It was raining again.
Jaimie always found it strange—how some goodbyes didn't come with screaming or tears. Sometimes, they came gently, like water slipping off the edge of a leaf. Quiet. Clean.
That's how Dominic let her go.
They met at the church his mother once attended—her last wish being a mass held in the city where she had met her husband.
Jaimie didn't expect Dominic to ask her to come, but he did.
Not as a date.
Not with hope.
Just for closure.
After the service, they stood at the church's front steps under a wide black umbrella.
Dominic's face was still and resigned. No fire. Just calm grief.
"She would've liked you," he said softly. "But she judged too fast. She never got to know the version of you I knew."
"I'm sorry she never did," Jaimie replied. "She raised a good man."
He smiled faintly, bitter at the edges.
"I thought I was the man meant for you."
"You were," she said. "At a time I needed someone to believe I was more than my past."
Dominic turned toward her, eyes glassy.
"I still believe that. But someone else brings out the softness in you that I tried so hard to reach. That's not defeat, Jaimie. That's love."
She blinked fast.
"I hope he knows what he almost lost."
"I think he does now."
Dominic reached into his coat pocket and handed her a small brown box.
Inside was the necklace she once admired—a tiny music note, rose gold, with a delicate engraving on the back.
Moon River.
"Wear it only when you've forgiven him," Dominic said.
Then he walked away, head high, shoulders light.
Free.
Elsewhere, EJ was not at peace.
He sat cross-legged on the living room floor, building blocks with Sam while Tedd was out buying merienda.
The rain tapped against the glass, steady as a heartbeat.
Sam was humming to himself—his mother's habit.
Then EJ asked, almost playfully:
"So... tell me, little man. Who do you like better? Papa or Tito Dad?"
Sam stopped.
Looked at him.
Then down at the red block in his hand.
It was an innocent question.
But not to a child who understood more than adults assumed.
"I don't know," Sam said softly. "Tito Dad was here first. But Papa... Papa reads the dinosaur book with voices."
EJ's smile faltered.
He wasn't angry. Just... empty.
"I see."
Sam looked up, sensing something change.
"Can I like both?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.
EJ nodded and ruffled his hair, trying to hide the crack in his chest.
"Of course you can, bud. Of course."
But when Jaimie entered the room later, she could feel the silence he left behind.
EJ stood to leave, brushing off invisible dust from his jeans.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he said casually.
Jaimie watched his back as he walked away.
She didn't stop him.
Didn't call out.
Because the truth was, no matter how much EJ loved her—
She couldn't love someone back just because they stayed.
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