Page 35 of Infected By Virus

VIRUS

The urge to follow Rae was damn near a compulsion, but she needed to be alone. Besides, his son deserved his attention.

Virus forced himself to focus on the movie. One ended, and the kids begged for another, so they started another. He plopped himself on the floor next to Adam and before long, his son was leaning against his arm.

The feeling was indescribable. Virus’s heart was firmly clutched in Adam’s chubby little hands. Never ever to be returned, and he was so fucking okay with that.

The ogre on the screen wished away his family and both Adam and June gasped.

June got up and climbed onto Hook’s lap on the couch. He knew how much stock Hook and his Flower put into wishes.

Adam shifted against Virus, before climbing onto his lap. Shyly, he asked, “Would you ever wish me away?” His insecurity damn near killed Virus.

“Never.” He bit out with such force; he felt every cell of his body tense around his son. Forcing himself to relax, he spoke with less force, but no less intensity. “Not in a million years, son. Not in a million years.” He kissed the crown of his head, taking in his scent.

“Mom said God made a mistake.” The anger rose in Virus so fast; he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control it. The feel of his son in his arms was the only thing that kept him from jumping to his feet and punching something.

Celeste was cruel, that was a fact he knew all too well, but to tell her own son such bullshit was just beyond cruel. He wanted to go to California, dig her up, and kill her again with his bare hands.

As he was thinking of ways to desecrate Celeste’s rotting body in a way that would make a psychopath cringe, Adam’s voice reached him.

“She said I was meant for you and Auntie Rae, but the stork delivered me to the wrong place because he didn’t know where Auntie Rae moved to.”

“Yeah?” he asked with a lump in his throat that felt like a baseball lodged there.

“Yeah. She said he trusted her to love me until you and Auntie Rae could find me and take me home. And she was right—Auntie Rae showed up just as Mommy promised she would before Mommy had to go to tell God all about it.”

Tears flowed unexpectedly from his very soul. They fell for so many reasons. Of all the shit Celeste had done, she’d done right by Adam.

Adam’s words caused him to view Celeste in a different light. Yes, she’d done some fucked-up shit to both him and Rae, and he was sure to others, but that was history. He’d accepted that neither he nor Rae was the same person they were then, but he never thought to see that possibly her sister wasn’t either.

Obviously, she’d been a good mom to Adam and even prepared him for the changes she must’ve known were coming for some time.

Guilt swarmed him, not only for not giving her the benefit of the doubt, but for thinking of digging her up for all the wrong reasons.

“She was right, you know. Auntie Rae and I both love you more than anything, but she’ll always be your mom, you know, even though she’s not here with you.”

“I know, she told me. But she also said it’s okay to call Auntie Rae mommy too.”

It amazed Virus how matter of fact he was about losing his mom. He owed Celeste for that; he knew that with every fiber of his being. She’d done everything she could to make up for her past mistakes.

When he’d read her letter, he scoffed at everything in it, because he was seeing through the lens of the past. He needed to re-read it with the glasses removed, so to speak.

Silently, he vowed he’d always put Adam and Rae above all else, including his own wants and desires. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

Virus leaned in to a sleepy Adam’s ear and asked a question he didn’t want the answer to but needed. “If Auntie Rae can’t stay here, would you miss her too much to be happy here?” He was careful to say can’t, not want. Virus also didn’t want to frame it as Adam picking Rae over him. Adam freely accepted Virus as his, but they’d just met. He’d known Rae longer, and she’d been with both him and his mom when he lost her. That was a bond he would never want to sever between them.

Adam answered with the unrestrained honesty of a child. “Yes. I want to be with Auntie Rae forever and ever—she’d my bonus mom.”

Once more, Virus’s heart swelled and broke at the same time. He knew what he must do, but he didn’t know how he was going to let his son go back to Vegas with Rae, only seeing him on weekends and holidays. But it was what was best for Adam, so he steeled his resolve.

Before he knew it, Adam’s breathing had become steady and deep. He held his sleeping son just like that, for how long, he didn’t know. He would soak up every millisecond of the time he had with him.

When Hook and Nova tucked a sleeping June into the makeshift tent beside him, he reluctantly followed suit.

After a round of good nights, he headed to the bedroom that was to be his and Rae’s for the night.

Nova moved past him and kissed his cheek with a sisterly affection. “It’ll all work out,” she whispered before disappearing down the hall.

---