Page 75 of Their Stormy Reunion

“You were so quiet and scared that first day,” Mom whispered as she traced my face on the photo. “I couldn’t do anything that would get you to smile. Not even a Wolverine bedspread or chocolate cake and ice cream could get a smile out of you that first week.”

I put my arm around my mom’s shoulder. “I was scared spitless. Everything here looked like it did on TV. I didn’t think it could be real, and I was waiting to be kicked out. I was afraid if I showed I liked something, you’d take it away from me. That’s what my biological dad would do.”

Mom turned to the next page. “This is three weeks in. I remember being so excited the day I took you to the mall and bought you all new clothes. Your old clothes didn’t fit you. They were all too small and were practically rags.”

“It was the first time I’d ever been to the mall. You let me ride one of the mechanical horse rides and one of the car rides inside the mall. I remember you putting in the quarters and feeling like I was king shit.”

“Yeah, but it all went wrong as soon as we got home.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, you wanted to throw away my old clothes. I threw a fit.”

“You never could explain why. All I knew is that I needed to leave them alone. Can you explain it now?”

“I was sure that one day you would kick me out and I wouldn’t be able to take the new clothes, so I had to keep hold of my old clothes.”

Mom’s head dropped. “I should have been able to figure that out,” she whispered. “I should have known to reassure you more.”

“The only thing that was going to reassure me, was time. Plus, I didn’t know it then, but you were doing the real thing that was going to make me feel secure. You were working to adopt me.”

“Yeah, both your father and I knew we wanted you to be our legal son. We would have kept you as a foster child forever, but we wanted to make it legal so that the state could never interfere.” She turned the page.

There I was with Zarek and Chloe at the skating rink.

“How are they doing?” Mom asked.

“It’s still tough.”

“That’s too bad. How about you and Fallon?”

“As soon as we can sort out a few things, I intend to take Fallon away for a week.”

“Sort out things, like whatever kind of threat is going on?” she asked.

I nodded.

“And you and Fallon?”

“I want to marry her, if she’ll have me.”

“She’d be stupid not to. You’re the second-best man I know,” she grinned.

“Is there a reason for the walk through memory lane?” I asked.

She turned a page, and I saw a younger me in a Wolverine costume for Halloween. It was better than any of the other kids’ store-bought costumes, because Mom had made it.

“Yeah, there is. When you explained to your dad and I what you had done to sabotage your wedding, it was clear you didn’t know why you did it. Do you know now?”

“Not entirely, no,” I admitted.

“But you have some ideas?”

“Well, it’s because of my biological dad, and him killing my biological mother.”

Mom nodded. “And?”

“I was trying to push Fallon away from me. For some reason I was thinking that I was bad for Fallon, and I wanted her to get away from me. When I think back to how I was thinking and feeling that night, I was intent on her hating me. I wanted her to never want to see me again.”

Mom flipped the page of the photo album again. This time it was her, Dad, and me in front of the Christmas tree. It was the year I was officially theirs.