Page 79 of Silver Fox's Secret Triplets
"I learned from the best."
We fell into another silence, but this one felt different. Less strained, more thoughtful. A couple walked past with their dog, and I found myself thinking about all the mornings Dad had spent with the triplets over the past few months. How he'd learned to make their breakfast exactly the way they liked it, how he'd started reading them bedtime stories when I was too exhausted from the hospital visits.
"I love them," he said suddenly, as if reading my thoughts. "Sammy and Chrissy and Elena. I love them so much it scares me."
"I know you do."
"When I first realized they were yours, I was angry. At you, at Duncan—I knew it the moment I looked at them." Dad glowered at me and then continued. "But then Sammy climbed into my lap that first night and asked me to read him a story, and I was lost."
I smiled at the memory. "He has that effect on people."
"They all do. Elena with her endless hugs, Chrissy with her million questions about everything. They've brought life back into that house in a way I didn't know I needed."
"They've brought life to me too."
"I can see that." He looked at me with something that might have been pride. "You're a good mother, Ivy. Better than I was a father."
"Dad—"
"It's true. I see how patient you are with them, how you listen to them, how you let them be themselves instead of trying to mold them into what you think they should be."
The compliment warmed my heart and I laid my head on his shoulder. "I learned from your mistakes."
"I'm glad one of us did."
We watched the mother and child for another moment, both of us lost in our own thoughts.
"I've been thinking about Duncan too," Dad said eventually. "About what kind of father he'll be to them."
"He's already a good father to them."
"I can see that. And I hate it."
The admission was so raw, so honest, that I lifted my head to stare at him. "What?"
"I hate that he's good with them. I hate that they light up when he walks in the room. I hate that he makes them laughand that they trust him completely." He paused, his voice thick. "I hate it because it makes it harder for me to stay angry at him."
"You don't have to stay angry."
"Don't I? He broke his promise to me. He took advantage of your feelings for him."
"He didn't take advantage of anything. I pursued him, Dad. I was an adult, and I made a choice." Dad's anger was misplaced. Duncan had no effect on my choice that night. I had no feelings for him back then other than raw lust, but here we were today and better for it.
"A choice that cost you four years of your life."
"A choice that gave me the three most important people in my life."
He was quiet for a long moment, considering my words. "The truth is that I don't know if I can forgive him."
"You don't have to. But you're going to have to find a way to coexist with him, because he's not going anywhere. He's their father, and he's in my life now. That's not going to change."
"Are you sure about that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you sure he's not going to leave again? Are you sure he's not going to decide this is all too complicated and walk away?"
The question struck at my deepest fear, the one I'd been trying to ignore. "I'm not sure about anything. But I'm choosing to believe he won't."
