“Good.” His gaze swings between me and my painting, and he makes a rolling gesture with his clay-streaked hands. “What are you waiting for? We must make art.Now.”
I awaken from my frozen state and set about doing as he’s asked. I uncover my paints and brushes and get started.
23
HOPPER
By the timethe sun moves from one side of the space to the other, Hopper’s nearly finished his sculpt.
He steps back, then steps up and makes a small adjustment to the corner of its mouth.
There.
It looks like his son.
“Wow.” Boone stands there, dumbfounded. “I know I just watched you do this, but I still can’t believe my own eyes.”
Hopper grins and kisses his cheek, his chest overflowing with love. The spell is broken by the slamming of the large metal door.
“Sorry,” calls out a familiar voice.
“Liam!” Hopper grabs Boone’s hand, dragging him toward the front.
Liam Hughes is model-beautiful and fashionably casual, made more handsome by the flecks of silver shot through his dark-blond hair.
His expression, lined with exhaustion and stress, kaleidoscopes between gentle smiles for his husband and lip-bitten emotion when he sees Boone for the first time. He workshis jaw and his Adam’s apple bobs. His eyes shift between the two of them.
Boone and Hopper do the mirroring thing they’ve been unconsciously doing all day. Boone rubs his chest with his right hand, and Hopper rubs his chest with his left.
Liam processes the two of them in the same space.
“I…” He can’t seem to find the words.
Hopper sniffs, and Liam goes to him. They wrap themselves in a hug. Whispered words of love devolve into quiet sobs. Weeping fills the cavernous space.
Boone rocks side to side, anxiety marking his features, and Hopper notices.
“You’ve given us back something we thought we lost forever.”
Boone nods, silent. A tear spills down his cheek. Then another as he watches Hopper and Liam lean against each other.
“I don’t know where to land with any of this,” Boone says, wiping his tears. “I’m just glad I get to be here.”
Hopper and Liam begin to settle, then step away from each other, each taking a deep, cleansing breath. Liam approaches Boone.
“Sorry, I’m not usually this dramatic. It’s just…emotional,” he says, a warble in his normally steady voice, “to see the face of my husband on another person. You’re your own person, of course,” he quickly adds. “But the fact that you exist is a miracle. Amiracle.”
Boone grabs both of Liam’s hands with his.
“We met briefly at the camp, but I am so grateful to meet you again. As myself.”
Liam nods, joy and grief playing out across his features. After a moment, “Can I hug you?”
Boone grins, his face lighting up. “I love hugs.”
Rather than wait, Boone pulls Liam in for a hug, and Liam…crumples. He pushes his face into Boone’s shoulder and weeps.
Hopper wasn’t sure how his husband would react. The son who died was Liam’s, genetically. Watching Boone comfort his husband nearly makes his heart explode.
