Page 52 of Loving Trent (Love in the Bootheel #5)

“Trent, will you please look at me?” Nana asks, and even though I don’t have the strength to lift my head, I do it anyway.

Turning sideways in Uncle Joey’s embrace I focus on Nana and Nana alone.

Her blue eyes are wet, her cheeks are red, but there she is smiling.

“What you went through is unimaginable. It breaks my heart into a million pieces.” She cups my face and pulls it down, so my forehead is resting against hers.

“But as you said, we are a family. You are one of my children, and nothing can take you away.”

“But—”

“No buts about it. Nothing you have told me or will tell me, will change that for me,” she says, not letting me finish.

“How can you be sure?” I whisper. A throat clearing behind her makes me look up. My eyes widen as I see the whole family standing in the living room watching us.

Leon is holding a crying Jenna in his arms. Sadie is staring at me with her head cocked. Jenna looks at me and says, “She still loves me even though I abandoned my children and was a drug addict.”

Emilee reaches over and grabs Jenna’s hand. Parker has his arms wrapped around his wife, George on his hip. But his eyes are on me as he says, “She loves me even though my inaction resulted in Emilee trying to take her own life.”

My eyes glide to Levi, who stiffens at Parker’s words. Tiffani presses a kiss on his cheek before turning back to look at me. “She loves us, and we both kept huge secrets from her. Levi literally ran away from all of us for four years before coming home.”

Carly clears her throat and raises her hand to gain my attention.

My chest grows tighter with each confession because even though I already knew their stories, hearing them admit their failings is still hard.

But it’s even harder to see that to a parent, true parent, love isn’t conditional.

“I tried to take myself out of this family. I thought I was dying, and instead of confiding in her, I accepted my fate. I was ready to die without telling anyone goodbye. Without giving them the chance to be by my side.” Adam kisses his wife’s cheek and tightens his hold on her.

Sammy steps forward, Zak right behind her, and pulls a sobbing Shawn with her.

Dylan is standing next to her dad and steps forward with them.

“We were complete strangers to her,” she says, looking at Sonny.

“But she took one look at us and loved us.” Sammy looks at Shawn and continues, “When Shawn came out, no one saw him as different or wrong because we all love him and don’t care about that.

Even though he kept things from us and continues to, we all still love him. ”

Boe is the last to speak up but breaks away from the group and heads toward me.

I notice that Harley is clinging to his hand and is coming with him.

When they get close, she breaks loose and throws herself at me.

I let Uncle Joey go and wrap my arms around her.

Boe squeezes into the small kitchen and stops right in front of me.

“Out of everyone in this room, I’ve done the most. I yelled at her and was a total ass to her, but she still loves me and that will never change. ”

Uncle Joey says, “A parent's love isn’t conditional, Trent. Well, it’s not supposed to be.

I wish you had spoken about this sooner, but I understand why you didn’t.

What Josiah and Eve did… What those bastards at that place did to you.

The things they forced inside your head and beat into you until you believed it wasn’t the truth.

Nothing is wrong with you. You’re not unlovable. ”

“The moment I learned I was pregnant, I made my late husband promise me that we would love all of our children unconditionally. He, of course, did, and we have kept that promise. Everyone in this room is human and has made mistakes. Some more than others,” I look up in time for Nana to look at Jenna, Sammy, and Adam.

Everyone knows what she is alluding to. Those three have killed someone, but to be fair, it was to protect someone else in this room.

Jenna killed her ex-boyfriend to protect Emilee.

Sammy killed the man she was with in order to protect Dylan.

Adam killed his biological father to protect Carly.

“But that doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve our love.

Trusting that the people in your life won’t hurt you is hard, especially after you have been let down repeatedly.

But I hope that all of our actions soon prove to you that you are ours and nothing is going to take that away. You will always be a Hill,” Nana says.

As I glance out at my family, everyone nods in agreement, but when I get to one set of dark green eyes, I can’t look away. Flashes of a future that I want badly flicker through my mind, and Shawn is the star.

More dates.

More time to do everyday things.

More soul-altering kisses.

A wedding.

Multiple kids, with dark green eyes, running around with Harley chasing them.

The people who had me didn’t choose me, but that’s okay because I think I was always meant to be right here, meant to be in this family. I clear my throat, wink at Shawn, and say, “You’re right. I will always be a Hill, but I think I’d like to become a Foster even more.”