20. Ryan #3
I know every room in this house. I’ve lived here my whole life.
This isn’t the room that used to be here.
It’s Tobias. Every inch of it. Deep green and warm wood.
A countryside scene painted across one wall — trees and water and tiny animals hidden between them.
Green striped bedding. Low shelves full of books.
Frog and Toad. A little green lantern glowing near the wall.
A frog holding an umbrella beside the bed.
Little pieces of him everywhere. Just enough that I know exactly whose room this is before Dad says a word.
Then I see the shelf. The leprechaun trap. The one Tobias and Dad built together. Sitting there like it belongs. Because apparently it does.
I look at Dad. Then Mom. “What is this?”
Neither answers.
Ally hasn’t moved. Her eyes travel slowly around the room. The mural. The bed. The frogs. Then— “His trap.”
“Yeah,” Dad says.
“You put it in here?”
“Of course.”
She looks at him. “When did you do this?”
Dad glances at Mom. “A few weeks ago.”
My head snaps toward them. “A few weeks?” Mom nods. “You made him a bedroom. You didn’t tell me.”
“It wasn’t something we wanted talked about yet.”
“Who knew?”
“The mothers helped me.”
I stare at her. All those weeks we spent trying to figure out whether Arthur could get Tobias out, whether Jane would leave, whether we’d have days or hours — and the whole time, Mom and Dad were doing this.
Ally walks farther in, and that’s when I finally look past the room itself.
Tobias is asleep in the middle of the bed.
His bed. Curled on his side under the striped blanket, face still blotchy from crying, one arm hanging over the edge.
Danny is asleep on the floor beside him, his arm stretched up onto the mattress — and Tobias’s hand is wrapped around his.
Even asleep. Danny promised he wouldn’t leave. So he didn’t.
Becca’s on the floor beside him, awake. Katya sits against the side of the bed with Becca tucked into her, Theodore beside them holding Katya’s hand while his other moves slowly through Becca’s hair.
All three look up when we come in. Becca sees Ally and her face crumples.
Katya’s eyes go to Ally’s face. Her body.
Then her stomach. She looks at me. I nod.
Baby’s okay. Katya closes her eyes, relief moving through her whole face. Theodore’s fingers tighten around hers.
“Thank God,” he whispers.
Becca is already moving, easing Danny’s head off her leg. He stirs, eyes opening, and sees me. Then Ally.
He sits up immediately, his hand never leaving Tobias’s. “Baby?”
“Okay.”
Danny shuts his eyes. His head drops. “Fuck.”
Becca reaches Ally first. She doesn’t say anything. Just opens her arms. Ally folds into her, and Becca sinks down to the floor with Ally half in her lap and wraps around her. “I tried.”
“I know.”
“I couldn’t save her. I fucking tried, Bec.”
“I know you did.” Becca presses her face into Ally’s hair. “I know.”
I sit beside them, close, my knee against Ally’s leg, my arm around her back. My hand settles over the small curve beneath her shirt. Warm. Still there. Our baby is still there.
Ally reaches up toward the bed and brushes Tobias’s hair. He shifts. Danny’s hand tightens around his automatically. Tobias settles again.
Katya watches him, then Ally. “He was frightened,” she says quietly. Ally nods. “He cried for you.” Her face folds. Katya smooths Tobias’s hair back from his forehead. “But malen’kaya lyagushka is safe.”
“Little frog,” Ally says.
Katya’s eyes fill. “Yes. Our little frog.”
Ally cries harder against Becca. “He asked for Mom?”
Katya doesn’t lie. “Yes.”
“He thinks she’s coming back. How am I supposed to tell him?”
Katya looks at her for a long moment. “You do not have to know that tonight.”
“But when he wakes up—“
“Tomorrow will come tomorrow.” Her voice stays soft. Steady. “Tonight, you are here. He is here. Both of you are safe.”
Ally looks at Tobias. “I promised I’d come back.”
“And you did.”
“I promised all three.” Nobody speaks. Becca tightens her arms around her. Ally’s eyes land on the leprechaun trap again. “You made this for him?”
Dad is still in the doorway. “For My Toby.”
“You didn’t know if he could come. You didn’t know if Arthur could get him out. You didn’t know if Dad would ever let him live here.”
“No.”
“You could’ve made all of this and he might never have slept in here.”
Mom steps beside Dad. “Then it would have waited for him.”
Ally breaks all over again. Becca holds her. I keep my hand over our baby.
Ally cries until she doesn’t have anything left for that moment. Then Katya touches her knee. “Go rest.”
“I don’t want to leave him.”
“You aren’t leaving him. I am here.”
Theodore squeezes Katya’s hand. “So am I.”
Danny’s still holding Tobias’s hand, his voice rough with sleep. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Becca kisses Ally’s temple. “Neither am I.”
Ally looks at all of them. Then Tobias. Finally, she nods. She leans forward carefully and kisses his hair. “I love you, bug.”
His fingers twitch around Danny’s. She touches his cheek, then lets me help her up.
Mom stops us before we go farther. “Your room.”
“The guest house?” Ally asks, looking at me.
“No,” Mom says immediately. “You’re done for tonight. Everything else waits until tomorrow.”
“My things—“
“Tomorrow.”
“Tobias—“
“Has everything he needs tonight.”
Ally looks between them, then toward the room behind us. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”