"I do," I smile with a nod, my eyes welling up. "I'm feeling better. I'm getting better."
"I'm happy you're feeling better."
God, you are your Mama's child.
But you're also mine, too.
"Me too, buddy."
"I missed you," Noah says, a small smile on his face. "Mama missed you too... so does Liam."
I blink in surprise. "He told you that?"
"No, but I know," he shrugs, and I believe him.
Liam and Noah have always been close, with Liam watchingover his little brother. I still remember how thrilled he was when we learned Noah was a boy, begging to name him after a dinosaur and his favorite cartoon.
It always comforted me, seeing my sons share the bond I had with Silas, who was my protector… until I became his.
The memory curdles in my stomach.
"Do you want to see my comic book?" Noah asks me, pulling me out of my depressing thoughts.
I smile, "I would love to."
Noah pulls his sketchbook out of his bag, takes a colorful sheet of paper from it, and hands it over to me. My chest warms when I see it—Super-Mom.
It's an explosion of color, every single hue vibrant and vivid. Wendy's drawn as a superhero, in full regalia, hovering over the ground. Her red hair is blowing in the wind, a vibrant ginger flame against a blue sky, and Noah's captured the smile that makes me melt perfectly.
Noah and his brother are even featured in the background, looking up at their flying mother in awe.
"Ms. Piper said I should give it to Mama as a gift. Do you like it?"
"I love it, buddy. I think..." My voice cracks before I clear it. "I think it's perfect."
Noah smiles shyly and shrugs.
"Is this how you see your Mama?"
Noah nods.
My smile widens.
"This is how I see her, too."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Atlas
"I'm gonna start a fire."
Liam's lying on his bed, tossing a basketball up in the air and catching it. Over and over. He catches the basketball and glances over at me standing in the doorway.
"Want to help?"
He pauses, looking conflicted, before he nods. "Yeah."
The early afternoon sun has already set, but my dad's got hanging string lights outside that allow us to see. My parents' backyard is huge, especially since my dad also bought the plot behind when we moved in.
