Page 192 of Hunter's Revenge

Malik

Three months later

I never thought I’d ever have Christmas at my house. I was always the one going to somebody else’s place.

Now everyone is here with me.

As I looked at all of us sitting around my table at dinner, I thought about how my brothers and I started the family line again. Almost with a new legacy.

We each have wives now and two of us have kids.

It will be interesting and exciting to see where we go from here. It’s definitely the first time that I’ve looked forward to the future.

While Desmier is entertaining everyone with Viking stories the babies absolutely love, I thought I’d steal a few minutes away from everyone.

There’s something that’s been on my mind for a while now and I feel like I need to sort it out today.

It’s the room. The secret room, as Gwen calls it.

I make my way upstairs and into the bedroom. What I’m doing won’t take up too much time, but it’s what it represents for me.

I open the room up and go inside. After I found out about Jim, I came in here and took down his pictures. With them gone, I realized how morbid the place felt, so I took out my Knight’s tunic and left everything else.

It wasn’t until a few days ago that I realized why the room still feels the way it does. It’s Brian’s pictures. All of them. Keeping them up there is like hanging on to a ghost and holding on to guilt.

He died two days before Christmas. That’s why I felt like I had to do this today. So I won’t drag his ghost into another year.

I’d gotten a special album to put them in. I grab it from the shelf behind me and start taking the pictures down. As I remove each one, I try not to think of the memories behind the images.

“Are you okay?” The gentle voice of my wife soothes me.

I look at her standing in the doorway. I was so absorbed in what I was doing I didn’t hear her.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

She walks in. Even though I just saw her moments ago, I can’t help but look at her as she approaches and revel in how lucky I am to have her in my life.

“You took the pictures of Brian down?”

“I needed to. You called this place a shrine once. It became exactly that and reminds me of everything I lost. I don’t think it’s healthy.”

“No it’s not.” She places her dainty hands on my arm.

“I didn’t want to take it into tomorrow. I wanted tomorrow to be a fresh start.” I smile down at her.

“Did you have something in mind?”

“A walk-in wardrobe for my beautiful wife.”

Gwen’s face brightens. “Really?”

“Yeah. Seeing as how you had one in Wilmington, I think you need the space.”

“I do, but I have a better idea.” She gives me a mischievous smile and stands on the tips of her toes to plant a kiss on my chin.

“What’s this idea of yours?”

“A nursery.” She nods. “I hear it’s better for babies to be closer to their parents in the first few months. This room would definitely make a great nursery.”

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