Tiny Tim

Chapter 24

Listening to Mom crying through the bug I had on her phone was surprisingly hard for me. I suspected it was because of the definitive end of her marriage, and her crying about this caused conflicting feelings in me.

On one hand, I could still understand why she would be saddened by the end of a twenty-year marriage, and I wanted to comfort her. On the other hand, it made me wonder if she would have rather stayed with him despite everything that happened.

When Mom made it back into my apartment a few hours later, she had cleaned up well enough to not show any signs of her crying. To my big surprise, though, the very first thing she did after stepping through the door, was to embrace me in a tight hug. She didn’t say anything while holding onto me, nor did she answer when I asked where that hug came from, but when I wrapped my arms around her shoulders to return the hug while holding her head to my chest, she, again, simply took a deep breath as if to take in my scent.

After about a minute, she simply let go of me and walked into her bedroom.

I had not called her while she cried in that bathroom. I wasn’t trusting myself to not make a stupid comment about the possible reasons for her emotional outburst and reveal that I listened in on her. Instead, I had decided to prepare her favorite meal, placed a bottle of white wine in the fridge, and let her speak at her own pace if she needed to.

It worked. As soon as she stepped out of her room after changing her clothes, smelling the frying catfish and hush puppies, her face relaxed into a smile. Then she stepped into the kitchen, hugged me from behind, and held onto me while I worked on dinner.

This even intensified when Ava returned from her shopping trip to Ikea with Maggie and John. Not only did my sister immediately pick up on Mom’s mood, she seemed to also reach the same conclusion as I had. So, instead of asking what happened, she simply joined us in the dinner preparations by asking me to talk her through preparing the tartar sauce.

Mom’s mood improved a lot as she silently watched her children prepare a family meal. The smile on her face when we finally sat down and ate was warm and happy.

When we sat on the couch afterwards, I had Mom and Ava cuddled up to me on either side, each holding a glass of white wine, and it took a while of silence before Mom felt like talking.

“The counselor decided today that we no longer have to attend any more sessions.” she said out of the blue. “She’s going to inform the judge, so the divorce can continue.”

Ava and I both thought about that for a few seconds.

“And ... how do you feel about that?” Ava asked.

“Scared, to be honest.”

“Why?”

Mom sighed.

“The fact that your father left Tim alone in the hospital had her realize that our problems go beyond what she could work on. Her job was to try and make us find some common ground. Overcome our differences to the point we could work together. In reality, Aaron would need to work out his differences with Tim, and not only is that outside her expertise, it would definitely take more than the twelve sessions the Judge had ordered.”

As Mom explained this, she had wrapped herself around my arm, in addition to holding my hand in both of hers.

“But, why does that make you scared?” I asked, still not understanding her emotional outburst.

“When the judge hears about that, there’s no way for Aaron to gain custody of you.” I snorted at that, like I would’ve ever gone along with that anyway. Though, she ignored it to instead continue in a low voice. “But, with me being basically unemployed, homeless, and penniless, I’m not sure I will be awarded custody either. I can’t lose you again, Tim. I just can’t.”

I couldn’t help it. Despite the dire mood, that last statement of hers made me extremely happy.

“Mom ... I’m pretty sure that’s not how this works.” I smiled.

“It’s not?” Ava managed to ask first.

“I don’t think so.” I said while shaking my head, before turning my attention back to Mom. “If the state hates one thing, it’s giving away money. And if you don’t get custody, while Aaron can’t get custody, the state would have to pay for me. So, you’ll get custody.”

It was a poor attempt at a joke, but it worked. I felt her body relax against me and saw a weak smile appear on her face before I continued.

“Seriously, though. Remember what your lawyer said in January. Because of my apartment, there’s a chance the judge won’t give you the house with the custody ruling. But, let’s be honest here ... I’m still a minor. They can’t just assume that I’ll be able to keep making rent, so it’s likely you’ll get the house until I graduate high school. Though, if they argue that you could pay the rent with your alimony, we’ll just stay here. Either way, you’re not homeless.”

“You really mean that?” she asked pensively, her eyes glazing over. “You’d be fine with me staying?”

“Sure.” I shrugged. “It’s a little cramped right now, but by the time the divorce is through, Ava will live in that condo John bought.”

“Oh, Darling, thank you!” Mom proclaimed while throwing her arms around my neck and placing a wet kiss on my cheek.

Ava had a big smile on her face as she watched this spectacle, but her happiness suddenly deflated.

“What is it?” I threw a questioning look in Ava’s direction, but it took her a moment to answer.

“I’m sorry. Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t be happier here. But ... I’m still sad about the house being sold. That’s my home. I grew up in it.”

She actually sounded extremely sad. So sad, in fact, that Mom quickly untangled herself from me to rush over and wrap her arms around Ava instead, trying to soothe her with soft cooing words. It didn’t seem to work that well. I had no idea how much this meant to her. And, hearing the way Mom spoke to Ava, it became pretty clear that losing the house she raised her children in was hurting her just as much.

Watching this display, my thoughts drifted to the stack of cash in my bedroom. Now that their marriage counseling failed, it would be roughly a month before the judge worked through the petition and came up with a ruling. After that, there was a mandatory waiting period of sixty days before the divorce became final. That would give me three months. That is, if Aaron stopped fighting it.

