KNOX – TWO YEARS LATER
“Mom!”
Sarah rolled her eyes, then grinned as tears welled up. “What’s up, Lanky?” She tried to hide the pain in her voice, but I knew Callum would’ve heard it. He came in a second later.
“Why are you crying, Mom?”
I watched tears stream down her cheeks as she tried to keep them at bay. Two years had changed a lot, including Sarah’s last name. She was now a Dyer, and I couldn’t express how happy that made me.
She had grown into a true mom for Callum, helping me raise him pretty much from the moment she’d gotten out of the hospital.
As horrible as the day had been when she’d been stabbed, it had cleared away Callum’s teenage anger and replaced it with determination.
Daily, he tried to prove to us that he’d learned from that situation, even finishing high school with exceptional grades.
“You’re leaving again, and I cannot stand the thought. I just want you here,” Sarah sobbed, hugging our son while he grinned at me over her head. He’d grown to be taller than me and definitely wasn’t lanky anymore, but the nickname had stuck. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.
“I’ll be back next month, Mom. After all, someone has to wash my clothes,” he teased. She laughed, trying to playfully slap him, but he evaded her.
God, he’d changed so much.
“You’d better find a laundromat, boy. I’m not your maid,” Sarah fussed.
He walked over and kissed the side of her head. “No, but you’re my mom, and moms clean for their sons.” Before she could react, he ran up the stairs. After several minutes, he called, “Mom, have you seen my Eden Police hoodie?”
She shook her head, turning to me. I opened my arms, enjoying the way she fit into them.
“It’s probably where you dropped it in the bathroom before showering,” she yelled, then sighed. “Your son is horrible.”
I chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “He’s not, and he’s our son. Not on paper, not by blood, but in our hearts, and that’s all that matters.”
“After one year, I still cannot get used to him calling me mom,” she whispered, wonder in her voice. I knew that wasn’t true because she’d reacted to it from the very first moment and there’d been no awkwardness.
“I don’t think either one of us realized how much he’d longed for a mom until that word accidentally slipped out. You handled it like a pro. And you have been handling him and me like that since that very first pizza. Do you regret it?”
She pulled back. “Why would I?”
I touched the tip of her nose with my index finger. “Because, for a week now, you’ve been crying your eyes out when you think no one notices.”
She huffed. “He’s lived with us, we saw him every day, we hung out, and now he’s just not here anymore most of the time. What can I say? I miss him around. This house is too quiet.”
I grabbed her by her hips, feigning hurt. “Are you saying I’m boring?”
She giggled while trying to escape, twisting in my arms. “I’m saying you don’t slam the doors loud enough or complain about the shitty food before eating it all anyway.”
I kissed her neck. “I can totally slam other things, though,” I whispered against her skin, moving my hips against her backside.
“Knox,” she replied in a hushed tone, but her voice had gone deeper.
“Yes, Sar?” I nibbled on her earlobe as she reached for the counter.
“You—”
“Ew! Can’t you guys get a room?”
Seeing Callum standing at the bottom of the stairs, hoodie in hand, we laughed.
“See?” I said to Sarah. “That’s why it’s good that he’s leaving again. No one interrupts us then.” As I finished, a hoodie suddenly hit me in the head.
“Gross. You two are old. You shouldn’t be shagging that weird lady anymore, Dad. You might crack a hip.”
“Hey,” I protested as Sarah laughed, walking over to Callum, who clearly seemed ready to get back to Michigan State.
We walked out and hugged him goodbye, watching as he drove off. Before Sarah could break out into tears again, I swept her up into my arms and kissed her until she remembered what Callum had interrupted. I walked through the front door and kicked it closed, then carried her to our bedroom, placing her on the bed.
“Maybe freedom isn’t that bad,” she decided. I chuckled, then kissed my wife, glad that after everything, we had worked out.
Sarah was my life, and if I knew one thing, it was that she had changed Callum’s and my world for the better, and continued to do so every day.
The End