Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
There was a metal plaque right next to the doorbell by the front door of Moon’s parents’ house.
Has the universe spoken to you today?
Welcome to the Millers’ house
Mom & Dad
Moon
Crescent
Elio
Star
I smiled at it as Moon opened the door, grabbing my hand to guide me inside. They lived further out from the city, surrounded by more trees than neighbors or anything else. There was so much land around the house, I wondered what they did with all of it.
Crescent and Elio were already sitting on the living room couch when we walked in, talking about something called One Piece. I gathered it was some kind of show from how they were talking, but they barely even looked up to say hello.
Who I assumed was Moon’s mom came in from the kitchen with a big, comforting smile on her face.
It honestly reminded me of my mom’s. “Oh, Emerson! It’s so nice to finally meet you.
I’ve heard so much about you from everyone except the son who’s dating you.
How funny is that?” I held my hand out to shake hers, but she pulled me into a hug instead.
My first mom hug in decades. I couldn’t help but melt in her arms, bending down to accommodate her shorter stature.
Mom hugs were just different. They were gentle, kind, and full of love for everyone, no matter if they were theirs or not.
Hers was no different. She didn’t pull away, even though we’d gone past the normal amount of hug time for two practical strangers, and there was so much love in her hold. So much warmth.
“It’s nice to meet you too, uh…” I trailed off, finally breaking our hug. I never did ask Moon what their names were.
“Just call me Mom, honey. We’re just Mom and Dad—no need for the formalities.”
Just Mom and Dad. Ah, fuck, I really didn’t need to cry right now. Moon shuffled in closer to give her a hug, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
His dad came out of the kitchen next, the same kind and warm smile on his face. “Well, hello. Moon, you look really good.” He held his arms out, hugging Moon first before wrapping me up in a tight, crushing Dad hug. “Good to meet you, son.”
My first dad hug in decades, too. It felt the same as I remembered it.
He did the same thing Mom did, not letting go until I was ready, patiently waiting for me to regain my bearings and come back into the life we were currently living, rather than the life I wished I was still living, where my parents were alive, and Harrison was still happy.
When I finally pulled away, I tried to pretend like I wasn’t having a complete breakdown in my head. “It’s good to meet you, too. Moon said we didn’t need to bring anything, so we came empty-handed for dinner.”
“Oh,” Mom shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. We’ve cooked enough for all of us. Star is in the dining room setting the table right now, actually.”
Dad turned his head to Crescent and Elio. “Boys, let’s head to the table.”
Crescent never took his arm away from around Elio’s shoulders, keeping him close as we all followed into the dining room.
The scent of lavender filled the room, a stick of incense burning on the kitchen countertop nearby, sitting along with what looked like two different types of crystals.
There were seven plates set around the table, but only six matching chairs.
One of them was black metal instead of wooden, like the rest of them.
Moon pulled out a wooden chair, gesturing for me to sit in it. “My parents have had to buy more and more chairs over the years to accommodate our ever-growing family. They’ll have to get a new one for you now.”
“Oh, yeah.” Elio was waiting while Crescent filled his plate with food. “They had to get me one when I moved in.”
Mom shoved a bowl of green beans into the center of the table. “I’m not sure if they make the same ones anymore. I may have to buy a different kind, or your father will have to paint one. Not that I mind, of course.”
My very own chair? What an odd thing to get emotional over. I’d never even met Moon’s parents before tonight, yet they were ready to permanently add me to their dinner table. “I won’t mind, either. I don’t really even need a chair if it’s too much hassle.”
Star glared at me from across the table, shaking her head. “You’re getting a chair, Emerson. Just let it happen, okay?”
Crescent raised his fork in the air. “What if they break up? Then we’d have to get rid of it.”
“Crescent Miller! Don’t talk like that,” Dad scolded him. “You’d be changing your tune if your brother or sister said that about you and Elio.”
He raised his hands up, looking down at the plate in front of him. “It was just a joke. If Emerson is going to be a part of this family, he’s going to have to get used to it.”
Moon groaned, rubbing his temple. “I literally hate you guys. Any time I’ve ever said I loved you was a lie.”
