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“See?” She pointed at Ember, “You should listen to your girlfriend.”
“Let me think about it, alright?” I went back to eating and stopped mid-chew when my mother spoke again.
“That is a beautiful tattoo on your wrist, Ember, but who is Kadyn?”
The room became so quiet, I could hear a horn coming from the street ten floors below. I quickly tried to figure out how to change the subject, but before I could come up with something Ember spoke softly, “Kadyn was my son.”
My head whipped toward her. I knew it. She’d had a child, but…Where was he now?
“You have a son?” I saw my mother staring at me from the corner of my eye, but I kept my attention on Ember.
Ember cleared her throat, “I had a son; he died.”
“Oh, dear child, I am so sorry. Losing a child is one of the hardest things a mother can deal with.”
I couldn’t believe that Ember had just said that. Her gaze never faltered from my mother’s. Her hands were in her lap now, and she absently rubbed over the name.
“Thank you,” Ember said softly.
“I’m so sorry I asked.” My mother hesitated, “I, well, I want the best for my son, and when I saw another man’s name on your wrist, I had to be sure.”
“I appreciate your bluntness. I probably would have done the same if some strange woman was staying with my son.”
I couldn’t believe my mother had asked her about the tattoo, and I was even more shocked that Ember had answered her. If I had asked her about the name, would she have told me? I’d noticed it constantly, but never once thought to actually ask who it was. I had assumed it was some guy from her past, and, to be honest, I didn’t want to know the particulars.
Grade A asshole right here.
Ember picked up her fork, but instead of eating anything else, she pushed the food around on her plate. A few minutes later, Ember set it back down again.
“If you all will excuse me, sitting upright is really bothering me. I’m going to go lie back down.” Ember began to slip out of her chair, and I jumped up to help her. “It was a pleasure to meet you all. Enjoy the rest of your lunch.”
I began to walk away with her, and she stopped, “I’ll be fine, Colt. Stay, finish lunch. I want to go lie down.”
She didn’t give me much choice in the matter; I could only watch her leave the room.
“Thanks a lot, Mom,” I said as I sat back down.
“How was I supposed to know? I thought it was an ex-boyfriend or something, and I was going to suggest you laser it off of her.”
“Yeah, well obviously it’s not,” I retorted.
“Did you know?” She sat back in her seat. “You didn’t know either, did you?”
“No, I was aware that she’d had a child, but I didn’t know that was his name, or that he’d died.”
“How did you know one thing but not the other?” Stewart asked me sharply.
“Because when I changed her dressing on her incision, I saw the C-section scar,” I told him.
The conversation steered away from Ember after that, but she was never far from my mind. Two hours later, after they’d left, and I’d cleaned the kitchen, I went to check on her.
Ember was sound asleep, curled up on her side with her hand tucked under her chin. I stared at the ink that decorated her wrist and wondered what had happened to the child she’d had. I also stood there wondering about the father. Had he stuck around when he learned that she was pregnant, or had he taken off like a worthless prick? Did she even know the father?
I leaned against the doorframe and considered the possibilities for a while before I stepped out and closed the door softly. The reasons for her behavior were slowly becoming clear. Now if I could just get her to accept that she was worth more than she thought, maybe she would open her heart and let someone in. Maybe she’d let me in.
