27. Leo
CHAPTER 27
Leo
Myles decided he wanted to go first. I think he was being kind because he knew it would be hard for all of us to take the trip down memory lane.
“I remember the first time I met Jen.” He swallows hard, taking a moment to gather his emotions before continuing. “It was for Thanksgiving during our freshman year of college. I didn’t want to go home because I knew my parents wouldn’t even celebrate. If they were, it would be with a bottle and some pills. They wouldn’t even have known I was there anyway.”
My heart aches in my chest. Myles's home life had always been shitty ever since he was little. There were times that he would wake up in the middle of the night, sweating from the nightmares he had about his father.
Once he realized that he was in his dorm room and not his bedroom at home, it was easy to calm him down.
“Even though Leo and I had just met, he offered me to come home with him. At first, I thought it was only out of pity, but when I met your family and got to know all of you throughout the years, I knew it wasn’t because you felt bad for me. Well, it was, but you wanted to ensure I wasn’t alone for the holidays.” He gives a weak smile. “Jen went above and beyond to make me feel welcome in your family. She told me I should let her know what I needed, and she’d help me.”
“Your mother showed me more love in one night than my own mother did my entire life.” A tear falls from his eyes, and he lifts a hand to wipe it away. “I’ll never forget her warmth and love that night. And every time I spent with her since then.”
Chloe is a mess beside him, her hand rubbing his back to comfort him. Tears prick my eyes as I remember bringing Myles home for the first time. He was a nervous wreck, wondering if my family would like him. He wasn’t used to the love my family had to offer, but he fit right in.
Dad clears his throat, and when I look at him, I can see the tears glistening in his eyes. “We’ve always loved you like a son, Myles. From the moment we met you.”
Myles dips his head, swallowing the lump in his throat. He doesn’t say anything else, so my father takes the silence as an invitation to speak.
“I could say that our wedding day was my best memory, and it’d be the truth, but I think my favorite memory of your mother was the days she had both of you.” His eyes move from me to Chloe. “Jen had always been maternal and couldn’t wait to be a mother, but… it took a while for her to get pregnant with you, Leo. A few years of getting our hopes up only to have them ripped away from us when we kept seeing that one line on the test.”
I had no idea my mother struggled to get pregnant with me. She had never talked about it, but then again, why would she have? For a split second, it makes me remember Veronica telling me she would never be able to have kids. At the thought of her, I flick her from my mind.
“We almost gave up hope, but then she took a test one month and saw the two lines.” He smiles widely at the memory. “Chloe, it only took your mother a few months to get pregnant with you, but those months were still as hard as the years we were trying for Leo. The days your mother gave birth to the two of you are ones I will never forget. The look in her eyes when she heard your first breaths. The tears of joy that streamed down her face when they laid you on her chest. It was the happiest I’ve ever seen her.”
Chloe's hand is splayed across her belly, tears streaming down her face. “It’s cliche, but I always loved our shopping trips. I’d look forward to them because I would spend the entire day with her. We would get breakfast at the cafe downtown and then look for clothes. She’d always order me a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream.” She sniffs, wiping away a tear. “Even as I got older, I’d get that hot chocolate before going to the mall. It became a tradition between her and me.”
Myles rubs a hand up and down Chloe’s back as the tears continue. I clear my throat, knowing that is all Chloe is going to say. It’s my turn.
“I’d have to say my favorite is when we’d look at stars in the backyard.” I smile slightly as I remember us outside, lying on a blanket and staring at the bright dots in the night sky. “We’d only be out there for a little while until the temperature dropped, and I would start to shiver. The times we were out there, it was like Mom and I were in the world alone, like there was nothing out there that could hurt us.”
My eyes begin to burn, tears pricking at the corners. “I remember this one time we were out there, and the topic of me getting picked on in school came up. I was young and didn’t want to make a big deal of it, but she wasn’t having it. But that wasn’t the conversation that stood out to me. She turned the whole situation into a discussion about the stars. She told me that I was special, like all the stars in the sky, and destined for great things.”
I can’t help the breathy laugh that escapes me. She had believed I was destined for a great life, but look at me now. I’m a former psychologist who fell in love with his patient and ended up in prison.
What a great fucking life I’ve lived.
Dad grabs my hand in his, giving it a slight squeeze. I offer a sad smile before I continue, “That was the first time she told me how much she loved me—more than all the stars in the universe.”
I drop my eyes to my arm, where the ink is etched with those words. It was the first tattoo I got when I was released from prison, a reminder of my mother.
Although it is the simplest tattoo, it is my favorite. We won’t mention that to Carter since he has some masterpieces on my skin.
“We just learned about stars! There are two hundred billion trillion in all of Space. That’s a lot of stars!” Carter’s little voice speaks up, and my heart aches at his last words because that is precisely what I said.
“It’s a lot of love,” I repeat my mother’s words.
“You were always in love with anything that had to do with Space,” Dad says beside me. “Do you remember when she took you on that trip outside the city to see the stars without any distractions from the neighbor's porch lights?”
Nodding slowly, the day comes to mind. “It was a lookout. A cliff that overlooked the water. It was so dark out there. All the stars in the sky were on display.”
That day was special to me. We drove out there before the sun started to set. Once she parked the car, we watched the sun dip below the horizon. Then, I was in awe as the stars began to appear. I had never seen so many stars before. We went several times after the initial visit, but I grew older and became too busy with school.
Story of my life.
“I loved gardening with Grandma.” Carter changes the subject. “She showed me how to dig the dirt and plant the flowers. Then she showed me how to keep them alive. That’s why the garden looks so good. I helped Grandpa.”
My father huffs. “I could keep the garden flowers alive on my own.”
Carter’s face scrunches. “You killed that one patch of flowers, remember?”
“One time.” He holds up a finger, and we all laugh. Dad does not have a green thumb, but he won’t admit that.
We talk for another hour about Mom and then begin to pack up, only to stand at the back of Chloe’s car, still chattering away.
“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” Myles asks.
There is another meaning behind his question. One he can’t speak out loud. He wants to know if I am going to be seeing Veronica again.
“Probably just going to head back to the apartment.”
He hums before looking at Chloe. “I’m going to hang out with Leo for a bit. Is that okay?”
“Why do you need permission?” Chloe asks him, shutting the trunk of her car. “Go. I’m probably going to take a nap anyway.”
“I’ll take Carter with me then,” Dad offers, to which Chloe throws him a thankful smile.
Myles quickly kisses Chloe, and Dad walks toward his car with Carter. When we get into my car, and once we put our seatbelts on, my phone rings. I pull it from my pocket and stare at the name on the screen.
Washington Correction Center.