The twins came running over, attaching themselves to Clara’s legs.Leon then threw his arms in the air.
“Up, up!”he repeated.
Clara stooped down to give him a hug.“Grandma can’t pick you up yet, but I am so happy to see you.”
Annie turned around, facing Miles.Her eyes were red.
His heart sunk.Something was wrong.
“Are you okay?”Miles asked in a low voice.
She gave a quick nod and brushed a finger under her eye.“Leon hasn’t said a word since Mom went to the hospital.The speech therapist said he might have just missed her and…” Her voice trailed off.
A speech therapist.Miles hadn’t realized Leon was having issues, or that he’d stopped speaking altogether.Come to think of it, Noel seemed to do most of the talking, but that had to be normal, right?
Annie took a deep breath and dabbed at her eye.Miles’ throat tightened and, without thinking, put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
“She’s home now,” he said.“From here on, everyone can move forward.”
He wasn’t sure exactly how to comfort her, but it seemed to do the trick.Annie flashed a smile, nodded again, and turned to walk in the house.
He followed, hiding behind Annie and Clara.
“Welcome home!”Bella said.“We’ve been having a great time.First, we put on some music and had a dance party.Leon has some great moves.Then, Noel and I played pretend kitchen while Leon knocked over some towers I’d built for him.”
Annie beamed.“That is wonderful.”
Miles cleared his throat.“Maintenance.Just here for repairs.”
Despite herself, Bella smiled when she saw him.“Dad!I told you I had it under control.”
“I know.It wasn’t my idea to come here.Annie invited me to dinner.”
“It’s true,” Annie said.“I saw him out on the road, wandering around and looking lost.”
Bella shook her head.“He tends to do that.”
Annie led her mom through the house, showing her the improvements Miles had made.The excited “oohs” and “ahhs” made him feel bad.
He had hardly done anything, but they were acting like he had built a new house for them.It was a shame he couldn’t build a new house for them; they sorely needed more space.
Clara returned to the living room and lowered herself onto the couch.“Miles, would you mind opening a window?It’s stuffy in here.”
Miles obliged, turning to pry open a large window by the couch.It resisted his efforts.
“Does this always stick like this?”he asked.
Annie appeared at his side, throwing an elbow into the frame.It popped open.
“I think something’s broken,” she said with a shrug.
Miles frowned.“I could fix it.”
She peered up at him with those calm blue grey eyes.“That’s very kind, but I think you’ve done enough.”
“I like having things to fix.”He cleared his throat.“I noticed your showerhead was also hanging down.I could replace it.While I’m in there, I can fix the bathroom vent.It doesn’t seem like it’s connected to the outside.”
Clara sighed.“There are a lot of little things I haven’t been able to fix over the years.”
