Chapter 26 Noelle
NOELLE
I breathe out slowly when Dad’s truck pulls into the driveway, the rumble of the old engine breaking through the quiet afternoon.
My heart gives a painful thud.
I don’t move from the couch, too afraid that I’ll find myself waiting by it and that familiar set of keys will never jingle on the other side.
The key never slotting inside the lock and sliding it away from the jam.
It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve seen or heard from him.
Two long weeks since the fight.
Since the shouting, the slammed door, and the words I know we both wish we could take back.
The memory still sits heavy in my chest like a bruise that refuses to fade. I thought that was it.
The end.
But now he’s here and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to handle it if he actually walks through that doorway.
Eli’s voice drifts up from the floor where he’s sprawled out with his cars and action figures the guys had gotten him for Christmas “Mama? Is someone here?”
I swallow hard, trying to steady my voice. “It’s…um, Grampy, sweetheart.”
His head pops up immediately, bright eyes full of curiosity and excitement.
“Grampy’s here?” He scrambles to his feet and bolts for the window before I can stop him. “He’s finally back from his trip!”
“Guess so,” I murmur and stand finally to move closer to the window.
Through it, I watch my father still sitting inside his truck, his hands gripping the steering wheel like he’s trying to build up the courage to move.
The seconds drag on.
Behind us, Dean’s laugh floats out of the kitchen.
The soft clinks of dishes and the oven opening and shutting are the only noises that puncture through the blood rushing through my ears.
My heart clenches as soon as the truck’s door pops open and a boot settles down into the slush covered driveway.
Eli’s already halfway to the front door. “Yay!”
“Honey, wait—”
He’s out the door before I even reach for his coat to throw it over him, his little slippers slapping against on the porch steps as he descends down them.
Through the frosted glass, I see Dad bend down instinctively as Eli barrels into him, small arms wrapping tight around his neck.
For a moment, the world outside the window stills completely.
Dad’s face softens the second he sees him.
That heavy sadness that’s been etched into his features eases just a little as he hugs Eli back, one big hand rubbing his back like he used to do with me when I was small.
He murmurs something I can’t hear, his breath misting in the cold air as Eli laughs, bright and unburdened.
He lifts him up off his feet, cradling him. And that’s when the tears sting my eyes.
God, I missed this. Missed him.
Not the tension, or the guilt, but the man who taught me how to ride a bike, who used to make me honey tea after nightmares when Mom died, who still carries the weight of everyone else’s pain on his shoulders like it’s his duty because that’s all he’s ever known.
When he finally looks up and spots me standing at the window, he freezes.
For a heartbeat, we just stare at each other through the thin glass separating us—two stubborn people who both wanted to protect the same things but went about it all wrong.
He blinks first.
Then, with a slow, cautious movement, he straightens and walks toward me, Eli still hanging off him like a koala.
“Hey, kiddo,” he says when I finally move closer to the door.
His voice is rough in that way it always gets when he’s trying not to cry.
My breath catches. “Hey.”
Eli looks between us, confused by the heavy silence.
There’s an awkward pause before I step back and open the door wider. “Come in. It’s freezing out there.”
He hesitates for half a second, then nods and sets Eli down before stepping across the threshold.
The warmth hits him immediately, easing his shoulders a bit.
He glances around, taking in the sight of the house and what he left behind the day he walked out: the decorations still up from Christmas, Eli’s toys scattered all over the floor in front of the fireplace, Mom’s knitted blanket bunched up in the corner of the sofa.
His expression softens. “Missed this place.”
I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear, moving around him briefly to shut the door and seal the warm air inside. “We’ve been…keeping busy. As you can probably tell.”
He nods, eyes landing back on me. “I can see that.”
For a second, I’m not sure what to say.
I don’t know if we’re ready to forgive each other yet, and honestly I don’t know if we can. If he can.
I did a lot of damage to him when I came clean.
But seeing him here with Eli and seeing the way his eyes soften again feels like the first fragile step toward a future where this could be fixed.
Maybe this time, we’ll both try a little harder not to break it.
“Can we talk?” he asks, surprisingly.
“Kitchen,” I whisper to him.
He nods, shedding his coat and hanging it over the hook next to the door, the familiar scent of his coffee and aftershave tugging at my heartstrings.
He follows me, ruffling Eli’s hair before we round the corner.
He huffs behind us. “Hey! Where you going?”
Three pairs of eyes snap to us as soon as we enter, all of them knowing.
I nod for them to leave, Grant rounding the corner of the counter first and sweeping Eli off his feet and throwing him over his shoulder right when he appears in the doorway.
The fit of giggles fades as they head back into the living room, Callum and Dean soon joining them.
The kitchen is a mess of post-holiday chaos: flour on the counter, pie dough freshly kneaded off to the side, pin tins spread out and ready to be filled.
It feels lived-in, loved, a far cry from the sterile isolation of the days I spent hiding here alone, before Grant, Callum, and Dean rescued my heart on Christmas.
Dad leans against the counter, one of his hands coming up to rub the back of his neck in that telltale sign of unease.
His hazel eyes—mirror images of Eli’s and mine—avoid my gaze at first, flicking to the window over the sink where snow swirls in lazy patterns.
The silence stretches and my pulse thunders louder in my ears, the apology clawing up my throat desperate to escape.
But he starts first. “Noelle…I’m sorry.”
The words hang in the air for a long moment.
I swallow around the lump forming in my throat.
