Chapter 16 - The ChoiceSpring arrived slowly.
The children grew stronger.
Not magically.
Not perfectly.
There were still difficult days.
But there were more ordinary days.
Those became the ones everyone treasured.
Sarah’s foundation work expanded.
She traveled twice a month.
Alexander hated the travel.
He never admitted it.
Sarah knew anyway.
One evening, she returned from Chicago to find him awake at midnight.
“You waited up.”
“I was working.”
“Your laptop is closed.”
“I finished.”
Sarah smiled.
“You missed me.”
Alexander looked offended.
“Maybe.”
She dropped her bag.
“I missed you too.”
He kissed her.
Then she noticed an envelope on the table.
“What’s that?”
Alexander hesitated.
“Nothing.”
Sarah narrowed her eyes.
“We have a policy about secrets.”
He sighed.
“Open it.”
Inside was an offer.
Alexander had been asked to become chairman of a major international business council.
The role would require extensive travel.
Sarah looked up.
“This is huge.”
“Yes.”
“You’re taking it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because of the children.”
Sarah stared.
“Alexander.”
“They need stability.”
“They have stability.”
“I’d be gone too much.”
Sarah placed the letter down.
“You once told me wanting someone to stay doesn’t mean asking them to give something up.”
“That was different.”
“No.”
“It wasn’t.”
Alexander looked irritated.
“I don’t want the role enough.”
“Is that true?”
He did not answer.
Sarah smiled sadly.
“That’s what I thought.”
“I’m not choosing work over my children.”
“Nobody asked you to.”
“They’ve had enough uncertainty.”
Sarah sat.
“Then talk to them.”
“They’re children.”
“Exactly.”
“They know what they need.”
The next morning, Alexander did.
Henry listened carefully.
“How long would you be gone?”
“Three or four days sometimes.”
“How often?”
“Twice a month.”
Henry shrugged.
“That’s fine.”
Alexander stared.
“That’s it?”
“You have FaceTime.”
Lucy nodded.
“And Sarah travels.”
Alexander looked betrayed.
“You’re all remarkably calm about this.”
Sarah smiled.
“Maybe you’re the problem.”
He glared.
Lucy climbed onto his lap.
“You always come back.”
Alexander looked at her.
That sentence mattered.
“You know that?”
“Yes.”
He hugged her.
That afternoon, Alexander accepted the position.
His first trip was to London.
He called every night.
On the second night, Henry complained that he was calling too much.
Alexander looked offended on screen.
Sarah laughed.
The family had become something Alexander once thought impossible.
Flexible.
People left.
May you like
People returned.
Love survived the distance between.
