“I was not expecting you two to be standing right here. But now that you are…” Michelle stepped out onto the landing and pulled Grace into a hug before turning her attention to me.
In more of an apology than a greeting, I lowered my head and said, “Hey, Mrs. M.”
“Get over here.”
Taking me by total surprise, Michelle dragged me forward and wrapped me in her embrace. Any worries I’d had walking up the stairs were instantly eased when Michelle let go of her emotions and cried on my shoulder. Those were not the reactions of a woman who hated.
“Oh my god,” Grace said by our side. “I’m going to cry.”
Michelle broke the hug and placed a hand on my cheek. Her eyes were flooded with tears.
“Finally,” she said. “You found your way home.”
Her arms wrapped around me again, and this time, I tucked my head into her neck. The relief. The gratitude. I didn’t hold back, releasing the pain I’d been holding on to for so long. I didn’t think Michelle realized how much her support and friendship had meant to me as a young musician. She’d seen something special in me when no one else had, and then she’d backed it up with guidance and patience and love. She was the mother I’d never had, and when I walked away that day, I didn’t just lose Grace, I lost my mother and my father and my brothers and sisters. It was such a lonely life after them. They were the reason I couldn’t live another minute as Rory Robinson. Because even the perfect fake family could not live up to the real thing.
Coming up from below, Grace wedged herself into our embrace, kissing her mom’s face and then mine in the seconds before the door blew open and the next surprised member of the family stumbled out.
Keith froze upon seeing our team huddle. “What’s happening here?”
“Rory’s home,” Michelle said, wiping her tears away while tucking her shirt back in place.
He smacked my shoulder with the back of his hand. “About time.”
“Where are you going?” Michelle asked.
“Gotta go to the store. Your husband is making burgers but forgot the buns. He then suggested we wrap them in lettuce as if we were some sort of herbivores. I’m sorry, but if you people want me to come over for free food, you’ve got to do better.”
“I’ll have a talk with management,” she agreed.
Keith jogged down the stairs. “Oh, and Rory? Tell the guys to wait until I get back to start the beating. And if it’s not too much, ask them to save a bat for me too.”
Michelle rolled her eyes, pushing me through the front door. “Don’t listen to him. He’s kidding. Come on in. Your biggest fan is waiting. Now, I’m not going to say Scott is excited to see you, but he did cut the seal off an adult Lego set that he’s been saving for a special occasion.”
“Nooo,” I laughed. “I still have nightmares about the Millennium Falcon.”
“I heard that,” Scott yelled from down the hall. “Come on. I have a stool ready for you. Don’t be afraid.”
The final bits of stress I’d been holding on to evaporated. Why had I ever doubted this family? They’d welcomed me in as one of their own once, and from everything I knew of them, they didn’t abandon one another. No matter how bad things got, no matter what mistakes its individual members made, they stuck together and showed each other grace. Maybe this wasn’t unique to them. Maybe this was how all loving families operated. They fought and fumed, but at the end of the day, they came back together and always forgave. My whole life, I’d thought my ultimate dream was to be on stage, banging it out on a drum kit of my very own, but now I knew better. Nothing beat this feeling of being part of something bigger than myself. Of being loved just for being me.
I rounded the corner where the rest of my family was gathered, and they reached out and pulled me into their huddle.
37
GRACE: LITTLE BOY LOST
We stepped out of the Uber in front of the hotel, and a doorman rushed to grab our bags.
Whispering into Rory’s ear, I teased, “Is this a motel or a hotel?”
I knew the difference now, having googled it years ago after he’d corrected me, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Now, my rich little friend,thisis a hotel.”
I grabbed his arm and gasped. “Rory!”
He followed my eyes, his widening at the same time as mine. Music from down the street had caught our attention.
“Can you hold our bags?” he asked the doorman. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
