Page 110 of Crossing the Brooklyn Briggs
“See you soon, Queens.”
“Not soon enough.”
I hang up with a contented sigh. We’re still planning on talking to Houston tonight, so we can’t stay in this bubble forever, but I’m not mad about where things are going. Brooklyn Briggs loves me, and I’ve never felt so happy.
“Have you had lunch yet, Danny?”
I yelp, flailing my limbs in the worst fight or flight response I’ve ever experienced. My chair tips, sending me toppling backward, and I crash to the floor in a heap. It’s only when the proverbial dust settles that I see my mom standing in the doorway. She took the kids to the aquarium today, but apparently they’ve returned. I didn’t even hear them, but I hear them now, playing some sort of screaming game downstairs.
Mom smirks at me, leaning on the door frame. “What has you so on edge?”
As I slowly get to my feet and right my chair, I try to find the best answer to give her. “I’m not on edge.”
She narrows her eyes.
“Okay, maybe a little. I need to have a conversation with Houston tonight, and I don’t know how it will go.”
“Telling him that you’re in love with his sister?”
My stomach drops like I’m on a roller coaster. “How long have you been standing there?”
Chuckling, she comes into my room and sits on the edge of my bed, gesturing for me to sit next to her. “Long enough to know you’re happier than you’ve been in years.”
I match her laugh. “Is it written all over my face?”
“It’s written all over your soul.” She places a hand on my chest, over my heart. “You weren’t like this when you married Natalie. I know you loved her, but she didn’t know you. And you didn’t know her. You have a history with Brooklyn that can’t be built with anything but time, and she’s special.”
My mom has only met Brooklyn a handful of times, but clearly that’s enough for her to see everything I saw in the beginning.
“I wish I had realized what she meant to me years ago,” I say, grabbing my mom’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “I feel like I wasted so much time not being with Brooklyn.”
“Oh, Danny, you can’t choose when you love. Just like you can’t choose when you go through hard times.”
I wrap her up in a hug when a tear slips from her eye. She’s been so strong through all of her treatments, and I don’t know how she does it. “I’m sorry I can’t be home more often to help you through this, Mama.”
She drops her head onto my shoulder. “You don’t need to be sorry, Danny. Your father will be home soon enough.”
“I don’t just mean today. I mean all the time.”
“So do I,” she says with a laugh. “He’s retiring.”
The shock of that announcement hits me harder than it should have. Obviously I knew my dad would retire at some point, but in my head he would always be working because that’s how I’ve always known him.
“Retiring,” I repeat. “But he’s only fifty-four.”
She laughs softly. “We’ve saved up enough to last us until we can access our retirement fund. We’ll be fine.”
“But—”
“He wanted to spend as much time with me as he could, in case…” She doesn’t finish that sentence, for which I’m grateful. None of us want to think about her losing this battle she’s in.
I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time processing this when it sounds like good news.Greatnews. Why did I think they were struggling financially? Why does it suddenly feel like I have a lot of money, what with Natalie no longer requiring alimony and my parents not needing any help? Why does this make me feel so untethered?
Mom gets to her feet and pats my cheek. “I told you, Danny. I don’t need you to take care of me. Your dad and I will get through this together, like we’ve done everything else, and you will go build a life with Brooklyn.” She heads for the door but pauses, looking back. “Houston will be fine. You’ve been friends for years, and you became brothers the moment you collided with each other on the field in tryouts and gave each other black eyes.”
I snort a laugh. We’d both been going for the same fly ball and weren’t looking where we were going. The collision hurt, but slamming into Houston meant I gained not only a new best friend but a friend in his sister as well. “You think he’ll be okay with Brooklyn and me?”
“I think he doesn’t get a say in what makes you happy. But how could he be anything but okay with it? You’re the best of men, Danny, and you’ll treat her right.”
