He nods. Once. Barely there.
I squeeze his jaw and let go. I feel him watching me the entire length of the corridor.
Lumi is waiting in the common room with Tomlinson. Whatever this is, it's already been decided between them. She looks at me when I come in.
"Outside," she says.
"What's outside," I say.
"Come and see."
***
The yard isn't empty.
Stone is there — looking very familiar in his winter jacket, just another day of outdoor programming, but Kane and Kade stand a few feet away from him. And between them, a small person.
Less than four feet tall. Dark hair. A coat slightly too big for her and bright red boots. She's holding a stuffed wolf, grey and worn soft at the ears. She looks at me with the frank assessment of someone who has not yet learned to pretend she isn't looking.
"Hello," she says.
"Hello," I say.
"I'm Alexandra," she says. "I'm four and a half." Four fingers, then the thumb added with great deliberateness. "My mommy has another baby in her tummy."
I glance at Tomlinson. He shakes his head slightly.
"That's exciting," I say.
"It's going to be a baby boy," Alexandra says, with the gravity of someone managing a situation beyond her control.
Kane produces a ball and rolls it to Kade, who rolls it back. Alexandra watches this for exactly one second and then shoves the stuffed wolf at me.
"Hold Wolfie."
"Okay," I say.
She runs at the ball and immediately takes control of the game. I stand in the yard holding a worn stuffed wolf and do not look at Tomlinson again because I don't trust my face.
Lumi steps up beside me.
"Now," she says quietly. To Stone.
The gate opens.
***
RJ comes out slowly.
Familiar ground. The fenced yard. The circuit he knows. He pauses at the threshold and takes the air and the open sky and then starts moving.
Then Alexandra squeals.
Sharp. Bright. Pure delight — Kane has stolen the ball and she's chasing him with the furious determination of someone who will absolutely catch him.
RJ's head snaps up.
He goes completely still.
