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I went to the door, poking my head out.
Win and Wes were sitting just outside the room, and both looked up when my head appeared.
“Ted.”
The lawyer I hadn’t even noticed earlier was there, and he hurried into the room.
Win frowned, and I gave him a look that promised I’d explain later.
Ted cleared his throat. “You’ve talked to him?”
Mom made a sound like she was saving her voice only for us boys.
Ted glanced around at me. “And you’ve agreed? It’s quite a lot for an eighteen—”
I cut him off. “Where do I sign?”
He took the papers, flipping through them, and pointed. I scrawled my name. We repeated it on several pages until he looked up and cleared his throat. “That will do it.”
“You’re certain?” Mom whispered. She looked so tired.
“Positive. It’s legal. All in order. I made sure.”
“Thank you, Ted. I couldn’t leave this earth until I knew they would be together.”
Ted nodded, shifting awkwardly. After a moment of tense silence, he slipped the papers into the envelope and pulled a card out of his jacket and extended it to me. “I’m your legal counsel now. At least for the next three years. You call me anytime. Anytime at all.”
I nodded.
The lawyer turned back to Mom, faltering as though he didn’t know what to say.
“Thank you, Ted. This is a gift I will never be able to repay.”
He cleared his throat. “Yes. Well. It’s been my greatest pleasure knowing you.”
And then he was gone.
“I want to see all my boys together.”
I raced to the door, motioning for Win and Wes.
She didn’t mention the legal papers I’d just signed. How, technically, now I was Wes’s legal guardian. When I glanced at her, she just shook her head slightly and smiled.
Wes climbed into the bed, burying his floppy curls against her shoulder and hugging her tight. More tears spilled down her cheeks and, yeah, maybe mine too.
Win moved in and laid his cheek against her stomach, both boys taking up the entire mattress. I stood apart, staring at them. Marveling once again at their easy affection.
I’d never known affection until them.
“Max.” Mom beckoned, lifting her hand from Win’s head to call me over.
A sob broke in my chest like a hard wave crashing against the shoreline. My legs wobbled as I went, and even though there was no room, even though I was the biggest, I still managed to fit on that mattress with the three of them.
We stayed like that until Mom took in her very last breath.
My lungs shuddered under the shaky exhale, and though my eyes were closed, my wet lashes felt heavy. A memory? A dream? A replica of the past.
My brain conjuring up that little blast from the past wasn’t a surprise considering how I’d spent my night. Surprise or no, it hung like the thickest humidity in the hottest part of summer, clinging to my mind, refusing to recede even just a little and give me room to breathe.
