“I’m gonna give you some privacy,” I whisper.
He shakes his head. “Don’t leave me.”
If he wants me to stay, I’ll stay. It’s a no-brainer. I nod, holding him a little tighter.
“I’ve missed you so much, Theo. Where are you?”
Theo looks at me, so I nod. “I’m in a tiny town called Silverpine with Hunter. He’s my boyfriend.”
Another sigh of relief. “No more Damien?”
“No, Momma. I divorced him. Years ago. But now he’s dead. You were…” Theo’s voice gets choked. “You were right about him. I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you.”
“I want to see you. Can I see you?”
Theo’s about to break down; I can tell, so I nuzzle his cheek, trying to remind him I’m here and he can do this.
“Yes,” he whispers. “Please. You and Dad both?”
He holds his breath.
“When? We’ll leave tonight as soon as he gets home.”
He exhales, his eyes falling shut. “Can Hunter text you the address?”
“Of course,” his mom says. “We just want to see you. We’ve wanted to see you for twelve years.”
He’s wanted that too. And I don’t think he fully realized how much until this very moment.
“Okay,” he whispers. He’s getting closer to the edge, his breathing growing more ragged, and his eyes shining with unshed tears. “I… I have to go for now,” he chokes out, trying to keep himself together. “But Hunter will… He’ll—” A hiccuping sob leaves Theo, and he clamps his mouth shut.
“I’ll text you the address and get everything ready for you,” I interject. “Just let us know when you think you’ll be here.”
She’s crying too now. Or at least it sounds like it. Her soft sniffles are carrying over the line, and when she speaks again, her voice is as thick and choked as Theo’s. “I’ll call your dad now, and he’ll leave work early. We’ll leave as soon as he gets home. I—I need to pack.” She inhales a shaky breath. “Thank God you’re alive. Thank God.”
My stomach twists at the thought that he almost wasn’t. Not even because of Damien, but because of his own mind. This could have easily been a different phone call.
“Bye, Mom,” he whispers, voice shaking. “I love you.”
“Bye, baby. I love you too. More than anything in this world,” she says, sounding just as emotional as him.
When I hang up the phone, I immediately send her a text with our address. The second the text is sent, Theo turns in my hold, pressing his face against my throat as he sobs brokenly into my skin.
His tears are dripping into the collar of my shirt. Each sniffle and whimper that leaves him has my heart cracking wide open. I rub his back, rocking him gently in my arms. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re okay.”
“I was… a-already having a bad day a-and… and,” he cries, his back heaving under my palm.
“Shhh, sweetheart,” I whisper, cradling him to me. “It’s all gonna be okay.”
I can’t quite tell if these are painful sobs or healing sobs, but it doesn’t matter. Either way, I’m gonna do everything I can to be exactly what he needs.
“I was scared…” He sniffles hard, shuddering in my arms as he starts to calm down. “I woke up feeling so icky.”
I could tell. I’ve been worried about it, abouthim,all day.
“And then, I just kept looking at that photo album and thinking about my parents. But also about you and Luca and Arlo and how I have friends now and people who care about me. I can’t remember the last time I had people care about me. But that’s not true because it was them.”
He inhales a deep breath, his body jolting with a shiver. “It was my parents. They tried to tell me not to go with Damien.” When he pulls back to look at me, his eyes are glistening with tears. “I thought they’d hate me.”
