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“Oh God, Mom,” I gasp as I squeeze her hand a little tighter. “You scared me then.”
“What happened?” she whispers, the weakness shining through in her tone. “Am I okay?”
“You fainted, Mom, so I called an ambulance. We’re at the hospital right now. The doctors have looked over you and you’ve put way too much stress on your body. Exhaustion, dehydration… you aren’t looking after yourself, Mom. You need to do that better.”
“I didn’t realize. I didn’t know I was feeling that bad. I thought it was a cold.”
I hug Mom as best as I can since she’s in the hospital bed, just silently vowing to myself that I will care for her more. She’s done so much looking after Wyatt, especially after Lisa passed away. Now that I’m out of the fog of sadness, it’s time for me to repay her. I have to start looking after her a lot more. That much is extremely obvious from this.
“Where’s Wyatt?” Of course, my son is the first person in her mind, because he’s her most important person. “Is he okay? Oh goodness, where is he?”
I swallow hard. I don’t want her to overreact here and freak out, but I want to be honest. “I called Zoe and she’s with him. They’re fine, you don’t need to worry.”
I don’t know if that’s true because I haven’t checked in, but the fact that Zoe hasn’t reached out to me either I’ll take as a good sign. She knows how important Wyatt is to me, and I’m sure she would reach out to me the moment she needed to.
“With Zoe?” Mom tries to push herself up into a sitting position, but she’s not quite got the strength as yet. It takes her a couple of moments, and I give her a hand even though I know she’s probably about to unleash on me. “So, things are still happening with Zoe? I wasn’t sure. You’ve been a little quiet and closed off recently. I didn’t know if something was going on.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s been a bit of a bump in the road, I’ll be honest…”
Mom’s eyes glaze over, and I can see sadness filling her. That makes me incredibly anxious because the last thing I need is to pile anything else on her. “Is that because of me?”
“No, Mom, don’t worry, it’s not because of you. It’s because of me…”
“I know I haven’t been very nice to her, Remy. I haven’t been very nice to both of you. I’ve been thinking about everything a lot over the last few days. I’ve had more time to myself so I can reflect on my behavior. I know I haven’t been great.”
A thick lump of emotion forms in the base of my throat. “It doesn’t matter…”
“No, Remy, it does.” She nods determinedly. “It’s just because you and Wyatt have been through so much in your life, and I’ve been worried about you. I worry about you both so much, and everything I said came from a place of panic. I just want the best for you both, and I immediately panicked that Zoe didn’t feel the same way. I didn’t know if she could love you and treat you right. I couldn’t see you go through another heartbreak.”
My eyes hit the floor. She’s been trying to keep me safe from more pain. But then I’m the one who brought this pain to myself. I’m the one who caused all of this.
“I appreciate you caring about me, Mom. Really, I don’t know how I can express it to you, to make you understand how much I love having you in my life and looking out for me.”
“But it’s been too much, hasn’t it?” Mom replies sadly. “I’ve been too much for you. I knew it. I could tell. I thought that’s why you were keeping away from me.”
“No, I would never keep away from you. I’ve been reflecting as well. And I just want you to know that Zoe is a good person. A great person actually, one of the best.”
“I need to give her a chance and be more open with her,” Mom nods understandingly. “Because I haven’t even given her a chance. I’ve barely even talked to her. I certainly haven’t listened. But that doesn’t mean I’ve missed everything. I do see how happy she makes you, and I’ve also noticed how much Wyatt likes her. So, if there really is happiness there…”
“There is, Mom. But I don’t know if it’ll work anyway. Even if she makes me the happiest man alive, I don’t know if it can ever work. I don’t know if the obstacles are too much.”
“Well, I’m not going to be an obstacle anymore,” Mom insists, but this isn’t enough.
“What about Freddie? We all know he isn’t going to be happy if we actually get married. It’s already causing issues in our friendship, and like you said to me, he has been there for me through thick and thin. I don’t want to lose him now.”
Mom has nothing to say here, because she knows it’s going to be problematic when it comes to Freddie, because this is his much younger sister. There’s no escaping it, it’s going to cause an argument, but if I think about my happy ever after, Zoe is in it.
“Freddie loves you,” Mom finally declares. “He will understand. It might take some time, but he will get there. Once he accepts, like I have, how happy you make one another.”
“We do make each other happy, Mom. When we’re not thinking about the external pressures.”
Now she’s the one who squeezes my hand to reassure me. The color is now burning in her cheeks, and she’s looking so much better, which just makes this a little easier. Knowing Mom will pull through this scary health moment helps.
“Life is too short to always be worrying about external pressures,” Mom reminds me. “You can’t waste your whole existence worrying about other people. If you and Zoe are good together, and you’re sure that it’s going to last for your whole life, then you need to go for it. Jump in with both feet and stop panicking about anything and everything else. If she’s right for you, then so be it. I want to be a part of your family as it grows, and I’m sure Freddie will too.”
“Yeah. You’re right, Mom. I really do appreciate that.”
“Make it right, okay? Just do whatever it takes to make things right.”
