My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus) novel Chapter 1117

"What chance, love?" Celeste asked, not quite understanding what he meant.

"You gave me the chance to be a father. To watch my blood grow day by day. You gave me the chance to see two little pieces of me come to life. I love seeing your face in our daughters. I love how, even though they're identical, they're already so different in personality.

"I really do love them with everything I am—and everything I have," Peter said, glancing at his daughters in the rearview mirror, then at the woman by his side.

"Thank you, Peter…" Celeste said, her eyes welling with tears.

"Why are you thanking me?" he asked, gently wiping a tear from her cheek.

"For coming back for me. For being persistent. For ignoring me when I tried to push you away. For being there when I needed you most. For being stubborn, for being you… Thank you.

"And I mean it—if you hadn't insisted… honestly, I don't know how I would've managed alone with the girls," she said, her voice catching as she remembered those first lonely days in Willowcombe after coming back from Slovenia.

"I love you, Celeste. And it's that love that makes me want to be the best version of myself—for you and for them.

"I might not remember my past, but please know that today, I would never do anything to hurt you or our daughters. I just want a happy life with you, with my girls, with our family.

"I want quiet afternoons lying under that big ash tree in the backyard. I want breakfast as a family. I want evenings by your side, with our daughters. I love every night we spend together, making love until we can't take anymore. I love your passion, your devotion, the woman you are. I love you, my Celeste—and I'm at peace with the life we've built."

Peter understood the weight of his words. No one—not even Theodore, his closest confidant—knew the secret he had vowed to take to the grave.

Because one random night, while he and Celeste were asleep, Peter had woken up drenched in sweat, shaken by a dream that felt far too vivid to ignore. His mind had taken him back to a moment—one he hadn't remembered in years. A day when Mary and he had once again seen Albert Preston, her grandfather.

That day had been one of Mary's happiest.