Page 183 of The Echo of Forever

“Forever,” Tristian whispered as he jogged over to me, pulling at his basketball shorts. “I didn’t know when I came to you it was that deep.”

His eyes searched mine, and I tipped my head.

“Is that your way of asking if I’m okay?”

He smiled, lighting up his baby face.

“Yeah, we family. Plus, D really loves you…” He looked past me, then back. “Imma go talk to him, but be safe. Don’t send him off the deep end. We can’t have too much more of what happened last night.”

I chuckled and watched him amble toward the front door, knocking and then entering after Demetrius called for him to do so.

He was definitely a natural-born leader.

I drove to see my mom in silence, doing my best not to think of anything or anyone, but to no avail. By the time I pulled into the parking lot, I’d decided to start with a clean slate. Not forgiveness, but openness to something new.

My mother was sitting on the edge of her bed when I scanned into her room, already dressed. Her face brightened when she saw me, an unexpected reaction that made something twist in my chest.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she said, standing to greet me.

I kept a distance between us, needing to talk before allowing an embrace.

“Kai said you were asking for me.”

She smiled, a genuine expression that softened her features as she took a seat closer to the chair I’d dropped in.

“You look… better,” I added. “Is Dad the one who put those bruises on before?”

Instead of responding, she continued to smile, and it told me all I needed to know. Starting over was going to be hard, and there was only so much effort I planned to give.

“They called about your father,” she said after a moment of silence. “Was it you or your husband?”

I shrugged.

“Will you miss him?” I asked, not offering details. “Did you even love him, or was he forced on you?”

She laughed, but I could tell it wasn’t shit funny to her.

“Your father was the last person I wanted to marry,” she confessed, meeting my eyes dead on. “His best friend was the love of my life, but died right when I found out I was pregnant with Kai.”

I leaned forward and asked, “Is Kai not Eliel’s son? Am I his daughter?”

The follow-up made my mouth dry, but this was the most she’d ever told me, and I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything.

“You are his. Your brother is not. That’s a different story for another day. I gave up a lot to protect myself. Being pregnant out of wedlock was a big deal back then. My family didn’t agree with me marrying Semaj’s best friend, but I did it anyway. Lost out on them because of it, but life moved on.”

She shrugged as if it weren’t a big deal, but what it sounded like to me was that we all needed a bit of therapy.

“How’s your head been?” she asked, changing subjects. “You seem better.”

“It’s… I’m…” I searched for the word. “Adjusting. Learning how to live with them, and I don’t know, Demetrius’s presence helps. I feel happy.”

Her expression softened, and I could feel mine doing the same.

We sat in silence for a moment before I spoke again.

“I want to try having a real relationship with you,” I said, the words coming out before I could second-guess them. “Something where we actually know each other. I don’t know, I just really want you to be a mom to me. Like I should be able to tell you I lost a…” My eyes started to water, and I stopped to wipe them clean, not wanting to do all that. “I lost a baby and I don’t even remember.”

She got up and pulled me into a tight embrace.