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'Gil. We didn't miss our window. I slammed it shut.' 'You were right to. I met Jackie. Had a whole life. We moved on, Jess. No regrets.' 'I have regrets. I do. I told you we were from different worlds.' 'We are.' 'But that's not why I ended things. I was scared. You were the one good thing in my son's life. I let you believe... that you weren't good enough for me... because it was... easier than admitting... that I could never be good enough for you.' 'You're good enough, Jess. You have always been good enough.'
Jessica laid in her bed staring at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts. Jessica was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Gil groaning as he woke beside her.
"Good morning," Jessica said to Gil with a smile as she rolled onto her side to look at him, "Sleep well?"
"Good morning to you too," Gil smiled at Jessica as he brushed her hair behind her ear, "I did sleep well, thank you for asking. Did you sleep well?"
Jessica nodded as she moved closer to Gil as he wrapped his arms around her. The two of them laying in bed with their arms around each other, enjoying each other's company.
"Mom?" The sound of Malcolm calling out for his mother as he entered the home had Jessica quickly getting up out of bed.
"I almost forgot about breakfast with Malcolm and Ainsley." She said as she quickly made her way into her closet to get dressed.
"Shall I wait for you to be ready or do you want me to head to the dining room already?" Gil asked as he grabbed his clothes and got dressed.
"I'm almost ready, I would prefer it if my children didn't play twenty questions with you while waiting for me," Jessica said as she brushed her hair and pinned it up before walking out of her walk-in closet, joining Gil in her bedroom.
Gil smiled as he took in the view of Jessica in one of her many gorgeous dresses before they headed to the dining room to join her children.
"Oh what, no turtleneck mom?" Ainsley said to her mother as Jessica and Gil sat down at the table, Jessica glaring at her daughter as Malcolm stifled back a chuckle.
"Gil, I apologize for any comments my children may decide to make during breakfast this morning. I thought I raised them better but after their teens, it seems to be difficult to control them." Jessica said sweetly to Gil who chuckled and smiled at Jessica.
"It's alright Jess, your kids are just happy to see that you're happy," Gil said as he ruffled Malcolm's hair causing him to squirm like when he was a kid.
After Gil and Jessica had breakfast with her kids, they spent the morning together in each other's company.
"You know Gil, I often wonder how different our lives would have been if we hadn't moved on," Jessica said to Gil as they sat in the living room together drink coffee.
"Well for one, I doubt I would feel like a broken record constantly telling your son to call for backup because he would probably do that on his own out of habit," Gil said and Jessica laughed at Gil's comment.
Gil smiled as the sound of Jessica's laughter filled the room, he enjoyed the sound of her laughing. He felt like he hadn't heard it in years.
Jessica stopped laughing and suddenly sighed, "Things could have been so different if I hadn't..." She started to say before she stopped when Gil gently placed his hand on her cheek.
"Things could have been different Jess, but if they were then we wouldn't be where we are today," He said as he took her hands in his, "If things were different then Malcolm wouldn't be the amazing profiler that he is, and Ainsley wouldn't be the amazing reporter that she is."
Jessica nodded as she thought about how true Gil's words were. Even if deep down she wished her children weren't in the careers that they were, she knew that they were both really good at what they do.
"Well enough about my children, I would rather talk about us," Jessica said with a smile as she sat closer to Gil, resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.
Gil smiled as Jessica relaxed against him, he loved that Jessica was able to be relaxed around him and that he was able to be relaxed around her.
"So what about us would you like to talk about?" He asked as he kissed the top of her head.
Jessica thought for a moment as she took Gil's hand in hers, "Well, we've been together for a while now, but we haven't made anything official. Should we make it official?" She asked as she looked up at Gil.
"If you think we're ready to make our relationship official, then I would love to make it official," Gil said as he placed a soft kiss on her lips.
Jessica kissed Gil back, smiling into the kiss. Gil and Jessica had kissed before, but the fact that this was their first kiss after agreeing to make their relationship official, made this kiss that they shared feel different and special.
Jessica continued to smile as she and Gil pulled out of their kiss, "I love you, Gil Arroyo." She said as she looked into his eyes.
"I love you too Jessica Whitly," Gil said as he smiled back at her.
Jessica couldn't remember the last time she told someone she loved them, other than her children of course, but she was glad that the person she was knowing sharing I love yous with was the man that she had grown to love over the years of knowing him and of him helping her to raise her children.
~ End ~