She wiped what was left of my tears away with her thumbs. “Okay, my son. Eggs, bacon, and hash browns?”
“Yes, please.”
“Home fries or shreds?”
I thought for a minute and remembered how Nova loved home fries. “Home fries, please.”
Mom brought me forward until she could press her lips to my forehead. “Love you,” she said as she turned toward the door.
“Mom?”
She looked over her shoulder.
“What’s going to happen to us?”
My mom smiled softly and tilted her head. “Antonia will be your guardian. She’s going to take care of you and Nova.”
Deep down, I knew this, but I needed to hear it. Toni was better than foster care, but I also wondered if we would go live with our grandparents.
Now that my mom had confirmed we’d stay with Toni, I had more questions. Would I have to leave school? Would Toni move to Grove Hill? Would we stay in this house?
“Toni is going to teach you to drive as well,” Mom said. “Please listen to her.”
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. I’d wanted to learn to drive since I turned fifteen, but for some reason my mom always put it off.
“I will. Thank you for asking her.”
Mom smiled again. “It wasn’t me, Cutter. This was Toni’s idea.” She closed the door to give me the time I needed to regain my composure. When I saw Toni this morning, I would have to thank her. She didn’t have to ask my mom, but she had, and now because of her, I’d get to learn how to drive.
I took some deep breaths, fist-pumped the air, and went into the bathroom to splash some water on my face. When I opened the door, Nova was standing there in her mini Grove Hill Timberwolves jersey. It had my number and last name on the back.
She held out her hand for a high five, which I happily tapped. “Can I have a piggyback ride?”
I rolled my eyes and pretended like this was a big deal. It wasn’t. Crouching down, she hopped onto my back and locked her hands over her wrists once they were around my neck.
“Aunt Toni went and got us doughnuts.”
“It’s game day.”
“I know, dork,” she said, laughing. “Why do you think I have this jersey on?”
I shrugged. “Because I’m your awesome big brother and you want the world to know how much you love me.”
“You wish, but I do love you. Thank you for the ride.” I set her down in the hall, and she ran toward the kitchen. I followed, hearing voices.
When I entered, I took in the scene and worked to commit it to memory because I doubted I’d see this again. My mom stood at the stove, cooking. Toni moved around the small table we sat at often, setting dishes down. Nova rummaged through the bag of doughnuts from the Cozy Cup Café. And Brendan, Toni’s boyfriend, smiled when he saw me.
“Brendan!” I wasn’t sure why I was so excited to see him, but I was. He was a cool guy and fun to be around.
“What’s up, my guy?” He came over and gave me one of those strong hand-clasped bro-hug things. I had yet to master it but had tried working it out with a couple of the guys on the team.
“Are you here for my game?”
“Of course, and then I hear we’re going for a drive later.”
“No, you’re teaching him the basics,” Toni said.
Brendan rolled his eyes and mouthed, “You can drive.”
