"But someone has to fight for you," he said softly. "You look so pale…"
His eyes were so full of care and worry about me that my heart squeezed. Aiden had always put me first, but we also had other priorities, and those were our children.
I squeezed his hand back. "Thank you… When all of this is over, we need to take a long trip. At least a month. A second honeymoon! We should reset, properly."
His face lit up. "That sounds like a dream. And that’s exactly what we’ll do."
"But for now… I can’t stop. I know he’s alive. I have to keep trying."
Aiden nodded. "We just need to take it step by step, follow a plan, and keep moving forward. We’ll wait for him here, and if it doesn’t work today, we’ll try again another day."
We sat there in silence for a long while, lost in thought, watching the steady flow of DevApp employees.
Then, suddenly, I spotted my other son, Skye, walking through the lobby. He worked here too. His arm was wrapped possessively around his boyfriend, Soren.
"Skye!" I called out instinctively.
A few people turned their heads at the sound of someone raising their voice, but most ignored me. Skye immediately stopped and turned back toward us. Concern and worry were etched onto his handsome face—mirroring the same expression I had seen on Aiden countless times already.
Soren, walking beside him, looked startled and uneasy. I could guess how he must have felt: awkward, unsure of what to say to a grieving parent who had just lost a child. Because that’s what they all thought. That Winter was gone for good.
"Dad, what’s going on? What are you doing here?" he asked as he knelt down beside me. His eyes, so similar to mine in color, were full of unease.
"We came to talk to Jacob, but he’s refusing to see us."
Skye blinked in surprise. "Refusing? What did you want to talk to him about?"
I already knew how this conversation would go. No matter who I told, their reaction would be the same, a mix of deep pity for how the poor parent had ‘lost his mind’ and, at the same time, an effort to remain polite and respectful, as if speaking too bluntly might shatter my already fragile emotions.
Of course, by telling him, I was putting him in an uncomfortable position. But it didn’t matter. Winter was more important than anyone’s discomfort.
"Skye, I know Winter is alive. I want to ask Jacob for help organizing a search of the northern Kuril Islands."
And… here we went. An awkward silence fell between us, just as I had expected.
Skye reached for my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Dad… I think you should go home and try to get some rest. You look terrible, like you haven’t slept in days. Even the True Mate bond isn’t helping, since… well, Father looks the same," he muttered, glancing at Aiden meaningfully.
Irritated, I pulled my hand away from his.
This was exactly why I hadn’t been reaching out to any of my other children. Of course, they knew about the crash, but I hadn’t told them what Aiden and I were doing to try to get Winter back. Because I already knew what their reaction would be. The same as Skye’s.
Just a couple of delusional parents who couldn’t accept that their son was gone. Out of touch with reality. Someone should call a therapist!
"Go to work, Skye," I said, my voice sharper than I meant it to be.
I could see the whole ocean of worries in his eyes, and for a second, it almost got to me. I felt like I really was losing my grip on reality. Like I really was being irrational. And that was the last thing I wanted, to have other people messing with my head, distracting me from my mission.
Soren stood beside him, staring at the floor, his almost feline, beautiful face locked in deep thought.
But then, suddenly, he spoke.
"I think… if your dad believes they survived, then you should keep searching."
Skye turned to him in surprise.
"Thank you, child," I said, catching Soren’s slender hand and giving it a squeeze. My gaze drifted to his softly rounded stomach, where my grandchild was growing.
"You can’t give up," he whispered. "There’s always a chance. And a parent’s instinct is rarely wrong."
