Page 35 of Dreams Do Come True

Kean reaches him first, picks him up and hugs him close. “I’m so sorry, Lyric,” he says softly, sounding choked; Lyric is crying into his neck.

I feel my eyes fill, and look at Monica, who is wiping hers. “We were worried about how being here would affect him, but it’s worse than I thought,” I say quietly. I rest my head on River’s for a moment, taking comfort from the baby.

“It really is. I’m sorry to say that this will stop in time as he forgets them.”

“We won’t let him forget them. That’s why we want some pictures. We’d also like you to write down what you know about Doris. I’m going to create a book so he and River will know their birth parents. I never met Doris, but you knew her well.”

Monica nods. “That’s lovely. Yes, I can do that. Are you bringing the boys to the funerals?”

“Probably not River. We’re still undecided about Lyric.”

She rubs a hand over River’s back. “If you want some advice, that you are of course free to ignore, I would bring Lyric; it will again be heart breaking, but it could help.”

We both look towards Kean and Lyric, he’s now quietly crying into Kean’s shirt.

“My husband is upstairs packing the boys' clothes. River’s clothes are all multi coloured, they didn’t hold with pink is only for girls and blue for boys. If they saw something they liked, they brought it.”

“We thought we’d hire a van and take all the baby furniture. Hopefully, having familiar things will help Lyric settle.”

“It should do. We’re just concentrating on the children’s things at the moment. Once we pack the house up, we’ll give you any special items, like Doris’ jewellery and all the pictures. If you see something when walking around that you and Kean would like to keep, let me know.”

“Thanks.”

Monica goes back upstairs, taking River with her, and I walk over and join Kean and Lyric. Kean looks devastated. Pretty sure I’m looking the same.

I touch Lyric’s back, and he looks at me. “Tus,” he hiccups.

“I know, little man. Kean and I promise to always love and look after you.”

“Baby?”

“And your brother,” I assure him.

He moves and holds his arms out. I take him out of Kean’s arms and hug him close, kissing his head. He sighs against my chest, his eyes closing.

“I literally thought my heart was going to break,” Kean says softly, wiping his eyes.

“Me too. All we can do is be there for him and offer him lots of love and support.”

“Yeah.”

I pull Kean into my side, one arm hug him and kiss his temple.

Kean leans against me for a moment before pulling back and kissing me. “Stay here with Lyric, and I’ll go upstairs and help pack.”

I nod. “Okay, handsome.”

CHAPTER 12

Aman and a large van turn up early in the afternoon, picking up Lyric’s furniture and all the furniture from the baby's room. We keep back a few outfits, but the rest were packed into suitcases and loaded into the van. The same for the children’s things. We packed the pushchair and highchair into our car, and a few more toys and children’s dishes, plates, etc.

Thankfully, Lyric stays asleep. I think his little body has shut down while at the house, not being able to cope with his emotions.

We arrange for the van to deliver everything the day after tomorrow. We’ll go home tomorrow and surprise everyone. For now, we’re having dinner with Monica and her husband, Chris. River is being held by Monica, and Lyric is sitting on Kean’s lap. He’s not said anything since he woke up, and he has a death grip on his bear.

We order dinner and chat about this and that. Chris has a wicked sense of humour and we spend a lot of time laughing, something I think we all need at the moment.

We feed Lyric food from our plates, all the while River is watching everything. He reminds me so much of Connie at themoment. After dinner, we say goodbye to Monica and Chris, take River back and return to our flat.