"No," Luke agrees and he sighs softly, but doesn't argue it any further. The truth is that he doesn't know what Maryse was thinking or why she'd done any of the things she'd done. He only knows what it feels like to be a parent, even to a child who's come into your life later. He knows there are complicated reasons for nearly everything a parent does, that all of them are born of love, even if it might not seem that way to begin with. He can't defend her actions, not when he agrees with Alec that, on the surface, they seemed harsh and inappropriate, but he knows he can't for reasons beyond the fact that he's not privy to her thoughts. It's impossible to explain the love of a parent to anyone else, especially someone as young as Alec.

In time, Luke is sure he'll understand, but that sort of understanding comes with age and time.

"There's much that shouldn't have happened," he agrees. "Far too much. Too many people were lied to and too many people didn't think their actions through, myself included." But there's nothing to be done that can take them back. They can only go forward and live with what's happened.