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I launched myself across the bed and gathered him up in my arms.
He grasped onto the back of my shirt and fisted the material tightly in his hands while his body shook with the force of his repressed sobs.
“Okay, my darling.” I rocked him. “Okay, my honey.” If she was in front of me in that instant, I believe I would have killed her. I knew the years ahead of him would be difficult. His ability to trust dampened, relationships strained. Especially with women. “You’ve got every right to cry. She hurt you. You didn’t deserve it, darling. Do you hear me? You never deserved it.”
After several minutes, he broke away from me. Lifting the edge of his shirt, he exposed his baby six pack and wiped his face. “Can I stay with you for a bit?”
“Yes, of course.”
I crossed to my reading chair, grabbed the fleece blanket from the back, and threw it over him before getting back into bed.
He lay down. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything. If I can’t answer you, I’ll tell you.”
“Your mom and dad…”
“Ah, yes. What would you like to know? I’m an open book.”
“How…”
I waited, but there were no more words forthcoming. “How did I cope?”
“Yes,” he choked out.
I turned on my side to face him and reached for his hand and held it tightly. “Fortunately, I met some people who fell in love with me.” I paused, wondering how much to tell him. “It never filled the hole left by my parents, but it taught me that I was loveable. The failure to love me belonged to them, not me.”
“Am I loveable?” His little Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat.
“What do you think?” I whispered.
He nodded, then hiccoughed. “I am.”
“Indeed,” I whispered. “We all love you. So much. Your dad, Ruby, Amber, Gus, Jace, Alex, Yiayia, and me. Your stepdad loves you. Your sisters love you. We can’t all be wrong.”
“I’m just going to stay here for a little while then I’ll go to bed, okay?”
“That’s fine, my darling.”
I did my best to stay awake.
I failed.
When I woke up a few hours later, George’s fleece blanket was tucked around me, and George was gone.
Chapter Thirty-Two – Nobody’s Talking
Minty
Vander knocked on my door first thing in the morning so he and George could go pick up coffee and donuts for all of us. Vandertold him he wouldn’t keep him from his sisters but couldn’t allow his mom to be abusive. He assured him of his love and asked him if he wanted to hang out with him for the day or stay with me and the boys.
George decided to stay. Last night’s crises called for an all-day affair: the mall, dinner, and the movies. But first, Spuds for lunch. And an excuse for George to touch base with his dad one more time.
“She beat us, Mom!” Jace nodded emphatically, brandishing a potato wedge to make his point as he regaled them with the tale of my prowess on the racetrack the night before. “She was awesome!”
“I think it’s from riding the motorbike,” Alex commented.
“She doesn’t drive the bike, Mr. Triggs does,” George added.
