case, to build a life with Alden–it doesn’t matter. All our children will grow up and leave one day. The best thing we can do is create beautiful memories for them–just like you did with John and Serenity. But don’t forget that Albert and Caroline need you too.”
Valerie could see how much her husband was struggling. His voice cracked as he tried to hold back his emotions, watching as his daughter became more and more distant from their home.
“If anyone should be devastated, it’s me,” Valerie continued. “But I’m not. I always knew this day would come. Serene was bound to find a man who truly loved her. We have to be realistic, Marcus. Our daughter is beautiful. And she made a good choice. Alden is a good man, and you know that. I thank God every day that she didn’t have to go through what I did. That alone makes me happy.”
“I’m sorry, my love… I don’t want to worry you. But believe me, watching my daughter grow up isn’t easy. It’s not easy. Watching the little girl I once carried in my arms now being held by someone else… Knowing that she won’t come home to stay anymore…
})
“Marcus… You knew this would happen sooner or later. Whether alone or with someone, Serenity was always going to find her own way. You raised her to be independent. She always did what she wanted, and becoming an adult wouldn’t change that.
And honestly? I’m proud of her. Because everything we taught her–she applied it. You had to send her far away, and look what she did. She took care of her brother, of little Ethan, of her pregnant sister. She and Alden even took care of a newborn. That says a lot, Marcus.”
“Yeah… you’re right, my love,” Marcus admitted with a sigh. “I just need time. Time to process it all. Time to accept it.”
“I guess now I understand how the fathers of my old classmates felt when their daughters ran off with their
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boyfriends,” Valerie mused.
“What?” Marcus asked, intrigued.
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“When I was in school in Hesperia, I never had a boyfriend. But there were plenty of stories about girls who ran off with theirs. Even at an elite school, it happened. They got caught up in love, didn’t think things through, and just… ran away. Then their parents would track them down, bring them home, and ship them off to another country or a boarding school.”
“That seems a little extreme…
“So you’re saying I could do that?” Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Marcus!” Valerie scolded. “I’m not telling you this so you can go and pull something crazy. My point is—maybe if those parents had let their daughters experience things naturally, some of them would have been happy, some wouldn’t, and for others, it would’ve been the worst mistake of their lives. But that’s their journey to take.”
“The ones who were sent away only ended up resenting their parents. Some even cut ties completely. From all the stories I heard, only one of those girls actually ended up having the life she had dreamed of. She doesn’t live in luxury, but she has a happy family.
“But I don’t think those parents acted out of malice. I think they felt exactly what you’re feeling now. The pain of watching their little girls leave the nest.
“As a mother, it hurts. It’s hard. She’s my baby. But from my own experiences, if there’s one thing I’m grateful for, it’s that Serenity chose the right man.
“When I was young, I didn’t have the experience to make the right choices. But now… life has smiled on me. And I can say, without a doubt, that I am very happy by your side. I don’t need anything else.”
Valerie looked into Marcus’s eyes.
It had been a long time since she had given him that look.
A look that said more than a thousand words.
Little by little, the Valerie he knew–the Valerie he had been married to for sixteen years–was coming t
him.
to
Marcus still didn’t know what would happen when Valerie and Peter inevitably saw each other again. But therapy with their new psychiatrist was helping. Slowly, he was confronting his insecurities, his deeply
ones that had been there since the death of his first wife.
Because this wasn’t just about Valerie and Peter.
They were circumstantial.
Marcus had his own demons to face.
And little by little, he was learning to deal with them.
He knew it was inevitable that his wife and Peter would cross paths again.
But what mattered now was that he learned how to react better.
Not just for Valerie.
But for himself.
And for Alden.
Oted fears–the
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Because Peter was his father, too..
