Owen said goodbye after a short while. He didn't want his wife to worry about his whereabouts. Before doing so, however, he made Tessa and Jem promise that they would come to the Institute the next day. He knew the family was dying to meet Jem.
The stories about his time at the Institute had become legendary.
Will had mentioned him at every opportunity.
During the Christmas celebrations, where the whole family gathered, he was particularly talked about. Many of the orphans and students at the Institute knew Jem through his youth. The Fairchilds, who ran the institute before Will, saw him as a sort of younger brother. Gabriel and Gideon Lightwood didn't like him for a long time. It wasn't until Gabriel fell in love with Will's sister that they became friends with Jem as well. Gabriel maintained a strained relationship with Will to the end. Since his fuse was quite short, he gave Will the ideal temptation to joke about.
They all told their children the stories that connected them with Jem.
Once, Will even wanted to lead a play about Jem with the kids. This was quickly nipped in the bud, however, when it was revealed that the play was full of profanity and embarrassing scenes that no one wanted to pass on to their children.
Will then sulked for the next few weeks.
Only a few who knew Jem from back then were alive now.
So it didn't surprise Tessa that the family wanted to meet him.
"I'll give you some time," Catarina said before she left the small apartment and left Tessa alone with Jem.
She almost asked Catarina to stay on as chaperone, but that would have been ridiculous.
Not only did nobody take offense when a lady was alone with a gentleman these days, there was also the fact that they were both in their eighties. Besides, he wasn't just any gentleman. This was Jem. Her Jem!
She had been engaged to him, after all. It almost seemed like another life, but she had once been as close to Jem as anyone could be.
If her new-found family at the Institute hadn't taken offense, she might even have been willing to elope with him.
She had been willing to share her life with him. No matter how many years they had left, she would have loved every moment.
When she found that cursed letter, the letter where he told her he was going home. He apologized, said he would have to let her go. That it would have been selfish of him to stay.
In a single letter, he broke off their engagement, said goodbye, and even tried to set her up with his best friend while using words of praise.
Tessa had known then that Will had also been in love with her. She had never told Jem, just as she knew Will would never have told him.
Neither of them wanted to give him these worries. It would have been cruel to give Jem a choice. Between the woman he loved and the friend who meant everything to him.
For the same reason, Tessa had also never told Will that she loved him back.
And though they loved each other so much, love for one had never diminished the love for the other.
Jem was her angel. He was constant, always there. Loving and so full of life despite his illness. He was the strongest person Tessa had ever met.
Will, on the other hand, was the fire that couldn't be appeased. He shared her passion for books and words. Believed in her even when there was no hope left.
And while she loved Will as much as Jem, it was a while before he courted her.
She mourned the love she lost for almost a year, which is why she couldn't accept any other love. And Will was fine with that. He couldn't just grab Jem's fiancée with him gone.
However, when he still wasn't back after a year, the two decided to put the past behind them.
It wasn't easy at first. However, once they figured out how to be together without leaving Jem behind, they were able to start their life together.
Tessa had to sit down again. She pulled Jem with her to the sofa. Age demanded a lot from her, including the ability to stand longer, especially after such a long day at work.
She could also imagine that it was the same for Jem.
"Tell me everything," she demanded.
And so he did. He told her about his life in the monastery, about the realization that Will was dead and finally about his decision to search for Tessa.
In return, she told him about her life with Will, their family and finally about the war and her work in the hospital.
They talked for a long time until the sun went down and London was wrapped in a peaceful night.
And they just told each other everything.
Without a little effort, everything was back to how it used to be.