"You could be," Hestia said, her voice soft. It was all she'd ever wanted. Hestia wanted to fall asleep in Bill's arms and wake up next to him in the morning. She wanted to kiss him goodbye as they left for work and plan silly weekend holidays with him and the girls. She wanted to be a family with him, through better or worse.
Sighing, Hestia pulled back and sat up on the bed, looking down at her friend. "I know it's not easy for you, but I-- I'm not--"
Fleur. She wasn't Fleur. Hestia couldn't say it though. She couldn't bring herself to mention his ex-wife. Dead wife? Merlin, it was complicated. "I don't expect you to be perfect, Bill. I don't want perfect. I want you, don't you know that by now? And I don't want you three weeks a month, I want you every week. Because I'm... I mean... we're..."
Dammit, she'd never had to do this before. Hestia was stumbling over her words, her thick accent getting thicker as her emotions started to take control. "If you don't want to be around me, fine, but I want you here. I'll always want you here. With me."