When he finally meets my eyes, tears are welling in his, glistening along his lash line under the overhead light.
“For the fighting, for…everything. I never wanted us at odds, pushing each other away. Since your mom died…” His voice breaks completely now, a sob hitching in his throat that has my heart tearing in two.
He swipes at his eyes quickly to clear them.
“God, sweetheart, I buried myself in work at the station, shifts that never ended, anything to not feel the hole she left in me, in us. It was like…like if I stopped, the grief would swallow me whole. But it pushed you away instead. You were hurting too, and I wasn’t there. When you had Eli…”
A tremulous smile flickers, tears spilling freely now.
“It connected me to you again, to her, for the first time in years. That little boy…he’s my light, my second chance at family.
His giggles, his hugs…they heal something in me I thought was broken forever.
When you grew up, I was heartbroken I didn’t have anyone to take care of anymore.
But then you had him and it was like I got to watch you grow up all over.
And now…I hate that our bond’s slipping through my fingers.
I’m losing you both and it terrifies me more than any crisis I’ve ever faced. ”
The words shatter me, each syllable a shard piercing the walls I’ve built around my heart to keep me from falling apart.
Tears spill hot down my cheeks, a torrent I can’t stem as my vision blurs and sobs rack my body.
I’ve carried this weight, the distance after Mom’s death, for so long that it became a second skin.
The secrets I kept from him about Eli’s father had only widened the chasm, the lies I used to protect his fragile heart have always sat like heavy stones in my chest.
Hearing his pain now, his raw loneliness that he thought he lost us forever and the way he’s fought to hold on crushes me, unleashing the flood I’ve held back for so long.
“Dad,” I choke out, stepping forward and pulling him into a hug.
His arms wrap around me tight, his frame trembling against mine, the solid bulk of him a lifeline in the storm.
“You’ll never lose me,” I whisper fiercely. “Never. I’m sorry too. For pushing back, for hiding everything and not telling you. I was scared of hurting you more if I was honest. Of losing you. But I love you so much.”
He squeezes me until my lungs hurt. “It’s okay, kiddo. I’m not going anywhere. Not again.”
We cry together then, apologies tumbling from our mouths that overlap and blend together. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” “I was terrified you’d find out.” “Forgive me, please.” “Of course I forgive you.” “I’m here now.”
I pull back slightly, wiping my face with trembling hands. “Dad…there’s um one more thing. About Eli’s father.”
I swallow hard, fear gripping my throat like a vice. Will this break us again?
He watches me with red-rimmed eyes, open and vulnerable as he waits for me to continue.
Breathing out, I finally say, “It’s one of them. Grant, Dean, or Callum. It was during that weekend the apartment complex caught on fire. It wasn’t planned, but…Eli’s one of theirs. I don’t know which, but he’s…he’s their son.”
I hold my breath as I search his face for the disgust that I know is inevitably coming, the explosion of heartbreak all over again. But to my surprise, that doesn’t happen.
His eyes widen, yes, and a flicker of pain crosses his features, but then they soften as a heavy sigh escapes past his lips.
He scrubs a hand down his face. “I…wasn’t expecting that. Well, not exactly. But I guess it makes sense. I never really bought the college one-night stand but figured you had a reason to lie to me.”
“I’m so sorry I never told you. I regretted it every single day that I hid it from you. I was just trying to protect you. I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping it buried.”
He pulls me back into his arms, hugging me tighter than before.
His voice is muffled in my hair when he speaks again, thick with emotion. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I get it. God, you must’ve been so scared. But I know you were only doing what you thought was right at the time. It’s okay. I’ve never thought of Eli as less than a blessing.”
I squeeze my eyes shut.
We stand like that for what feels like eternity, his heartbeat steady under my ear and helping to ground me.
Finally when he pulls back, he cups my face in his rough hands, thumbs brushing away my tears. “When do you plan on telling Eli about them?”
The question is gentle, no judgment in it, just a gentle curiosity. I sniffle, managing a watery smile. “Not until he’s older. So he understands better. It’s…complicated, you know. Three fathers…not exactly a fairy tale.”
He nods, a small chuckle escaping. “Agreed. He’s got time. And love. Plenty of it. He’ll be spoiled rotten.”
I laugh a little. “He already is.”
He nods, brushing my hair back from my face. “I love you, Noelle. You’re my baby, and that will never ever change. All our past issues, they’re water under the bridge now. I just want my family back, no matter how it comes. However messy and unconventional it may be.”
The relief floods me, warm and overwhelming, helping wash away the last remnants of fear like a tide pulling debris from the shore out to sea.
I hug him again, the weight fully lifting from my shoulders for the first time in six entire years. “I love you too, Dad. So much.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
We spend the rest of the night together, all six of us as a complete family, whole and healing.
We gather together in the living room as the fire crackles quietly while the sun sets completely.
Fireworks burst outside as midnight nears, painting the sky beyond the window in bursts of reds, golds, and blues that light up the entire living room.
We toast with sparkling cider, our glasses clinking together as we say in unison, “to family.”
Grant’s arm around my waist pulling me close when we settle on the couch, Dean’s hand threading through mine on the other side, Callum ruffling Eli’s curls before stealing a kiss from me and settling him against his shoulder while he dozes off.
Quiet laughter fills the room from stories of past New Years and promises for the future.
There’s no more secrets, no more running from the past and ourselves any longer.
It’s just us mending things and ringing in the new year with a love that defies everything.
This is our home.
This is our forever.
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