42. He Wouldn’t #2
“Let’s find out what happened. Then we’ll figure it out. Do you have his sister’s number?”
I nodded.
Tommy came in then, Mom and Henry and Archie on his heels. They all crowded in the doorway.
“Oh!” Mom exclaimed. “Oh!” She looked at me, an apology in her expression.
“It’s okay, Mom.”
“Is he okay?” Tommy asked, his voice cracking.
“Tommy!” Sam said, coming to life. He reached his hand out and Tommy came over. Sam gripped his hand.
“Happy birthday Tommy. I didn’t want to miss it. I want to—do it again…” He fell quiet.
“He’s okay,” I said to Tommy, resting a hand on my son’s arm. “He’ll be okay. And we’re going to do this over again, I promise.”
Tommy nodded, his throat flexing as he swallowed.
“Da-da!” Henry said.
I whirled around, my heart lifting. “Did you just say dada?”
“Da-da!” Henry flapped an arm, like he was pointing at his dad.
“He’s not even awake to hear it,” Archie said sadly.
“He’ll hear it when he wakes up,” I said. “We should let him sleep.”
“Come on boys,” Mom said. Her voice trailed down the hall. “It’s funny how his shirt says he’s in the sheets, because he’s sleeping right now.”
Conrad let out a choked laugh.
“Don’t tell her,” I said.
“Never,” he grunted.
I kissed Sam on the forehead, brushing a hand down his cheek. “Sweet dreams, Daddy.”
I swear I saw his mouth twitch.
My phone, surprisingly, was unharmed. There were a series of texts on there from an international number that I quickly discerned was Cora.
CORA: I’m leaving the house but I’ll have my cell on me, this is the number, please tell me Sam made it to your place?
CORA: Is he okay? Are you guys okay?
There were several more like that. I called the number. She picked up right away.
“Ellie!”
“He’s here, Cora. He’s okay.”
“Oh thank God.”
She took a shaky breath on the other end of the phone. “I’m sorry, I haven’t slept in 24 hours…”
“Can I call you later?”
“No. It’s okay. Did he tell you anything?”
“No. He’s passed out. He barely made it into the house. Is he okay? He looks like he spent the night in the woods!”
“He did.”
My stomach did a nosedive.
Then Cora told me everything. Their father had gone missing. Sam went to find him. His Mom hadn’t called emergency services until the next morning. She was confused and half out of her mind and thought Sam was taking care of everything.
Cora explained how Sam had somehow miraculously found his father in the middle of the night.
He’d had a stroke sometime in the afternoon, and been unlucky enough that no one had come across him.
Sam couldn’t risk taking him out of the woods so he’d spent the night there with him, using his sweatshirt to keep his dad warm.
He managed to carry his father out into the road the next morning at dawn where an early-morning hiking group found them at the trailhead.
“I flew standby from Heathrow last night,” Cora said. Mom managed to call me after talking to Sam, but not 9-1-1. She said he’d done it. When you called me I’d literally just landed and made it home to pick up stuff for Dad.”
When Cora figured it out this morning she’d called, but Sam was already at the hospital.
“They told him he should stay, Ellie. He was in so much pain. But he was panicking about you. He said he needed to see you. He wouldn’t listen to anyone.”
I was crying now, fully sobbing on the stoop. I told Cora I was so happy their dad was okay, and I promised I’d take care of Sam. “I’ll get him to go back for whatever care he needs,” I said.
“I can’t wait to meet you Ellie,” Cora said. She was crying too. “I feel like I know you from how much Sam talks about you. But I always wanted a sister so—”
“Me too,” I laughed through my tears.
We said our goodbyes just as Kit got out of her truck, slamming the door hard behind her.
She was crying too, but when she saw me, her face fell.
“Ellie!”
She’d missed the whole thing. I told her Sam was here. Gave her a truncated version of events.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed.
We hugged hard, and when I released her, I asked if she was okay.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, her voice thready. Then she looked sideways. “I just broke up with Chip.”
“About fucking time,” a growly voice came from behind me.
“Dad!” Archie exclaimed.
“Sorry,” Conrad said. “Come on, Kit. I’ll put on some tea.”
“I should stay with Ellie,” Kit sniffed, but I shook my head. “I’m fine, Kit. We can talk later.”
Her lip wobbled, but when Conrad pulled her to standing, she dissolved into tears, falling against him.
Conrad’s neck grew flushed, but he cleared his throat.
“Come on,” he said, his expression tight. “I’ve got all the kinds you like.”
She nodded and let Archie take her hand as they walked down the stairs.
Conrad patted my head like the big brother he was. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Thanks, Con. For everything.”
He grunted, which made me smile.
Archie called back to me, “Tommy’s grandma says maybe we can all go bowling for Tommy’s birthday when Sam’s feeling better!”
“Archie,” Conrad warned. “Give her some space.”
“It’s fine, honey,” I said. “If not tonight, for sure soon.”
Archie grinned. “Bye!”
“Bye guys.”
I sat there a moment longer, letting the sun warm my face. Then I heard more footsteps behind me. Tommy stood at the top of the stoop.
“Oh honey, come here.” I reached up and took his hand, sitting him down next to me. “I’m so sorry your birthday went sideways.”
Tommy shrugged. “It’s fine. It wasn’t like I had any friends here.”
My heart sank.
“I do have one, though.”
I blinked. “A friend?”
He nodded. “At school. She’s newer than me.”
She. I tried not to freak out.
“Bowling sounds good though, right? Maybe you could invite her?”
Tommy shrugged. “Maybe.”
He was making not freaking out extremely difficult.
“I want Sam to be there though.”
I squeezed his hand. “Okay. It’ll probably have to be later then.”
“Before Grandma goes home.”
I nodded.
“I’d be okay if you wanted to marry Sam,” Tommy said.
I nearly choked on the breath I’d been taking. “What?”
“You guys love each other. Grandma told me. If you want to get married and have more babies or whatever, that would be cool.”
The tears threatened to come back hard. Even though he’d already given me permission, this felt different. More official. “I know Sam would be honored to be your stepdad, Tommy, if you wanted him to be. He loves you too.”
“Not as much as Henry,” he said, so soft I could barely hear him.
“Actually, I’m pretty sure he loves you exactly the same as Henry. He talks about you just as much, honey. Maybe more, sometimes.”
Tommy was quiet for a long time, but I saw the way he kept swallowing, trying not to cry. I held his hand and told him he could.
Finally, some time later, Tommy, wiping his eyes, kicked his legs out onto the lower steps. He was so tall now. And Sam was going to have to teach him to drive.
He looked over at me and said, “Sam’s gonna lose it when he hears Henry saying ‘dada’.”
“Yes,” I laughed. “He will.”