Family secrets
He knew their marriage was doomed to failure the first time she asked him a question about where he'd been and he couldn't give her a completely honest answer. He hedged, and Maggie let it go, and he tried not to think about it. He kept too many secrets, about his work, about who he worked with, about who he chased.
About Sophie.
When Sam got sick, he was there for Maggie, he stayed strong for her, but when he broke down, he went to Sophie. It was under the pretenses that she was stealing, of course, but the fact that he caught her then let her go, only to sit across from her for hours at a Parisian coffee shop, surrounded by a haze of smoke and pastries. She held his hand, and he cried.
Sam went into remission, two years later. He was happy and healthy and for awhile, all was normal. Life went on. Maggie went on a business trip, and Nate was happy to stay back and stay with his son. He was both surprised and not surprised when he saw Sophie across the park. At the same time, it was like a weight lifted off his shoulders, like the world was right again.
Which was bizarre, because the world had been right beforehand. He was a happily married man, and Sophie Devereaux pushing his son on a swing was not supposed to be a sight that made him feel... warm.
He turned the camera toward them. He'd been carrying it since Sam recovered. He wanted to capture every moment, so Sam would always remember the good parts, and less of the hospital visits and treatment.
In the end, Sam didn't remember, but Nate did. He kept the video, he never showed it to Maggie. He drank, he lost the house, his wife, and he mourned his son.
---
Sophie leaned against the door jam, watching Nate watch the shaky home video on his laptop. She knew the day, and knew what it meant to him. She watched herself push Sam on the swing, listened to his young, delighted six year old laughter, tinny on the tiny speakers.
“I remember that day.”
His head jerked around, and he offered her a brief, sad smile. “He liked you,”
“He took after his father.”
Nate laughed softly, and gestured her over to the desk. She pushed herself off the wall and crossed the room to him, resting her hip against the arm of his chair. His arm looped around her waist, and they watched Sam jump off the swing and run toward the camera, shouting, “Daddy, daddy! Did you see what I did?”
He tried to play off the catch in his breath, clenching his jaw against it. Sophie combed her fingers through his hair and pretended she didn't see the tears on his cheeks.
“We were like a family that day.”
“We were a family that day,” Nate corrected. It must have been the right thing to say, because Sophie didn't argue, and didn't protest when he pulled her down into the chair with him. “I wish you could have known him,” he whispered against her shoulder.
“So do I, Nate.”
The video stopped, and he reached around her and started it again. Sam waved at the camera from the swings, and Sophie watched herself lean down and talk to him. He turned and gave her a big hug around the legs, and Sophie looked over his head and locked eyes with the Nate behind the camera. Sam began to swing, and Sophie ignored the damp patch growing on her back.
“You never did tell me why you were there that day.”
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled, listening to Sam's laughter again. “I was in the area, you know.”
Nate vaguely remembered something being reported stolen, and decided against mentioning it. “You know...” Nate tapped his fingers against Sophie's thigh, “I miss him. I'll never stop missing him, but... I'm happy, now. With this family. And we are, Sophie, we are a family, now.”
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