Page 15 of This Blood that Bonds Us

Before I could suck in a breath, Aaron grabbed my hand and squeezed. Presley ran into his mom’s arms, collapsing andsmiling. They were crying, laughing, and falling into the snow. I was happy. So very happy. But scared. Why was I scared?

Aaron was still looking at me. “It will be okay. Come on.”

He opened the door for me, and we stepped into the snow-covered driveway. Deep bitter cold hit me first. It was only a minute before Presley and their mom came up to Aaron and me. My heart thumped in my ears. Up close I noticed her brown eyes were wet with tears and surrounded by crow’s feet.

“Hi, Mom.” Aaron gave her a weak smile.

“Oh, baby.” She grabbed Aaron and hugged him tight around the neck. Tears continued to fall at their reunion. “I knew you’d come if I was just patient. I missed you so much.”

You’re fine, Kimberly. This is good. She won’t hate you.

“Mom, this is Kimberly. My girlfriend.” Aaron smiled at me. He didn’t seem worried at all.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” That’s all that came out. My lips were already frozen.

She smiled with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, my wonderful girl. Come here.” She wrapped me in a tight hug like the ones Luke used to embrace me with. “Call me Vera.”

The hug lasted longer than I anticipated, easing tension in my shoulders.

She turned to Aaron. “Your brothers?”

Her voice broke on the words, and her eyes widened in hopeful excitement.

“They couldn’t make it . . . but they wanted to. We can tell you about it.”

Aaron looked at Presley, who now had his arm wrapped around Vera’s.

“Come on. You must all be freezing! Let’s go inside the main house.”

“Mom, I missed you so much.” Presley skipped around her. “This is where you’ve lived this whole time?”

“Oh, I missed you, sweet boy. And yes, I’ve been right here since I got the call.”

The call. Neither of us asked what that was. We were all still in shock. Aaron followed close to me while Presley walked alongside Vera. The night was still. Quiet. No bugs. And the sky shined like a beautiful marble of blue and black with thousands of stars.

“You must be starving,” she said as she led us through a cabin door. Though it was the middle of the night, the fire roared and candles were lit all around the room. It wasn’t a large cabin, but it was big enough to fit an armchair and a couch on what appeared to be a thick wool rug covering the hardwood. It barely fit a dining table with four chairs that blocked a walkway. On the other end of the room was a kitchen, with the top of the cabinets filled with little figurines. It was cozy.

“Uh . . .” Presley said, “we just ate.”

“I don’t know how. There’s nothing around for miles.”

“Junk food. We packed it.” Aaron caught Presley’s eye line.

“That’s not a proper meal, and you know it.”

“Mom, it’s late. Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Aaron said.

“Oh. I couldn’t sleep. Now I know why. I was just sitting there reading when I saw headlights blasting through my window.”

“Sorry,” Aaron said. He rubbed my back after helping me take off my coat. Even with just a few minutes in the cold I felt it everywhere.

“I’ll put a stew on.”

“Mom.”

“No arguing.”