My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus)

[The Evans Family]

Maximus had resigned himself to the fact that his children were slowly leaving home. Maybe Paul wouldn't come back, but Maurice-he was still a kid and trying to process everything that had happened with Lucius and Amanda. Time away was good to distract him.

Knowing that Lucius preferred to live with the Moriarty family broke Maximus's heart. He was his father-they were his family-but Lucius chose that serious, grumpy man instead. Maximus couldn't understand how Moriarty had become so important in his son's life.

Angela was different. She was a good woman, and honestly, she had probably acted more like a parent than the real ones ever did. But Moriarty? How had he managed it? How did he make Lucius feel more comfortable with him than with his own family?

Maximus regretted all the time he'd been absent. He mourned the lost years with his eldest son because now, in Lucius's most vulnerable moment, he'd chosen another family over them.

With Paul and Maurice in Paris and Lucius heading to Hesperia, only Laura, Adele, and Adrian were left. They had postponed their wedding because Laura chose to wait, out of respect for Amanda's memory and for her brother, who was now mourning and handling the weight of being a single parent.

She couldn't begin to imagine how deep her brother's pain was, but she knew she couldn't go around saying, "I'm happy," while watching him pick up the pieces of what once was.

Adrian understood and didn't pressure her to make their relationship official.

One big step they did take was Laura deciding that they should move in together. Eventually, when things were better, they could think about the dream wedding she once envisioned. For now, the best thing was to live together and grow as a couple day by day.

Laura had talked to Maximus and explained it to him. He understood and agreed, knowing what surrounded that decision. He knew how close Laura and Lucius were, and whether he liked it or not, she was standing by her brother.

She decided to move into the house where Maximus had spent his childhood, where he had lived with Mary, and where he once lived with the kids-before Leonardo took it from them and later returned it before dying.

Maximus looked around Magnus' huge house. Now it was just Diana, Vincent, and him, since Magnus and Matthew had decided to spend some time in the Emirates.noveldrama

Peter needed someone to watch over that investment, and those two business lovers were happy to do it. They hadn't said when-or if-they were coming back. All anyone knew was that they were now the eyes and ears of Peter and Theodore's major acquisition.

Maximus scanned the house, hearing only the dead silence of its hallways-until his son's cry made him get up and check on him.

"Is he awake?" Maximus asked softly.

"Yes, he's hungry..." Diana said as she walked toward the rocking chair with the baby in her arms. "How are you?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Fine..." Maximus replied, trying to mask his feelings.

"That didn't sound like a real 'fine'..." Diana said, watching him struggle with emotions that pierced his soul.

"Hmm..... Lucius left today..." he said, as if the words hurt to say out loud.

"So, he did leave?" Diana asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. Laura was my last hope... But Lucius is as stubborn as his mother was, and nothing made him change his mind," Maximus said, trying to hold back the tears. fo

"Well... All you can do now is support him from where you are, right?"

"Yes! But you don't know how hard it is to watch my children leave, and I can't do anything. I only had them all together for less than a year.

"Don't take it the wrong way, but with them all scattered, it feels like my family's

been broken again," he said, finally letting the tears fall.

"You had them together, and that was worth it. They're grown now-well, not Maurice, but even he wanted to support Paul through a tough time. Don't you think that means something?