She hugged him tight. “Thank you,” she whispered, “for everything. For saving Dad’s farm. For being here. For being you.” “Thank you for letting me be part of your family,” Nathan whispered back. “Go change the world, kid.” She pulled back grinning through tears. “I’ll try.”
Then she turned to Marcus and Nathan took a step back to give them privacy. Marcus pulled his daughter into a long hug and Nathan could see his shoulders shaking even though he was trying to stay strong. “I love you so much,” Marcus said his voice breaking. “Your mama would be so proud.” “I love you, too, Dad. Take care of yourself and make sure Nathan actually eats vegetables when you cook.” Marcus laughed a choked sound. “I will.”
One more hug and then Alicia was picking up her carry-on bag and walking toward the train. She turned at the door to wave one more time and then she was gone swallowed up by the crowd of other students and travelers. Marcus and Nathan stood on the platform watching the train pull away. Marcus’s hand was clenched tight around the platform railing his knuckles pale. Nathan stood beside him close enough that their shoulders were almost touching and felt tears running down his own face.
This was what it looked like when people left with love instead of anger. When departure was about growth instead of abandonment. When someone could leave knowing they could always come back because home wasn’t a place. It was people who would hold space for you no matter how far you traveled. “She’s going to do great things,” Nathan said quietly. Marcus nodded. “She is.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “Thank you for being here. I don’t think I could have done this alone.” “You’re not alone,” Nathan said. “Not anymore.”
They stood there until the train was completely out of sight and then they walked back to the car together. Marcus climbed into the passenger seat this time without being asked and Nathan drove them home both of them quiet with their own thoughts. Halfway back to the farm Marcus said, “You know what the hardest part is?” “What?” “Knowing she doesn’t need me anymore. Not the way she used to. She’s grown up. She’s ready for the world and that’s exactly what I wanted. What her mama and I worked for. But God, it hurts.”
“She still needs you,” Nathan said, “just in different ways and she’ll always need you. Parents don’t become obsolete just because their kids grow up.” Marcus looked at him. “You’d have made a good father.” Nathan’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Maybe. I’d like to think so.” “It’s not too late, you know. You’re only thirty. You could still have kids of your own someday.” “Maybe.”
But Nathan wasn’t sure he wanted that anymore. What he wanted he’d already found, this complicated patched-together family that had chosen each other instead of being bound by blood. Alicia and Marcus had given him something he’d been missing his whole life and he wasn’t about to waste time wishing for some hypothetical different version when what he had was already perfect.