Marco took Sansa's hand leading her into the café were they were meeting her parents, it had taken her weeks to get to this point and she was still so nervous about seeing them again after what had happened.
The decision had been made to meet on neutral ground after what had happened, no one wanted to fight and Marco was sure that nothing upset Sansa during this meeting.
Catherine and Edward were sat waiting for them at a table, they both looked worried that Sansa would change her mind about coming to speak to them after everything that had happened.
"Sansa," Catherine whispered when her eyes finally landed on her daughter, she looked so different and at thirty weeks pregnant was quite large.
Marco kept hold of Sansa's hand, he had told her that if became too much for her then he would happily take her home; he didn't want to stress her out after everything that had happened.
Sitting at the table, Sansa was silent not entirely sure what she was going to say to her parents and she was glad that Marco was here with her; Finn was with his parents so that he wasn't able to see the fight that could happen.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" Sansa asked wanting answers, she would only get them from her parents since she doubted that Leila would be honest with her now after what had happened.
There was no way that Sansa would forgive her aunt for what she had done, she had never thought that Leila would betray her in this way and yet it had happened with horrible consequences.
"We wanted to protect you," Catherine said shaking her head, she had never meant for things to get so out of hand; she wished that there was some way to fix the damage that had been caused.
She hated that this was their first meeting and she knew that things would take time, Sansa was bound to be upset by what had happened.
"You were so broken and we didn't want to make it worse," Catherine whispered remembering what Sansa had been like after she had been raped by Connor; she had been so fragile and it had scared them.
Marco closed his eyes, Cathy had told him bits about what Sansa had been like after she had been assaulted and he still didn't like hearing what had happened to her.
"I could have handled it," Sansa snapped hating that her parents had lied to her, she might have been in a bad place but her parents had no right to keep her in the dark about what was going on.
Things had spiralled out of control and Sansa wasn't sure how they would ever move past all of this, she felt betrayed by the people that should have been there to look after her.
"You could barely handle what happened," Edward scoffed shaking his head, he had never thought that he would see his daughter again and he knew how fragile things were; he had come to accept that he might never truly be a part of Sansa's life.
After suffering his heart attack, Edward had come to accept that things were never going to be the same; he did want Sansa and his grandson in his life but he didn't want to fight.
Sansa was silent for a moment, her father was right but she didn't want to admit it; she wanted to prove that she wasn't fragile or breakable and she couldn't do that if her parents were going to try and do things for her.
"You could have told me," Sansa insisted knowing that it would have been better than believing that her parents were throwing her out and disowning her; she had been devastated by their actions.
It only now made sense that they hadn't disowned her only sent her away for her own protection.
Catherine and Edward were both silent, they understand what Sansa was saying but at the time it had been better to keep her in the dark; they had sent her letters to explain but Leila hadn't given them to her.
Sansa looked at Marco, she remembered the letters that he had shown her and she knew that they had tried to make amends for what had happened but it hadn't been possible with Leila in the way.
"If we could change what happened we would," Catherine whispered hating that things had worked out in this way, she wanted to be a part of Sansa's life, she wanted to spoil her grandchildren and fuss over her when she got married.
Marco was wonderful for Sansa, he always had been and Catherine was pleased to see them back together after what had happened; she just hoped that Sansa would be able to let all of this go so that they could move forward and focus on the future.
Sansa blinked back tears, she had been angry and hurt at what they had done for so long and she knew that it was time to let go of all of that; she wanted to move on with her life and that was the reason she had agreed to meet them.
Marco laced their fingers, he doubted things would go back to normal quickly after what had happened but he was hoping that they would work it all out; he had no idea what was going to be waiting around the corner for them.
The couple were expecting a baby in a few weeks' time and then they were getting married, they were even meant to be going to France for the Euros and Marco was hopeful that Germany would do well this year after winning the World Cup.
It might take time for things to return to normal but they all knew that that it would be worth it when it came down to it; they just had to be patient about what was happening.
Catherine took a deep breath, she would do anything to make up for what happened and she could only hope that Sansa would allow her back into her life.
***
"Thank you," Sansa whispered kissing Marco, the rest of the meeting might have been incredibly awkward but the first steps had been made and it was going to take time for her to open back up to her parents again.
It was odd to think that it had been five years since things had changed and Sansa had no doubts that it would take time for her to feel right discussing her life with her parents.
"What for?" Marco asked wrapping his arms around Sansa, he kissed her softly and he was glad that things were finally looking right for her; he hated the mess that she had been in and finally it all seemed to be going right.
Marco held her close, he wanted things to work out between her and her parents especially since he knew that things would have been fine if Leila hadn't lied; she had ruined things for everyone with her actions.
"For everything," Sansa replied brushing her fingers through his hair, she couldn't imagine what her life would have been like if he hadn't come back into it.
Marco had changed everything for her and she knew that he could have picked anyone, he could have children with anyone, he could marry anyone; yet for some reason he had chosen her and she still couldn't believe it sometimes.
"I would do anything for you, Finn and the baby," Marco whispered with a smile, he had the family that he had always wanted and he couldn't wait for his son to be born; he couldn't wait to hold him in his arms for the first time.
Sansa was the woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, wedding plans were going well and Marco was excited for the moment that he got to call her Sansa Reus.
They just had to wait a couple more months before they were husband and wife.
