“Why didn’t you tell me right away?”
“I didn’t want to worry you. He didn’t want me to.”
I nod, pulling her closer to me.
“It’s all happening so quickly, Ian. I’m not ready to lose him.”
“I’m not ready either,” I say into her hair.
“We still have so much to do together.”
“I know,” I agree, defeatedly.
Mum sighs before pulling away from me, attempting to compose herself. I dry her tears with my thumbs and give her my best forced smile.
“Let’s go inside. Your father is waiting,” she says as she slowly walks back to the front door.
“Mum?” I ask before she reaches the house. “Do you think we should call…”
“I don’t know how long we’ll have his full attention for,” she says calmly. She’s always calm. “But what I don’t want is for them to come here and then start doing what they always do. So, let’s wait a little while longer. If things get worse, we’ll talk about it then.”
She heads in, while I stay outside a few more minutes, breathing slowly, attempting to calm the storm of emotion battering against me. And it’s something that I need to address right away, because I won’t be able to do this on my own. I’m not strong enough.
Without overthinking it, I grab my phone from my pocket. Three rings later, a sleepy voice answers.
“Ian?”
“Were you asleep?” I ask, looking at my watch.
“No, I was watching a film on the sofa. I’m just chilling.”
“You have to come back.”
“What?”
“It’s time for you to come home.”
“What the hell…?”
“It’s getting worse, Ryan.”
“How much worse?” he asks in a whisper.
“Find a flight.”
