Billionaire, I Am Not Your Wife! novel Chapter 154

Mother And Son Reunion-2

“You did?”

“You’re my kid,” she said. “I know you.”

“But I said-”

“I know what you said,” she said. “And I know you were confused and angry and I know the things grown-ups said around you that you didn’t have a way to understand yet. None of that was your job to manage. That was my job and Dad’s job and the grown-ups’ job, and we didn’t do it well enough to keep it from you so you assumed that was the truth but you were repeating what you heard and that is not your fault and shouldn’t be your guilt to manage.”

She paused. “I’m sorry. For leaving the way I left. For not finding a way to explain it to you before disappearing from your life without a word or saying goodbye to you.”

“Where did you go?” I asked. “Where are you?”

“Seattle,” she said. “It’s where I grew up. I have-” She paused. “I have family here. A grandma and a grandpa and an uncle. People you don’t know yet, but are curious about you and want to see you if it’s possible.”

People I didn’t know yet.

I sat with that. I had family I didn’t know. Mom had a family she’d never told me about, which meant she’d had a whole life I’d never seen, which was a strange thing to think about.

“Can I meet them?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, and there was something in how she said it that sounded like she’d been waiting for me to ask. And was happy that I said it.

“I’d like that very much. They also want to see you, I told them lots about you and are curious about you too.”

“Are they nice?”

“Very nice,” she said. “My brother Cameron is-” She paused. “He’s like you, actually. He notices things, he’s very observant.”

“I notice things,” I said.

“I know you do,” she said. “You always have.”

I looked at the glow stars. Gerald the Boot. The Llama. The Backwards Fish.

“Mom,” I said.

“Yes?”

“The stars on my ceiling. The ones we put up when I was four.” I looked at Gerald. “I don’t remember which one you weren’t sure about. The tree on the street, Mrs Peterson took me to school and I saw a tree that

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Mother And Son-Reunion 2

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you told me you forgot the name. You said you thought it was an elm but you weren’t sure. I should have written it down.

She was very quiet.

“I’ll tell you when I see you, she said finally.

“I’ll look it up and I’ll tell you properly.

“When will that be?” I asked. “When will I see you?”

“I’m working on that,” she said. “I’m getting better every day and when I’m better enough, we’re going to figure it out together. You and me, we are going to be in each other life again and I won’t leave you this time around..”A pause. “Okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

Mrs. Peterson was standing by the window. She wasn’t looking at me. She was giving me the space of not being watched, which was something she was good at.

“The card,” I said. “Can I send it still? Even though I read it to you?”

“Yes,” Mom said. “I want to have it. I want to keep it.”

“I’ll ask Mrs. Peterson about the address,” I said.

“She has one,” Mom said. “A real one. She knows where I am. You can send it there.”

I looked at Mrs. Peterson, who turned from the window and looked at me and gave me the small nod of someone confirming a thing that was true.

“Okay,” I said.

“Nick,” Mom said.

“Yeah?”

“I think about you every day,” she said quietly, her voice sounding solemn and yet true at the same time. “Every single day. I want you to know that.”

I pressed my hand against my chest again and smiled briefly.

“Me too,” I said. “I look at the stars every night.”

She made the almost-laugh sound again, softer this time. “Which one’s your favorite?”

“Gerald the Boot,” I said.

“Gerald the Boot,” she repeated, like she was tasting the name, after forgetting it for a while and just being reminded of it. “Of course it is.”

“You named him,” I said.

“I did,” she said. “I remember.”

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