Page 64 of Back to Willow

“Fine,” he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What else would you like for your birthday? It’s only one week away!”

October has gone by, and since it’s the fourth of November, we are exactly one week away from his birthday, next Saturday on the eleventh. Jake told me he’d get here by Friday and spend the weekend with us.

I was hoping he’d get some more time, but I understand that he can’t take days away from work now, so three days is better than none.

“You won’t be angry if I tell you?” he asks hesitantly.

“Of course not, baby,” I assure him.

Dread replaces the blood inside my veins, freezing my body momentarily. There’s a bit of hope he won’t ask for what I know I can’t give him, but the way he keeps looking down, refusing to meet my eyes, playing with the hem of his T-shirt, tells me everything I need to know.

“I would like to meet my dad,” he whispers so only I can hear.

Every time I think my heart can’t break anymore, I’m taught a lesson. Not really knowing what to do, I hug him.

“Oh, honey. I’m sorry!”

“Can you do it?” His lips move against my shoulder, and I take a moment to think about what to say as my hand rubs his back in circular motions.

Tears sting my eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. This is not the way I was expecting the day to go. He hasn’t touched the subject of his dad for a few weeks, and I thought—stupidly—that he had forgotten about it. For a while, at least.

How could he forget? He’s at the age to learn and understand the world around him better and better. And I owe him the truth—not only him—but I thought I’d have more time to figure this out…to know how to deal with it.

How I’ll do it, I don’t know yet, but I need to. Whatever it takes—for Dylan—I need to muster up the courage for it.

“I honestly don’t know, baby. But I will try, I promise.”

TWENTY-TWO

Willow

Theobnoxiouslyloudandcontinuous sound of the doorbell wakes me up.

“Who the hell is ringing this aggressively at six a.m. on a bloody Sunday?” I hear Nana’s angry voice walking down the corridor as I groan.

“I’ll go, Nana. Go back to bed,” I say as I open my bedroom door and step out into the corridor.

“No, no! I’ll go get my fake gun just in case,” she mutters, shocking me in place.

“Nana, are you out of your mind? There’s no need,” I whisper-shout. “I will look through the peephole, and if it’s some weirdo, we’ll call the police.”

Going down the stairs, I close my robe tighter to my body and knot the ribbon around my waist. Perching myself on my toes, I peek through the peephole to see who is on our porch at this ungodly hour—on a bloody Sunday.

My eyes zero on a mop of messy brown hair first since the figure is looking down. When it moves, the light sensor snaps and the light turns on, showing better the big, bulky man on the other side. When he raises his head and looks right into the peephole, even though he can’t see me, I can, and I am met with the warmest green eyes and the goofiest smile I’ve ever had in my life.

“Ahhh!” I shriek, opening the door right away.

On the other side stands my big brother with the widest smile on his face. He’s wearing a plain white T-shirt with his signature dark jeans. I barely give him time to open his arms before I jump into his embrace, wrapping both my arms and legs around him.

“Aren’t you a little too old for this kind of hug by now, Lo?” Jake chuckles.

He always complained about my clinginess but never really did anything to stop it. So, I counter with a shrug. “I’ll never get too old for some sibling love!”

With me not really moving, he decides to enter the house with me still wrapped around his torso.

“Jakey, my boy. What a lovely surprise!” Nana exclaims, finally putting down that ridiculous artifact.

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