by Harlan Coben
' -- but the baby was aborted.'
He stopped dribbling. His hand flew up to his mouth as though he were stifling a scream. 'What?'
Laura moved toward him, his back still facing her. 'We are not brother and sister.'
He spun around. His eyes flew open wide. His face crumpled into a mask of confusion. 'But . . . ?' After all this time, after all this suffering . . . 'Not brother and sister?'
'No, David,' she said. 'That baby was aborted. I'm not your sister.'
He stared at her. His eyes filled with tears. 'How . . . ?' He stopped. His mind felt like it was being torn apart. Reality spun out of control. He tried to steady himself, tried to comprehend what she was saying.
'Please,' he began in a soft voice, 'please tell me it's not a dream.'
She shook her head, her tears flowing freely. 'It's not, David. I swear it's not.'
He looked at her. His bleak eyes suddenly flickered with hope. She ran toward him and threw her arms around his body, clinging to him tightly. David held her, his eyes squeezed shut. So many torturous days, so many tears, so many times he dreamed about holding her again . . .
'Don't you ever leave me again,' she whispered.
'Never,' he uttered. 'I promise.'
They hugged fiercely, not letting go, not daring to even loosen their grip for fear that one of them would slip away and be gone forever. They stayed that way for a very long time, letting the past dissolve away and the healing begin.
David smiled through his tears. 'Do you still want to have children?' he asked.
She laughed. 'What about having rabbits?'
'Rabbits? Okay we'll have both. Rabbits and children.' She nodded. 'But first things first. Where did you get that awful curly blond hair?'
'You don't like it?'
'You look like a character from Godspell. It has to go.'
'I'm kinda used to it.'
'T.C. must have picked it out. He has no taste. And your new face. You know how I hate pretty boys -- '
He stopped her with a kiss. 'That's still the only way to keep you quiet, huh?'
'Then don't just stand there, Baskin. Shut me up.'
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