Boston, MA

February 2021

"This went a little differently in my head." Greg smiled at her as they walked down the paved paths.

"No. It's absolutely perfect. This day, you, her …" She leaned down a bit to look at the sleeping face. "I couldn't have asked for anything more."

"Still," he smiled. "The whole point of the zoo was so that she could see the animals and well …" He laughed softly. "She's missing the whole show."

"There'll be others." The meaning behind the seemingly simple words suddenly resonated within her and she felt her eyes grow warm with tears. She turned towards him and let out a shaky breath. "She's gonna have so many others and I didn't know if …" Her throat closed up as she pushed the thought from her mind. "There were so many times that I was afraid she might never even make it to this point and even if she did, I wasn't sure what kind of life …"

"That's all over now." He stood behind her now, his hands covering hers as she still held the handles of the stroller. "She's going to be fine. That's what today is all about. You heard the doctors. The surgery couldn't have gone better."

"They really did say that, didn't they? I didn't dream it?"

"No. You didn't dream it." He knew this feeling well. It was something he'd dealt with time and time again, but this – this was different. This was personal. "No more surgeries. No more long hospital stays. No more sleepless nights. She gets to be a normal little girl now. She'll take some medicine and she'll go for checkups, but that's it."

"I know you probably think it sounds silly, but .."

"Not at all. I get it. And I feel it too. I was so terrified of what those doctors might say."

Phyllis hesitated. "You never told me that. You said everything would be fine." He'd been her rock, just as he had since the day she met him. She never would have made it through this if it hadn't been for him.

"I know what I said, but I was scared too. I was scared for her. I was scared for you, but I couldn't tell you that. You needed me and so did she and that was so much more important than anything I was feeling."

She sat down beside him on the bench, watching in wonderment as he gently tucked the blanket around the still sleeping little girl. "You're always taking care of me," she smiled.

"I always will. You and Libby are my whole life. From the day I met you, I knew. I knew there was something about you, something that I wanted to know, something that I needed to know. And when I promised you that I'd be there for you, I meant it. I meant it that day …" He reached for her hand and gently let his fingertips linger over the platinum weddings set. "I meant it on our wedding day, and I still mean it now. I thank God every day that I have the privilege of being a part of your life."

There were times, especially when he spoke to her like this, so sincere, so earnest, so unbelievably filled with love – in those moments she could almost believe that she could give everything to him. She could allow her mind to consider the prospect of forgetting the past and letting her heart open up fully and completely to the man in front of her, the man that had, by all rights, been nothing but amazing to her and to her daughter. And then, in another instant she would see it …

Out of the corner of her eye she saw them … They were probably in their 30's possibly a little younger, but it didn't matter. Age was of no matter to them. They didn't notice or care that they were one of the few groupings in the zoo without children. They didn't notice anything outside of each other. Their hands were clasped tightly together. Her head rested on his shoulder as they walked slowly, their steps in perfect synchrony.

And in those moments, she was reminded. No matter what Greg did. No matter how wonderful it was. No matter how many promises she made. No matter what she said. No matter how much she might care about him, maybe even love him, her heart would never been free to give.

Genoa City, WI

Jack looked up at the changing screen before turning back to face his brother. "And you're sure this is what you want? This is what you have to do?" It was some sort of cruel twist of irony that, just as he and his brother had finally made peace and, just as they had regained control of their family company, it was time to yet again, say goodbye.

"It's not even about want, Jack. It's just … this is what I need to do now. I can't keep going on like this. My life is never going to get any better around here and I can't keep dragging everyone else down with me. I keep thinking about they way I've been behaving the past few months, the things I've done."

"If you're talking about the thing with Phyllis …"

"It's not just that, Jack. We both agreed that that would have never happened if we'd been sober and less angry and … Still, sleeping with Phyllis again was … it wasn't just about drinking or anger if I'm being honest. It was about …"

Jack nodded. "You still …"

"I can't even go there, Jack. All I can say is that I've effectively ruined every good thing in my life. Sleeping with Phyllis and declaring it a drunken mistake made things worse with us and I didn't even think that was possible and then that whole thing just catapulted Victoria back into Cane's arms and now …"

"So what? This is you running from your life? This is you getting away from your problems instead of facing them and …"

"No. For once, this is me getting away to get myself back on track so that everyone else doesn't have to suffer while I flounder. My family doesn't deserve to be on this rollercoaster of hell with me. When I can find some semblance of peace, I'll come back. I'll come back when I'm good again, Jack. I'll come back when I can be good for everyone. I'm not abandoning anyone here. I'm still gonna see the kids. I'm still gonna check in. I'll still work remotely with the Jabot offices out of Boston. I just want be around for everyone to have a front row seat for the wreckage, that's all."

"Billy," Jack sighed. "Your family wants to help you. We can't do that when you're not here."

"It's like a bad wreck, Jack. You just can't look away, so I'm helping you out. I'm making it so you can't see it."

"Look, if this is really what you want, I'm not going to stand in your way, but are you sure this isn't more about …" Jack paused, realizing how sensitive this subject was. "I mean the timing of this move is …"

"You're wondering if this is about Delia." Billy nodded. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking about it. She'd be 15 you know. She should be starting high school and begging me to take her to get her learner's permit. Instead she's gone and no matter how many people assure me that it wasn't my fault, I'll always believe it was. I need to go now, Jack. I need to be the person she could be proud of and that's exactly what I'm going to do."