Page 116 of Silver Secrets

“What? I don’t understand?” Her eyes bounced from Darius, who was now busy licking the underside of her jaw, to Gage, who held Betty in his arms. “What are they doing here?”

“Ellie said Betty’s new mom decided not to continue with the adoption. She was having some serious separation anxiety, apparently. It only seemed right that we foster them together. I thought having them to focus on… well, I thought it might make things a little more manageable. Although, now that I’m looking at Darius taking up half the bed, I might have been a little wrong.”

Sloane held out her arms, reaching for Betty. “No. This is perfect, Gage. Thank you for bringing them home.”

They laid together in bed, the dogs finally settling down after sniffing around their new home for the better part of an hour. It felt right, and Sloane realized more than anything, she felt settled. A small part of her soul had broken free from the darkness. She knew she wanted to fight for more.

“We haven’t talked about what I said last week.” She lifted her face out of Darius’s fur to look at Gage.

His brow furrowed, but he didn’t say anything. He just let her have the time and space to say what she needed to get off her chest. “I don’t want to leave,” she whispered, reaching over to thread their fingers together.

“You don’t have to. I want you here. But it’s up to you. I’d do anything for you, Red. Anything.”

“I want to get better.” Sloane rolled so her head rested on his shoulder, and Gage leaned down, pressing a kiss onto the crown of her head.

“You will. And until then, you can lean on me.”

“But you shouldn’t have to shoulder that all yourself. You shouldn’t be holding me up when you need to work through everything too.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth while her free hand came up to trace nonsensical designs on his chest. “Are you going to talk to someone about what happened?”

“Yeah. Cap will make me in order to go back to work. And I think it’s for the best. I saw someone after Mel and Mikey died. I know I need to see someone now. Not only for me, but for our family.”

“Our family?”

“Even if it was just you and me, we would be family. But we’ve got Darius and Betty to think about now, too.”

“Our family.” She loved the sound of that.

“Yeah.”

Sloane reached up, playfully tapping on the lens of Gage’s glasses.

“Thank you for not giving up on me, Clark.”

“Never, Red. Not for one single second while there is still breath in my lungs. I hope you know that.”

“I do. And I’m going to reach out to a few colleagues tomorrow. I want to be able to practice again one day, but I’m not in any state to do that right now. I’ll get some recommendations from them and start therapy. It might be good for us to do some sessions together, in addition to the ones we tackle alone.”

Gage nodded. “You’re so strong, Sloane. I know you don’t feel it now, but god, I’m in awe of you.”

“I’m just putting one foot in front of the other.”

“Baby steps are still steps.”

His voice cracked as Sloane lifted her head just in time to see his eyes fill with tears.

“Why are you getting emotional?”

“I’m proud of you.”

“That’s not it though, is it?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t know if you’d still call me Clark… after everything that happened.”

Sloane stretched her back so her lips pressed against the underside of his chin before snuggling back down on his chest. “You’ll always be Superman to me. I plan on reminding you of that every day for the rest of our lives.”

Thirty-One

“Are you sure you don’t want me to pick up food for tonight?” Nash planted his feet on the sidewalk, forcing himself to stop pacing outside the new flower shop in Silver Springs.Petals. It was a cute name.

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