CHAPTER 35

Gabe's POV

Today's the day. The day the kids will finally make their choice. The day they'll decide whether they want me to stay or go.

I know what they'll choose. I can feel it in my bones. They'll choose to leave, to go back to New York with their mother. I don't blame them. I've been a stranger to them for so long, a ghostly figure hovering on the edges of their lives.

I've tried to connect with them, to be a part of their world, but it's clear I don't belong. They're a tight-knit unit, a family of three, and I'm just an interloper, a disruptor.

I'll keep my thoughts to myself, though. I won't burden them with my doubts and fears. I'll just smile and pretend, pretend that I'm confident, that I know they'll choose me.

But deep down, I know the truth. They'll choose to leave, and I'll be left here, alone, wondering what could have been.

I take a deep breath and head downstairs, trying to prepare myself for the inevitable.

I push aside my doubts and decide to make the most of the tim