Chapter 20

E lla slipped into the cottage after dark and heard laughter coming from the girls' room. She stood in the small arched doorway and watched Finn lying in one of the twin beds, reading their favorite Cinderella book. Betty was curled up on one side, and Georgia was snug in the crook of his arm on the other side, sucking her thumb. He noticed her and they exchanged a smile. He turned the page and read, "Perhaps the greatest risk any of us will ever take is to be seen as we really are." Ella stood watching them until Finn read the last line: "They lived happily ever after."

He closed the book, and Georgia pulled her thumb out of her mouth and said, "Again."

"Now it's time for you two princesses to go to sleep," he said, running his hand over her wispy blonde ringlets. "We'll read it again tomorrow." He picked Georgia up and carried her to her bed. "Sweet dreams, little peach." Then he tucked Betty under the covers and said, "You have sweet dreams too, my angel."

Ella strolled over and kissed each girl on her forehead.

Finn switched off the light, and he and Ella ambled to their cozy living room and plopped down on the couch, toys strewn everywhere.

"Hi, love," she said, giving him a soft kiss. "That was a sweet sight. I'll never be able to explain how my heart overflows when I see you that way with our children, so tender, close, and loving." She shook her head. "It's very special."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "You happened to catch a rare quiet moment."

"How did things go today?" she asked.

"The cat threw up. Georgia touched it, of course, and then she tripped on Betty, toppling her over. Betty got some in her hair and totally freaked out. So, I had to give everyone a bath. Then the girls had a knock-down, drag-out fight over a toy that ended with Georgia in tears. We regrouped in the afternoon and did a potato printing art project. Naturally, Betty took great care selecting her colors and crafting her composition. Georgia mixed all her paints together and kept stamping one image over another, so it just looks like a big splotch of brown poo, but she had a ball and thought it was hysterical." Ella giggled. "Their masterpieces are on the refrigerator. If you're hungry, there's some leftovers from dinner. The chicken is dry, the potatoes are lumpy, and the peas are mushy."

"It sounds delicious," she said with a laugh.

"I'm hopeless in the kitchen," Finn lamented with a shrug.

"Did you follow Joyce's recipe?"

"Yeah, and I FaceTimed her twice. She agrees that I'm hopeless."

Ella giggled again.

"Fortunately, if you let them dunk it in applesauce, the girls will eat just about anything," he said.

"So, in other words, it was a rough day?" she asked.

He shook his head. "It was a perfect day." He ran his finger along her hairline and gave her a kiss. "What about you, baby?"

"Marni texted me. She's signed up for some Internet dating site."

"Wow," Finn said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"I know, shocked the hell out of me too. After the toast you made at my birthday party, she said she couldn't help but wonder if there is something to this whole romantic love thing after all. She did add that there's no reality in which she'll be donning a white dress or wearing ‘mosquito netting' around her face."

He laughed. "How's the book coming?"

"It's almost done. I finally figured out how to answer my big question: When we love so deeply, where do we end and where does the other begin?"

"Tell me."

"It all came back to something Albie and I talked about," Ella said. "Do you remember that time in Sweden when you all had a day off from filming, so we took a hike in the forest?"

He nodded. "You and Albie trailed behind the rest of the group."

"I was telling him how being in nature makes me feel so small, but also like I'm part of something bigger, and that makes me feel truly alive. He said that the same could be said of love. He said, ‘When you fall in love, it suddenly isn't all about you anymore, and that's such a relief. You're forced to let go, to realize you're part of something bigger. You come to understand that what you share, and indeed that the other person, is more important than you are.' That freaked me out."

"I have no doubt," Finn said with a laugh.

She playfully patted his chest. "I asked Albie if that was dangerous, that if by allowing someone else to become your world, you lose yourself. He said that if the relationship is right, you become their world too, and that ultimately, the safety of that allows you to become more of yourself, not less."

"He sure was smart about life," he said, smiling.

"In the forest that day, the trees were so tall we could hardly see where they ended and where the sky began." Ella stopped and smiled. "That's how it is when we truly love. We're each still who we are, but the borders between us become harder to discern, and soon, we let go and stop looking for them." She ran her finger down his face. "There's so much beauty in that magical space where the trees touch the sky."

"Seems like you had the answer all along."

"Only thanks to the people under this roof, and one who's watching over us from above."

Finn planted a lingering kiss on her mouth. "Today, when it was total mayhem and I was cleaning up cat puke and Betty and Georgia were tripping all over each other in this little place, it occurred to me that we finally have everything we ever wanted."

"Well, not quite everything."

"What's missing, my love?" he asked.

"A little boy."