She hugs me, brief but warm, the kind of hug that says I see you and you're safe here.
Maya's next, wrapping her arms around me with less restraint. "Thank you for earlier. For being honest."
"Anytime," I promise. "I mean it. You can text me. Ask me anything."
"Even omega stuff the adults won't tell me?"
"Especially that."
Thomas shakes hands with each of us, pressing the wrapped books into my arms with gentle insistence. "Come back anytime. You're all welcome here."
Tyler's the last to say goodbye, holding his mother a beat longer than necessary. When he pulls back, his eyes are bright.
"I'm proud of you," Catherine says quietly. "Of all of this. Of who you're becoming."
The drive back to Elderwood is quiet at first, all of us processing.
"Your family is wonderful," I say finally.
Tyler twists to look at me, smiling. "They loved you. I knew they would."
"Your mother is wise," Julian adds. "The things she said about care versus control, it aligned perfectly with hospice philosophy."
"She's seen a lot," Tyler says. "People at the end of their lives. It teaches you what matters."
Calder's eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. "You okay?"
"More than okay." I lean my head against the window, watching darkness settle over the countryside. "That was... exactly what I needed without knowing I needed it."
Julian's hand finds mine again. "One family down. Two to go."
"Nervous?" I ask.
"Terrified," he admits. "But not for the reasons you think."
"Why then?"
"I know they'll love you. I'm just afraid of what they'll tell you about me."
Tyler laughs. "Too late to hide your embarrassing childhood now, Cross."
"I was a deeply serious child. There's nothing embarrassing about?—"
"Pen will destroy that illusion in approximately five minutes."
"Pen will try. I have countermeasures."
I squeeze his hand. "I'm sure you were adorable."
"I was focused."
"Adorably focused," Calder adds from the front.
Even Julian laughs at that.
Wednesday evening, Lila appears at my door with takeout containers and a determinedexpression.
"Girl's night. You, me, too much food, and you’re telling me everything about meeting Tyler's family."
