This Is Love

9. Redemption

POV: Alicia

~2years later~

I look at Harrison playing with our son in the yard chasing a ball, Harrison Junior, and I can't help falling in love with him all over again. He's so great with him. I laugh when he comes over to the patio couch I'm sitting on and collapses on it.

"Where does he get all that energy?"

We laugh and he kisses me before kissing my growing baby bump and says "baby girl, daddy can't wait for you to join in on this fun."

We watch as Junior runs across the yard with his ball, laughing and having a good time. He is a ball of energy but sleeps like a log just to start the day again with renewed energy. Kids are something else and operate on a completely different plane.

It has been an absolute joy watching him go from tiny baby to energetic toddler and developing a personality.

The next morning, I'm getting ready for a book signing before I take time off to give birth and be with my family. Junior has his hands around my leg not wanting to let go.

"Mommy has to go to work baby." I try to tell him but he starts crying "mommy don't go."

I pick him up and put him on my hip, "do you want to go to work with mommy?"

He screams, "yay!" Instantly stopping his crying. I chuckle. Toddlers right? He has been going through a little separation anxiety because I've been busy with the book.

"Let's find your shoes and then go find daddy so we can go." I put on his shoes and we go downstairs to find Harrison in the kitchen waiting.

"You ready to go?" I ask.

"Yeah. Hey buddy." He picks our son up. The resemblance is uncanny, especially the more he grows.
"You coming with us?" He asks him as he tickles him.

"Yes." He says while giggling out of his mind and I love that sound. Harrison raises his brow at me and I shrug and chuckle. We get in the car and Tom drives us to the venue.

I walk into event with my toddler in one hand, a growing baby bump and with my husband in tow. Life is good. My dreams are unfolding right in front of me and I love it.

My book is called Redemption. It's about second chances at life and love. I wanted to write about our story and also what it means to get a second or third chance. In a relationship, especially marriage, there will be offense, whether intentional or not. It is up to you whether you want to resolve the issue and carry on the relationship or simply cut your losses. Do you believe second chances are earned or are they freely given?

In the book I included stories from real-world people about how they overcame offense and sometimes betrayal to make their relationships and friendships work. Some of the responses were that you can absolutely get a second chance, it's just that sometimes that second chance is not with the same person. That whole fool-me-once notion was very popular in the responses.

I remember 2 years ago when I came home from the hospital, I profusely apologized to my husband for walking out when the going got tough.
I felt like I let him down when he needed me by his side. He argued saying that he should have never put himself in a position where his integrity or loyalty to me and our marriage would ever come into question.

"You don't have to apologize. I should have been honest with you from the beginning and saved us a world of pain." He said.

I agree with the fact that he should have been upfront with me but I wonder if that would have changed things. He's always ready to protect us and when our relationship or family is affected, he gets tunnel vision.