Page 82 of Bliss: Part 1
There was no noise in the room. No one cut me off. No one even shifted in their seat. They all just sat there, listening. Faces pale, eyes wide. Every single one of them looked shaken.
Odin jumped in at a certain point, backing me up. He didn’t say much, just added things here and there whenever my voice cracked. He nodded at the parts that were hardest to hear, his eyes glassy the whole time. His jaw kept twitching, and I knew he was trying not to break. But when he spoke, his voice was steady. Much steadier than mine.
And when we finished, silence lingered in the room for a long time.
No one said anything.
But I didn’t expect them to.
Then, one by one, they stood up.
They didn’t say a word. They just walked over to the couch and wrapped their arms around us. It wasn’t some light, polite gesture to show how sorry they were. It was full-on, both arms around us, heads resting against our shoulders or necks, hands gripping tight. It was raw, quiet comfort they were giving us.
Odin and I sat there in the middle of it, surrounded by them, and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I reached for his hand and gripped it hard, like we used to when we were kids, when that was the only thing that kept us hoping that everything would get better.
Then we both cried, and they cried with us.
All of them.
Our kids.
The same kids we spent our whole lives protecting and making sure they would only get the best in life. Now they were standing around us, holding us up. Giving back that same support and protection.
We raised them right. Something our father never managed to do, and I was fucking proud of Odin and me for that.
Eventually, the hug broke apart. Everyone stepped back, wiping their faces, sniffing, trying to compose themselves.
Except Rhys.
He stayed beside me, his hand on my shoulder. He was still crying, even if he was trying to keep it together. His eyes moved back and forth between me and Odin like he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how.
“We promise...we didn’t do what we did as some trauma response,” he said, voice shaking just a little. “You two…you’ve only ever treated us with love and respect. You’ve supported us our whole lives. You made this house feel safe. You broke the cycle. And we’re incredibly thankful for that. You should be proud of yourselves.”
Hearing those words from Rhys meant a lot, and they hit harder than I was prepared for.
Rhys had never been the emotional one. He was the one who joked, who teased, who kept his guard up even when everyone else was falling apart. But now, here he was, raw and exposed. Tears running down his face. No sarcasm. No act. Just real emotions.
I smiled at him, my hand reaching out to pat his hip gently. “Thanks, son.”
He nodded. “Of course, Dad.”
Then he gave me this tight little smile and went to sit back down next to Ashby.
The room felt lighter after that. An invisible weight had been pulled off everyone’s shoulders. We were still a mess, still sorting through emotions, but we were in it together now. And that mattered.
I leaned back with a heavy, relieved sigh. Odin beside me was quiet but calm. His hand still gripping mine.
Then Bliss spoke.
Her voice was so quiet I barely heard it. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”
She looked heartbroken. Like the thought of us suffering was an unbearable thought. But even then, she wasn’t thinking about herself. She was worried about us. Trying to be strong. My girl always carried more than she had to.
I looked at her for a while and gave her a soft nod. “It’s in the past,” I said. “We made it through. We got away from it all. It was hell for a while, but our story didn’t end there. We kept going.”
I looked around the room, at each of their faces, red-eyed and tired but still looking at us with so much love.
“And eventually,” I said, “we got you guys. And we’re grateful every single day that we did.”
