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Chapter 780 Real Decisions

Fiona placed the key to the house in Caleb’s hand.

“This place is yours, but it’s not ready to be your home just yet,” she said. “Take your time looking around and lock up when you return to your room.”

Caleb hugged his mother and thanked her again as he walked her to the front door and watched her walk back down the path. He wondered if he should offer to walk her home, then smiled as he saw a familiar young Alpha step out from the trees and take her arm.

“Rising and setting of the sun my ass…” he whispered to himself with a grin.

He closed the door, returning up the stairs to Ashleigh, who stood before the great window looking out at the night sky.

As he put his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder, he looked out at the view of the city and the hills and then up at the bright stars that sparkled in the dark.

“It’s good to be home,” he whispered.

Ashleigh hugged his arms around her belly and leaned back into him.

“I can’t believe Mom did this,” he said.

“I can’t either,” Ashleigh replied. “It almost feels like we’ve gone back in time.”

Caleb smiled. He thought about the friends and family they had spent the evening with. They had all grown and changed while he was gone, but not so much that he felt the distance between them. Some he even felt closer to than he had before he disappeared.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed everyone,” he said softly. “How excited I was to see them.”

Ashleigh took a deep breath, lowering her eyes to the city in the distance.

“To catch up, learn how they have been, what they’re up to now,” Caleb continued, smiling brightly.

He kissed Ashleigh’s shoulder.

“They all seem happy,” he sighed. “They’ve done well in their lives. I’m honestly relieved.”

Ashleigh didn’t reply. She only stared out into the night.

“Ash?” Caleb called.

When she still didn’t respond, he reached up and turned her chin so that she faced him. He met her hazel eyes. In them, he saw unshed tears. Ashleigh swallowed and turned away.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, holding her tighter.

She swallowed again and took another deep breath.

“I just…” she began softly, “I just realized… that all those things you learned about tonight, all the things that our friends, our family, have done or been through in the past five years… it was the first time I was learning about a lot of them as well.”

Caleb was surprised, but quickly the feeling fell away. He understood after all the things she had told him and the things that Galen and his mother had told him. Ashleigh’s entire focus in the five years he was gone was getting him back.

“I knew I had kept my distance,” she whispered, “I just never realized how large that distance had grown.”

Ashleigh thought of all the calls she had ignored. All the invitations she had rejected. Back then, she had told herself that there wasn’t time to return home when they called and that she needed to keep her mind on finding Caleb.

But the truth was far more straightforward than that. She couldn’t handle watching them all live their lives. Not just because she was still hurting but because she was afraid. Afraid that if she stayed, she might find a reason to move on. To let go of Caleb.

Ashleigh lowered her head, and Caleb felt a wet drop hit his arm. He turned her in his arms and hugged her.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her ear. “Because of me...”

Ashleigh shook her head.

“No,” she whispered. “I don’t regret not giving up on you, and I would never change that.”

She licked her lips and took a deep breath.

“I just wish…” she continued, “I had been around more, for everyone else. That I hadn’t thought not giving up on you meant I had to give up on them…”

Caleb sighed and stroked her cheek gently.

“I understand,” he whispered tenderly.

Ashleigh closed her eyes and leaned into his hand.

“It’s not too late, you know,” he said.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

“What do you mean?”

“They never gave up on you,” he smiled.

Ashleigh furrowed her brows.

“Your family, our friends… they have had every opportunity to cut you out of their lives,” he said. “According to what you’ve said, you tried to shut them out. Yet they still called, still invited you home.”

Ashleigh took a shaky breath. Her jaw quivered as she tried to control the flow of emotion that ran through her.

Caleb leaned forward, kissing Ashleigh’s lip softly.

“Do you really think gathering everyone together tonight, the celebration tomorrow, is just for me?” he asked. “It’s for us.”

Ashleigh swallowed as fresh tears fell.

“They’re celebrating the return of both of us,” he whispered, smiling as he looked into her eyes. “They missed you even more than they missed me.”

Ashleigh leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his chest. She took a deep breath and sniffled as she spoke.

“How can I even begin to make it up to them?”

Caleb smiled and bowed his head to kiss her hair.

“I don’t know,” he said. “But we’ve got time to figure it out.”

They stayed like that for a long time, just holding each other and embracing the mixture of pain and joy on their return home. Caleb wished they could stay together in their house. Still, the lack of comfortable sleeping arrangements quickly determined they would return to their room.

“Have you thought about what you want to do now?” Ashleigh asked as they slowly made their way back.

Caleb glanced at her, smiled, and shook his head.

“Not really,” he said. He reached out and took her hand, “I guess it just depends on what my wife wants to do.”

Ashleigh chuckled and sighed, looking up at the stars in the sky.

It didn’t matter if it were here, or Winter, or anywhere else in the world. The position of the stars would change, but it was still the same feeling, still the same beauty.

“I’m not really sure…” she whispered. “I remember when I was sure that my life would always be in Winter, it felt so… small.”

Caleb looked at her, listening.

“Now, I’ve seen many things, been many places… the world is wide and wonderous… and there is always more to see.”

Caleb squeezed her hand, and she looked at him.

“And now we’re free to see it all together,” he smiled.

Ashleigh smiled and nodded.

“That’s true,” she said, then added, “Of course, there are still a lot of people that want to see you, not just in Summer but all over the territories.”

Caleb took a deep breath and let out an exhausted sigh.

“I know,” he said. “We’ll need to spend some time parading around, making greetings, and proving I’m not some fae copy.”

Ashleigh laughed.

“But,” he continued, stopping and pulling her to face him. “Once we’ve finished checking off all the boxes, we’ll be free to make real decisions about what we want our future to look like.”

Ashleigh smiled, stepped closer, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I can’t wait,” she whispered before raising up on her toes to kiss him.