AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Can’t you invent something?” He looks beseechingly at me. “Something that’ll make her feel better?”
“I’m sorry, Rowan.”
His bottom lip trembles and his eyes get red, but he doesn’t cry.
I place a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I’ll do everything in my power to be there for you, okay? And about Alexa,” I clear my throat, “I’ll use every cent in my bank account to make sure she’s comfortable. Money can’t buy health, but it can at least make a few of her dreams come true.”
Rowan bobs his head.
“Did you know,” I say gently, “that your grandparents were married for forty years?”
His eyes widen.
“After my mom passed,” I smile sadly, “my dad died a few weeks later of heartbreak.”
Rowan frowns. “Why did his heart break?”
“Because he loved her so much that, when she was gone, his heart stopped working.” I clear my throat. “But that’s not the lesson, Rowan. The lesson is what he told me before he died.”
“What did he tell you?” Rowan is leaning forward, soaking in every word.
“He told me that he’d spent his life loving my mom as if she’d die tomorrow. He poured one hundred percent of his effort, time and attention on her so that the day she died, he wouldn’t have any regrets.”
“But his heart still broke,” Rowan reminds me.
“It did,” I agree. “But at least it didn’t break from regret.”
He nibbles his bottom lip. “How can I do that for mom?”
“You can start by making a list of things your mom always said she wanted. We’ll go over it and start scratching them off until we have no regrets.”
That earns me a tiny smile.
Bingo.
I go back to working.
Rowan’s pencil skates against the sketch paper. It’s all I hear… until he starts to sniff. My eyes jump back to my son. He’s got his head down and is trying valiantly to keep himself together.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I got something in my eye.”
“Sounds like you’re crying, bud.”
“I’m not crying. Crying is for babies and losers.”
Where did he learn that macho routine?I turn him to face me. “Rowan, crying is for anyone who feels pain. If you’re in pain, it’s gotta come out somehow. Some people let it out by being jerks and hurting other people. But if you can let it out with some tears and then get up and make things better, that’s the best option.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Rowan pulls his lips into his mouth. His eyelashes start fluttering. The tears slip down one after another.
I have no idea what to say, so I just grab him for a bear hug. “It’s gonna be okay, son.” I give him a squeeze. “You’re gonna be okay.”
That’s my promise to him.
