Something lighter for your consideration.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
XXXX
Here I am, praying for forgiveness
I can see you standing on the other side
Here I go, baby it's a heavy load
But I have crossed some broken bridges in my time
-Toby Keith and Lindsey Haun, Broken Bridges
Bobby Goren had always experienced difficulty expressing his emotions.
It had cost him a lot in the long run: friendships, relationships and everything in between.
And two years ago, it had cost him the most important and precious relationship he had ever known.
Now he was standing on Alex's front step, staring at the door with his hand outstretched. There were lights on and he could hear soft laughter from inside. He had been standing there for so long and yet he was still too afraid to take that last step and simply open the door.
How could he do this?
He swallowed thickly and finally brought his knuckles lightly against the door, perhaps too lightly for anyone to have heard.
He didn't deserve her forgiveness.
He didn't deserve her.
He never had.
The door opened and he came face to face with the woman he had loved since the moment he realized she would stay.
"Bobby?"
His name was spoken with such disbelief, such hurt and emotion that she might as well have struck him.
It probably would have hurt less.
Then his eyes drifted down and he realized she was holding a little girl on her hip.
The world began to spin around him.
How?
He suddenly realized his hand was outstretched and the tiny girl had wrapped her fingers around his long finger. His chest constricted as thoughts and questions flooded his mind.
Then he saw Alex's eyes again and something spoke to him. He had burned this bridge, their bridge, but it was still there. Maybe there was a way back over it, back to her.
"Come inside, Bobby."
Those three little words made him laugh and sob at the same time. Alex took his other hand and he let her guide him into her home.
A moment later, the outside light shut off again.
The End.