Page 134 of The One for Me
When the apartment door opens, Devney practically lunges at him, pulling him into her arms. Tears fall between the two of them, and she just keeps touching his face.
“You’re okay? Nothing is hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re sure? Did you check him over?” she asks me.
“I did. He was fine. He’s upset, but he’ll be okay.”
The police officer walks toward us. “I’m glad you are safe, little man. I have to get back out there.”
Devney looks up at her and smiles softly. “Thank you for everything. Thank you guys for not giving up and for staying here with me.”
“Not a problem.” She looks back at Austin. “You don’t run off again, okay?”
“I promise I won’t.”
“Good. You’ve got a lot of people who love you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She nods at me and then heads out, which leaves the three of us alone with the elephant in the room.
Devney wipes her face with both hands and lets out a deep sigh. “I don’t know what to do with this, Austin. I’m not sure if I should yell at you, cry, ground you, beg you to never do this to me again, or . . . I don’t know.”
He looks up at her, shame filling the brown eyes that mirror hers. “I just didn’t want to leave.”
“That’s no excuse to run away.”
“I know that, but then I heard you . . . I was just going to ask you guys a question and. . . I. . .”
She looks up at me, and I nod, letting her know it’s what she feared. “You heard I was really your biological mother.”
Austin sniffles as she cups his cheek. “How could you lie to me all this time?”
“I’ll go in the other room so you two can talk,” I offer, but she grabs my hand.
“No. Stay. Please.”
“If that’s what you want.” I sit at the table, unsure of how this will go. When I was his age, I was a tornado, and no one knew which way the path would go.
She takes a seat, moving it so we’re both in front of her. “I never wanted you to find out like this, Austin. Never. It was honestly something I never thought you’d need to know, but things changed for all of us after the accident.”
“You promised me that you’d never lie. You swore that I could always count on you!”
“And I didn’t lie. I told you I loved you. I told you I’d always be there for you and that, no matter what, you were the most precious boy in my life. I kept that promise, Austin. At least I’ve always tried to.” She tries to take his hand, but he doesn’t let her.
“If you loved me, you would’ve kept me! You never would’ve let me go to live with anyone else.”
I sit here, hating the hurt in Devney’s eyes and knowing how hard this must be for her. The shame and sadness she’s felt over her decision can’t be easy.
“No, I love you so much that I gave you to my brother and sister-in-law, the two people who I knew would love you every bit as much as I would but would be able to give you all the things I couldn’t. I was young and stupid and beyond sad. Your biological father and I haven’t spoken since the day I told him I was pregnant. I did the most impossible and incredibly difficult thing in the world when I handed you over. I cried, but I knew, deep down in my soul that it was the right thing. If I kept you, it would’ve been because I wasn’t strong enough or didn’t love you enough to do what was right for you.”
He slams his hand on the table and tears fall. “Stop saying that!”
He reminds me so much of myself when I was young that it’s hard to watch. The anger at life not going my way was sometimes too much to take. Right now, he has an outlet, and it’s Devney.
She tucks her brown hair behind her ear and releases a deep sigh. “I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be. But I also want you to know that I stayed in Sugarloaf because I needed to be close to you. I was so lucky to get to be a part of your life, go to your games, hug you, teach you to ride a horse, and all the other things we shared. You have been my world from the minute I knew I was pregnant, but part of doing the right thing for the person you love the most is letting them go where it’s best for them.”
