Long Time Running - By Hannah Foster Page 0,30

even sure what explanation could be offered to him that would make sense.

Eric did battle internally as their kiss replayed over and over again in his mind. It had always felt right to kiss her in the past and that feeling had not changed.. But kissing her and loving her were two different things. Kissing her was a long way from forgiving her or understanding her or starting again with her. But much to his own surprise he was discovering that kissing her was making him consider doing all those things.

He wanted to know what had happened to her with a ferocity that bordered on desperation. He had seen the brutal scars she bore on the outside and knew the ones on the inside were even more vicious. Ruefully, he acknowledged that even if he could one day understand why she had willingly given up her -their- child, it would still not explain why she had run from him. Why raising their child alone was a better option to her than raising Jack together.

While he had always been clear he never wanted children, he had once believed that they loved each other enough to get through anything. She told him she loved him today with a clarity and certainty that took his breath away. And maybe she did. Maybe it just wasn't enough to believe in him. Or them.

"Eric?" Jack asked carefully, uncharacteristically subdued.

Pulled from his thoughts he looked over at his son. "Yeah buddy?"

"I need to ask you a question" he began seriously. "And....and if you don't know that's cool but will you promise to answer it if you can?"

Raising his eyebrows, he nodded. "If I know the answer, I will tell you."

Jack scrambled down from the couch and ran to his backpack. Unzipping it, he reached inside and pulled out a small picture frame. Walking back to the couch, he passed it to Eric before climbing up and sitting next to him.

A cold sweat trickled down Eric's back as he looked down at the photo. It was a photo of Sarah and Nathalie on the steps of the Art Institute of Chicago; he had been the photographer. The frame was burnished silver with the word 'sisters' engraved along the bottom.

"Is that Nathalie?" Jack asked pointing to her picture.

Not trusting himself to speak, Eric simply nodded.

The young boy eyed him carefully before diving into his next question. "Is she my mom?"

It felt as though the world landed on his shoulders with his questions. Sarah had only ever answered the questions Jack put to her about his parentage without revealing more than she was willing to. Neither of them had ever said Nathalie's name because until this moment he had never asked.

"Wh-what makes you think that?" he stumbled.

"Because Aunt Sarah said my mom is her sister. Her sister's name is Nathalie and she has this picture in her bedroom and it says 'sisters' and so I was wondering if that meant that Nathalie was my mom and this is what she looks like?"

He couldn't lie to him, not about this. It was hard enough to lie about being his father but Jack had managed to piece together all the information he had been given and come up with a reasonable question: he owed him the truth.

"Yes" he answered cautiously, "Nathalie is Aunt Sarah's sister and that makes her your mom."

The young boy pulled nervously at his fingers and bit down on his lip. Seeing the worry etched on his face, Eric slipped his arm around his shoulder and tugged him towards his body.

"I can see a question on your lips Jack, what is it?"

Sucking in a breath, he looked up at him. "Where...where is she?"

Eric's tongue felt suddenly fat in his mouth as he struggled to find the right answer. "Have you...have you asked Aunt Sarah?"

He nodded.

"And what does she say?"

"She says she's in a far away country helping people."

Exhaling slowly, Eric nodded. "That's true."

Jack said nothing for several minutes. Taking the frame from Eric's lap, he looked down at the photo and traced Nathalie's outline with his finger.

"She's very pretty" he finally said.

Swallowing the acrid lump in his throat, Eric agreed, "Yes, she is."

Climbing down from the couch, he crossed the room to his backpack and stuck the frame back inside. "Eric?"

"Yes?"

"Can we...can we keep it between us guys?"

Cocking his head to the side, he gave him a curious look. "You don't want Aunt Sarah to know? How come?"

"Cause I don't wanna make her sad."

Patting the seat beside him,