Funny, the way Jim's words hit him. Chris hadn't been expecting that, and steeled himself against it as best he could.

"It's enough, Jim," he said, keeping his eyes steadily on Jim's tired, marked face through the unwanted memories his brain was insisting on calling up. "If that's what you can do, then that's enough. More than enough."

He didn't want to think about holding bright giggling Sam as a baby, or pressing palm and lips to the swelling bulge of Winona's belly that would one day be James Tiberius, a child he would never know, through his own faults. Those times were gone and they were never coming back - there was too much water under the bridge, too many mistakes made.

Chris nodded and didn't bother forcing a smile. "Thanks for - hearing me out, I guess."