Page 179 of Begin Again, Part 2

"On top of that, you're still learning to communicate with this dude." Julian pointed at Aiden.

"And now you have this little one on the way," Matthew said and topped up his glass.

"I'll handle it." Liam shrugged off their worry.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I have Eden. With her by my side, I can handle anything."

"I want to be just like you when I grow up, Sensei!" Julian bowed and retreated from the room. But at the door, he just had to let them know of his exciting plans for the evening. "Remember Chloe Lennard, the lingerie model? I finally got a 'meet and greet' with her."

"Hold on to your bank card!" Liam and Matthew said at once and laughed at how in sync they were.

"And I have a cooking class." Matthew dumped his glass on the desk, fist-bumped Aiden and pranced off.

"So that's what they call banging these days? Cooking class?" Liam called after him.

Matthew flipped him the bird and vanished from view.

"Daddy," Aiden said from behind him.

"Yeah, what's up, Kool-Aid?" Liam turned to look at his son.

"What's this?" he asked, holding his index finger high up in the air, mimicking his cousin.

Liam groaned and quickly brought down his hand. "We don't do that."

"Why?" Aiden asked.

"Because it's not a good thing."

"Why?"

"We'll ask Mommy."

Aiden seemed pleased with his response, and he returned his attention to the telescope. Liam picked him up and adjusted the eyepiece for him, and for a little while, they zoned in on the cars speeding up and down the bridge.

The house was unusually quiet when they got home later that evening, and Liam went straight to the master bedroom in search of Eden as soon as he put Aiden down for his nap. But she wasn't there.

Her art studio, directly opposite his study, was also empty. The door was ajar, though. He'd rarely set foot inside and had tried not to go in without an invitation because he thought of the room as a sacred space where all of Eden's creativity dwelt.

He was right. When he stepped inside, it was like he'd walked through a portal to another dimension, a nirvana of colours and emotions, where ideas, creativity, and emotions collided.

Drawn to one particular painting, Liam approached it, and for the longest time, he just stood there, rooted to the spot, gazing at the scene in front of him. Not because of the moody backdrop of dark colours and bold strokes, or the moment forever frozen on the canvas. But because of the raw emotions Eden had encapsulated so perfectly.

"You're back," she said from behind him, pulling him away from the grief, anger, and sadness she had managed to trap inside the painting.

"Why would you paint this?" he asked.

She waddled into the room and paused beside him. "I had to. I was so sure it would drive me insane if I didn't. I had to get it out of me."

"But you never gave it to me."

"It's not yours."

"It's me. My feelings."

"No." she shook her head. "It's a reminder of how I should never push you that far again."

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