Page 326 of Wicked Brutal

Katya looks at her for a long moment. “You do not have to know that tonight.”

“But when he wakes up—“

“Tomorrow will come tomorrow.” Her voice stays soft. Steady. “Tonight, you are here. He is here. Both of you are safe.”

Ally looks at Tobias. “I promised I’d come back.”

“And you did.”

“I promised all three.” Nobody speaks. Becca tightens her arms around her. Ally’s eyes land on the leprechaun trap again. “You made this for him?”

Dad is still in the doorway. “For My Toby.”

“You didn’t know if he could come. You didn’t know if Arthur could get him out. You didn’t know if Dad would ever let him live here.”

“No.”

“You could’ve made all of this and he might never have slept in here.”

Mom steps beside Dad. “Then it would have waited for him.”

Ally breaks all over again. Becca holds her. I keep my hand over our baby.

Ally cries until she doesn’t have anything left for that moment. Then Katya touches her knee. “Go rest.”

“I don’t want to leave him.”

“You aren’t leaving him. I am here.”

Theodore squeezes Katya’s hand. “So am I.”

Danny’s still holding Tobias’s hand, his voice rough with sleep. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Becca kisses Ally’s temple. “Neither am I.”

Ally looks at all of them. Then Tobias. Finally, she nods. She leans forward carefully and kisses his hair. “I love you, bug.”

His fingers twitch around Danny’s. She touches his cheek, then lets me help her up.

Mom stops us before we go farther. “Your room.”

“The guest house?” Ally asks, looking at me.

“No,” Mom says immediately. “You’re done for tonight. Everything else waits until tomorrow.”

“My things—“

“Tomorrow.”

“Tobias—“

“Has everything he needs tonight.”

Ally looks between them, then toward the room behind us. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Nothing,” Mom says. “Tonight, you do nothing.” She takes Ally’s hand. “Come on.”

We walk farther down the hall. Mom passes the next door. Then stops. Opens it. The room between Tobias’s and mine. The light comes on. It’s almost empty. No guest bed. No dresser. Paint samples lean against one wall. A measuring tape sits on the windowsill. Catalogs are stacked on the floor. Ally stares. Cribs. Dressers. Rocking chairs.