“What would you miss the most if you left us?” He doesn’t reply with words, but the tears are instant. His shoulders stiffen, and his entire body quakes. “You know what I’d miss?”
He sobs, but I don’t let it deter me. “I’d miss you. Everything about your nerdy ways. How you brighten up when you see Grey. Your face when Vegas does or says something annoying. Let’s not fool ourselves. He’s a pain in the ass, isn’t he? But you love him, don’t you? He feels the same way about you. I’d miss your brain, Remo. You have the most fascinating ideas that I wouldn’t ever come up with. I can’t process half the shit you do, but fuck, it helps us, so I let you do as you wish. You have so much to offer to the world. You’re more than your mistakes. I know that what you did is unforgivable. You need to forgive yourself first, and one day, you’ll cope with what happened.”
I take a deep breath. “Let me be your safe space. Whenever you feel this way, come to me. I’ll listen to your doubts, your fears. If you don’t want to talk to anyone else, talk to me. It can’t be worse than having a psycho mom and dad, right? I’m as emotionally available as an AK-47, but you know Grey has turned me soft.”
The corner of his mouth twitches up, and in between the snot and tears, I take it as a sign forward.
“I want to go home, Remo. We have a job to do. Will you join me? You heard the kid. You want to help her out, don’t you?” I want to reach out and touch him, but I don’t want to spook him. He’s a grown man, but sometimes it feels as though he’s got a youthful side to him, a broken inner child that is clawing for his attention. “You’re not done yet. There’s so much more to life. What if Grey is really pregnant?”
“What happens then?” he asks, breathless at the thought of it.
“I have no idea, Remo. Let’s find out together.”