His eyes bulge. “A wedding ring?”
I nod. “Polygamy ain’t legal in the great state of Arkansas, but I don’t really give a fuck. One of these days, Ezzy, I’m going to marry you. We both are. You’re it for me. From here on out.”
“Me too,” Johnny agrees. “We’ll be happy, Ez. I promise.”
Ezra looks up at his mother and blinks back his tears. “What do the spirits have to say on the matter?”
She fades, her glowing gold light dimming softer and softer. “You have my blessing.” A smile quirks in the corner of her mouth. “I’ve been leading you in this direction for months. I’m just glad you finally got on board.” She kisses Ezra one final time. “I love you. I’ll always love you.” She closes her eyes, and her hands are shaking. “I’m scared.”
“You don’t have to be,” Ezra tells her.
“I don’t know what’s waiting for me on the other side.”
He lifts her hand and presses a kiss to her palm. “Wherever you end up will be good, because you were the only good thing in my life for so very long.” He stares defiantly at the sky, like he's glaring at God himself. “I'm warning you. If you don't put my momma somewhere nice, you're getting an eternity of facial balloons. Do not test me. You put her in the good place."
“I love you, baby. Be happy.”
“I love you, Momma,” he says, voice cracking. “Forever.”
And then, as if she was never here at all, she’s gone, and we’re the only ones in the room.
Ezra curls against my chest and cries, and I hold him through it. Johnny’s right beside me, holding onto Ezzy for dear life. I kiss his forehead, and Johnny kisses up and down his cheek. It goes on for ages, us reassuring our boy that he’s safe. That he’ll never be alone again.
When it’s done and he’s all tuckered out, he looks up at us with puffy eyes and wet cheeks. “Did you mean what you said about proposing?”
“I did,” I answer honestly. “I want that.”
“When?” he asks.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
He swallows down a lump. “I’m not ready yet, but I want to be yours forever, Daddy.” He turns his attention to Johnny. “Did you meant it too? Because I want you forever, too, Johnny.” He wipes more tears from his eyes. “Please? I want you to mean it.”
Johnny wipes a tear of his own. “I mean it, too, Little Dick.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do for work,” he admits. “My link to the spirit world is gone. My psychic sight is no longer functional. “I don’t know who I am without it. Without her.”
“We’ll help you find out together,” I promise. “Whoever you want to be—whoever you're meant to be—we'll figure it out together.”
I smile down at both of them, and I suddenly realize just how right Faulkner was. When you take the good and take the bad, you truly have the facts of life, and these are the facts of mine: I love Johnny Boyd and Ezra Edwards with all my heart, and no matter what comes our way, we’ll make it through. I don't need a psychic to know that much is true.