Star frowned. “Aw, that’s so sad. We hate you, too. But we’re all stuck with each other, so you don’t have a choice but to keep faking it.”
I hoped they knew just how much he truly loved all of them.
I’d seen the aftermath of the lengths he’d go to keep them safe.
Moon would kill for his siblings. He’d suffer for them just to make sure they never had to.
I was sure he’d sell his soul if it meant they could live their lives without wanting for anything at all.
Mom turned her head toward me, ignoring the others as they bickered back and forth. “Emerson, please ignore our children. Despite what they say, their lives were written in the stars with each other since before they were born.”
“Is that where their names came from?”
She set her fork down, letting it clatter against her plate as a big grin took over her face.
“Sort of.” She grabbed Dad’s hand, holding it on top of the table.
“We’d been trying for years before we found out we were pregnant with Moon.
I wanted to be a mom so badly. So, so badly.
We’d actually decided to stop trying and were looking into fostering and adopting instead.
I told Bob here that we were always meant to care for children—whether they were our own biologically didn’t matter.
It was what we wanted to do. It was our calling in this lifetime.
“The next night, after that decision and our big talk, I had a dream. In that dream, it was a full moon, and Bob and I were out in the fields behind the house. The moon had come down and spoken to me. She didn’t have a face or a mouth, but she spoke to me through my heart.
Every beat was a new word. She told me to look within myself, then look to the sky, for in the stars, in the moon, and in the sun, we would feel complete.
After she said that, a new heartbeat started—one that wasn’t in my chest, but in my womb.
I woke up, went straight to the bathroom, took a pregnancy test, and we had our first positive. ”
Everyone at the table had fallen silent as she told her story. Elio looked particularly intrigued. “Wait, the sun? You never told us about the sun part. You always just said the moon spoke to you in a dream.”
She nodded. “Yes, my little ray of sun. After I had Crescent and Star, I expected to get pregnant again, but I never did. But then my little crescent moon came home talking about this big ball of energy named Elio, whose eyes shone like the sun, and I knew. I knew you were the sun we were missing. I never questioned or doubted that you’d become a part of our family. ”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I never mentioned it. Every time I thought about doing so, I felt a disturbance in my chakras. I think, my son, that you were always meant to leave us and find your way back. Besides, what’s a sun without his moon?
” She turned, pointing at me. “What’s darkness without its light?
” She pointed to Star. “What’s a star without its constellation?
We were all written in the universe before the universe began.
It spoke to me, I listened, and it brought me all of you. ”
Holy fuck. She was right. Meeting Moon felt like a part of me had finally formed, and the world suddenly made sense. Like we’d been written together since the beginning of time, even if we didn’t know it. Even if we’d had to wait thirty and forty-three years.
How many times had the universe tried to speak to me, but I had simply ignored it?
How many times had there been signs, yet I’d completely missed them?
How long had I known there was a part of me missing before I met Moon and felt that part of me reach out for more?
More, more, more. Moon was more, Moon was everything, and Moon had been my forever since the day we met.
The empty spots in my heart grew six times over, just enough to fit each one of the Millers into them.
The hole right in the center closed, overwritten by the undeniable love I had for the new family I’d been accepted into.
For the first time since my mom and dad died, when my heart beat, it didn’t strain.
It didn’t try to suck in air through the massive, gaping wound that was in it, because there wasn’t one.
My heartbeat was strong—strong enough I could hear it louder than the ringing in my ears.
And the most curious part about it all? I didn’t mind the ringing at that moment. I didn’t mind it one bit.
Night had fallen in the Miller house, which meant all the incense was finally put out, the scent lingering throughout.
The hallway leading to everyone’s bedrooms was so interesting.
There were decorations and picture frames, including a metal piece with a moon, star, and sun that hung just before the bedrooms began.
Right before that, though, was the blue jay painting Elio had done for Mom. It was fucking gorgeous, the attention to detail with every single brush stroke absolutely mind-blowing. “Your brother is fucking talented, Moon.”
He grinned as he stared at it. “Isn’t he? I’m so proud of him.”