Moral of this chapter - If you can't forgive, how do you ever expect to be forgiven? Every one of us, at one point or another, needs to be forgiven.

Please review.

I will try and have a synopsis of my next story before this one ends, there are still some thoughts bumping around him my head, so give me a little more time. Although, it is tentatively titled, "Dance By the Light of the Moon", but that may change.

Enjoy.

MAN OF SORROWS

CHAPTER 45

"I'm sorry, Christine."

Erik was waiting for her when she got home from work. He had fixed them dinner and was anxious about something…and then he had apologized.

"Sorry…about what?"

He couldn't face her, not completely. He gave her his left profile, keeping the masked side of his face in the shadows.

"It never occurred to me that you might want to know my parents…that reconciling with them would mean something to you."

She got up from the table and walked over to his side. She wrapped her arms around his waist and felt him stiffen, slightly, from the touch.

"What means the most to me is that you are happy, and you won't be happy as long as you have this dark cloud of anger and disappointment hovering over you."

Erik relaxed and covered her warm hands with his. He pulled her around to the front of him and held her close, thanking God for every moment he was allowed to be with her.

"I know I've been in a dark place lately…I never wanted to go there again, but I seemed unable to prevent it."

He forked his fingers through her soft tresses and her head lolled back at his touch. He took her lips in a gentle, seeking kiss and she returned it with what he needed from her…unwavering love and understanding.

He smiled, lighting his eyes and taking the stern lines away from his forehead.

"It has taken a revelation, of sorts, for me to realize that, despite the atrocities that have been a part of my life, I've had wonderful opportunities in my life…and they have afforded me the chance to pursue my interests and be more than I would have been otherwise.

"I've been feeling so sorry for myself without acknowledging the fact that everyone goes through trials and tribulations…and we are promised by God that He will not allow anything to come our way that we are not able to handle."

He looked toward the heavens and closed his eyes in prayer. He finally looked like the man Christine had fallen so deeply in love with, and she could tell he was ready to conquer this final stage of forgiveness.

"I am stronger and better equipped because of what I have been allowed to endure…" he looked at her with more love and gratefulness than she had ever seen, "…I will be a better husband and father than I would have been otherwise; and more than that, I go into everything knowing that perfection does not exist on this earth – in any form – and that people, no matter who they are, are fallible."

They kissed again, long and hungrily; cleansing and banishing the past in their passion. There was a resolved gentleness in Erik's touch, which indicated to Christine that he had buried another demon from his past – perhaps the last, in what had been a long and difficult search for peace.

"Are you ready to meet them?"

He finally asked after they had cleaned up the kitchen and put away the dishes.

"I'm ready when you are."

She caressed his left cheek, and then pulled the mask from his face and caressed the other side.

"There's no time like the present – I have avoided it long enough."

♫♫♫

The moment she saw him, all Elise wanted to do was hold him. She had never appreciated the joy of having a son and had rejected him from the moment of his birth. How could a mother do that?

Not only had she rejected him but also his father had ignored him, and sent him away to be raised by his uncle in another country.

They had shipped him off and made his childhood someone else's responsibility. Now, he was a grown man with years of bitterness and heartache as his companion. What had she done to him?

He stood in the living room of his sister's apartment and the room seemed to shrink from the magnitude of his presence. The soft lights illuminated the room, but the most beautiful source of light emanated from the large, full moon that dominated the night sky.

Beside him, looking pensive but supportive stood his new wife. They looked very much in love and the reality of his painful past hit Elise hard and dramatically as she drank in his form.

Erik and Evie had inherited their father's dark coloring; the greenish eyes and dark hair, but they had Elise's straight, perfect nose, long lashes, and full lips.

"Erik."

Her whisper reached his ears and he lifted his troubled eyes to hers. She smiled mildly, not wanting to appear forceful or demanding.

She approached him tentatively, feeling foolish from the lack of knowledge she had of her own son. He was tall and proud, standing straight shouldered and broad; he had grown into a stunning looking man…and she had missed all of it.

Lucian stood at the arched doorway, observing the man who was his only son. By the grace of God, he had the chance to repair a little of the damage he had done in past years. Selfish ambition and a blind minds eye had robbed him of his good sense and ultimately, of his son.

Now, granted the opportunity to make the best of the time he had left, Lucian simply marveled at the sight before him.

In an instant, Erik's eyes found his father, and his features softened – if only briefly – as he noticed the fading man that had once been the bane of his existence.

Elise turned to her husband and noticed the faint moistening of his eyes as he looked at Erik for the first time in many years.

"I'm so sorry, Erik….I…"

His legs buckled and Erik rushed forward to catch his collapsing, frail form. He lifted his father into his arms – he felt cold to the touch and his eyes were dull - Erik carried him to the reclining chair beside the fireplace.

Without speaking, he took control of the situation and silently went into the bedroom and grabbed a blanket from off the bed. He draped it over his father's chilled legs and then knelt before him.

The silence was therapeutic for them, and Erik finally reached out and clasped his father's hands…absently rubbing the aged flesh with the soft pads of this thumbs.

Erik closed his eyes and bowed his head – lifting a silent prayer toward heaven – tears threatened and his heart convulsed in his chest…but he was determined to allow the dormant love he had always carried for his parents, to surface and dominate.

"For too long we have lived with silent regrets…" he finally raise his turbulent gaze and smiled at his father, "…much has been left undone and little has been said. Evie has explained that you have lived with sorrow for a few years now…sorrow that revolves around me."

Erik stood up, squared his shoulders, and lifted his chin with determination.

"I didn't think I could do this…forget the past and all its pain…but I find that I have no desire to dwell there anymore."

He smiled at that, taking the worry and fret from his features and replacing it with conquering joy. "Too much victory has been handed the darkness…no more…I want no more of it…from this day forward, we begin a new life – a new relationship. The pages are blank and the slate has been wiped clean."

Everyone in the room was weeping and Christine came to him and wrapped her arm around his waist for support.

His father began a fit of coughs as his tears flowed, and Erik again knelt beside him. He coaxed the cough out of him and rubbed his dark hair – littered only slightly with gray – until he was soothed.

"Accept my love and approval, son…they are all I have left."

His raspy voice touched Erik as few things had in his lifetime. He reached out and took the cool hand that he had longed to hold as a child, and then smiled into the aging face that had haunted his dreams for years.

"They were all I ever wanted."

TBC