Page 42 of The Refiner

Keys nods, a lone tear sliding down her cheek.

“One day, when the pain isn’t as raw, she’ll want to see pictures of this moment. Are you ready to tell her you didn’t take any? That you couldn’t muster up the courage to show her that even though you were in a tremendous amount of pain, you remained joyful when you left with her in your arms.” She pulls Keys in for a hug, squeezing her tightly. “I know this is hard, but you guys are strong. You will teach this little one that she was the light in this dark moment.”

This dark moment…

A moment where Keagan will walk out of the hospital without her sister.

A moment where I will walk away as an undeserving father.

Neither of us knows what will happen once we leave these doors.

Apart from each other, we’re respectively alone in this.

We’re the only ones who can understand what each other is going through.

We’re dysfunctional enemies who’ve been thrust together, fate demanding we become a team.

We’re all each other has.

“It should be you.” I step back, placing my hand on Keagan’s lower back, gently pushing her toward the wheelchair.

She flips around, swiping angrily at the few rogue tears. “You should do it. I’m not her mother.”

“Neither am I.”

She looks at me like everything she’s ever hated stands before her.

I don’t blame her.

Fate is cruel.

Fate left her alone in this world.

Fate left her with me.

“You’re her father.” She grits her teeth, each word coming out like a hiss. “You should carry her out. She’ll want to see you holding her in the pictures.”

Someone—likely Vance—sighs.

“I’m serious.” As she stares at Tatum in the hospital’s bassinet, Keagan’s voice trembles. “I need you to do it.”

Because she can’t.

“I—”

Before I can tell Keys that she can do this, I feel a wheelchair hit the back of my legs. “Sit down, Astor, and take your daughter home.”

Vance.

I look at Keagan, her eyes silently pleading with me.

I can’t let her not be part of this moment.

I can’t let her walk out of the hospital alone.

“We do this together,” I offer. “Me, you, and Tatum.”

Her lip quivers, and I can tell she’s torn between knowing what we should do and what she can handle.

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