Watch the Stars with Me

Chapter 32

When they got to the house Nanny took Aster up to get bathed and dressed for bed. After wishing her good luck on her adventures in the bath tub she was heading to before he followed Violet to the living room.

The rain from the afternoon had never let up, it was heavier than it had been now as they sat on the couch in front of the fireplace. She knew that making him wait for a response to his declaration of love at the restaurant was becoming cruel the longer she took to think of how o respond. "I got your letter—"

"I know." There's a gentle smile in his eyes as he spoke.

She blinks a couple times before speaking again. "The one you sent before my wedding."

"I know." He repeats with the same kindness of his expression. "Gilbert told me."

Violet sighed as her heart tighten, the threat of tears at the mention of her husband, especially from someone who had just confessed his love to her was a lot to process. "Leon..."

"Yes?" He was still being kind, and she realized it was because he was being patient with her, and something about that made everything feel a tiny bit easier.

"You're so good with Aster, and even Dietfried likes you in his own way... I want to say how I feel about you... " She had started to grip her skirts and stare down at her gloved hands, so when his hand grabbed the one closest, she didn't really feel it, but she felt the gesture.

"But?" He asks, leaning to try and see her eyes as they lifted to meet his with tears in her eyes.

"I'm not sure that I believe I deserve it." She says as the first stream of tears fall from her eyes.

"Deserve what?" He asks.

She swallows and takes a deep breath while still looking into his calm blue eyes, hoping to find peace of mind there and courage. "To love again."

Nanny came into the room then to announce that Aster was ready for her bedtime story from Mr. Stephanotis. He didn't let go of her hand as they stood, nor when they climbed the steps. He only let go before entering Aster's room.

Aster lay there on her cream colored bed holding a book up for him. "Seeking the World by Leon Stephanotis" One of his first collections of photographs and stories.

"Okay, but only one story, since a picture is worth at least one thousand words." He almost laughed his words as he sat on the bed next to Aster. When she curled into her his side he was a little surprised and looked to the doorway to see Violet leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and a soft smile on her lips.

Aster leaned forward for a moment, and while staring her mother down patted the bed near Leon's legs until Violet cam in and sat where her daughter had been patting.

Leon smiled at the woman he was absolutely smitten with before opening the book and smiling at her daughter who was turning the pages until she found the photo she wanted to know more about and pointed to a photo of his mother, sitting int the garden painting. After pointing out how much she looked like Leon he explained to her that he puts a photo of his mother in every one of his books since she passed away.

"I didn't know you found her..." Violet whispered.

"I didn't. My cousin Fey did, the one you helped me write a letter to. She found both of my parents. I never got to meet my father, he sadly died in the war. I was able to spend a few months with my mother before she passed away from the cancer that had spread quit rapidly."

Aster pulled his attention back to her and asked what his mother was like. He smiled a little sad. "I don't have a lot of memories of her from when I was a child, but I think she was a good mother, who wanted her family to be whole, which is why she went in search of my father when he left to join the early war efforts. Unfortunately she was in a terrible train accident and her injuries stole her memories, so she forgot that she had a family." He continued to explain what happened to his mother, and how they were able to reconnect in their own new ways before she passed away a little over five years ago.