Remembering the meeting with her lawyer, I knew there was no way I could clean enough cash to buy out Aaron by myself. Even if I found a way, I would still be a minor and couldn’t buy the house, though I suspected he wouldn’t let me buy it anyway. I also didn’t think I could take out a loan against the new house and condo to pay off Aaron through the holding John had created, because those two simply weren’t worth enough.

However, this was obviously extremely important for Mom and Ava. So, I made a quick decision, despite my better judgment.

“There’s one thing we really need to talk about with your lawyer.” I said, pulling Mom’s and Ava’s attention back to me.

“What is it?”

“The joint accounts. I have no clue how they’re handled in a divorce.”

“The what now?” Ava asked.

“In a divorce, they split their assets. That means everything that has value and either of their names on it. I’ve had a joint account with Mom and Aaron for a few years now, and I have another joint account with only Mom since January. When we opened the new one, I transferred what little money was left after Aaron paid for Logan’s tuition into the new account, but now I have no idea if we owe Aaron half of what was in there. I also don’t know if he’s entitled to half of what’s in the new one, since we opened that after she moved out, but before she started the divorce.”

“No! That’s entirely your money!” Mom protested. “That’s your salary. We never contributed a single cent to your bank accounts.”

“Yeah, but your names are still on the accounts.” I shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t know if they count as yours.”

“Let me find out, then!” Mom declared, got off the couch, and walked into her bedroom to get her phone like I had hoped.

As soon as she stepped through the door, I seized the opportunity to get off the couch myself and walked into my own bedroom to call John, asking him to meet me in the condo the next day. I would have to be there anyway, since someone - namely me - had to assemble all the furniture the girls had picked out today.

By the time I finished the call and walked back into the living room, I found my visibly distraught mother sitting on the couch, a shell shocked expression on her face, while Ava was desperately trying to comfort her. When she noticed me coming closer, Mom’s expression turned to pure anguish.

“Darling ... I’m so sorry.” she pleaded. “You were right. Aaron’s going to get half of your money as well.”

“What!?” Ava shouted. “But ... you said you two never put any money into his accounts. That’s ... how!?”

“She said that, regardless of who deposited the money, it technically counts as part of my estate because the bank has me listed as a co-owner with unrestricted access. And therefore ... It’s a marital asset. If it was a savings account we opened for you as a child, or a custodial account, it would be safe. But...”

My mood soured the moment I heard the word “custodial”. Two years ago, when Mom took me to the bank to open that account with me, she wanted to open a custodial account. I fought her tooth and nail on it, because I didn’t want to have to ask for their permission every time I needed to use the money. The change in my mood must have been reflected on my face somehow, and Mom misinterpreted the reason for it. She immediately started crying while continuously apologizing for still causing so much trouble.

I swallowed my anger, sat back down next to her on the couch, and simply hugged her. It took a long time until she had cried herself out, though by that time, she had stopped apologizing. Instead, she had started basically begging me to not leave her over this.

I couldn’t believe how utterly broken she seemed. If nothing else, this just served as yet another proof of how frightened of losing me she truly was, making it clear how taxing the past few weeks had been on her. Though, to my surprise, I did not just feel compassion for her. Somehow, in the very back of my mind, I started feeling a little annoyed. Irritated, even. However, I did my best to not entertain that unexplained mood swing and concentrate on getting Mom to calm down.

“Mom, it’s okay. It’s not really your fault.” I said, trying to make my voice as soft as possible.

“No! It’s not! It’s not fair. He just took all of your money for Logan. You just started saving up again. And now it’s taken away again! I’m so sorry!” she just continued to sob.

This whole thing had backfired tremendously. I hadn’t really thought about the joint bank accounts, and Aaron getting half of my shit was as much of a surprise to me as it was to them. I only asked her to clear that with her lawyer to get her into her bedroom, so I could sneak away and call John. I didn’t want to make her feel even worse than she already had, and grew a little desperate - or more like impatient - to get her to stop crying.

“Mom! I was the one who demanded a joint account. The bank recommended you open a custodial account, but that would’ve meant I couldn’t do anything with the money without getting you or Aaron to sign off on it. I told you that this was my money, so I should have unrestricted access. This was my own decision. And I was also the one who encouraged you to start the divorce. None of this is your fault.”

Shifting the blame away from her caused her sobbing to lessen in intensity, but that was it. So, I changed tactics.

“Okay, look. Yes, it sucks. But I don’t blame you, and I’m pretty sure we’ll manage. If this is what it takes to be done with the whole deal, so be it. My bank account was steadily filling up, so it’ll continue to fill back up after this is over. And, honestly, ... it’s like you said. He just emptied it. There’s not much I’ll lose. Trust me, nothing will change.”

Almost all of this was a lie, of course. It pissed me off more than I could put into words that, thanks to the cash I had cleaned through my developer pages, Aaron would, once again, take thousands of dollars from me. And I couldn’t do anything about it besides trying to lessen the amount he’ll get.

If Mom or Ava suspected that I had just told them a white lie, neither of them chose to show it. Mom’s mood improved at least to the point where she finally stopped sobbing.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah. But, I admit that I’m less than thrilled about handing Aaron my hard earned money. So, tomorrow, we’re going to HCC and enroll. Both of us. That’ll be a little less he’s getting from me, and you can tell the judge that you’re in school instead of being unemployed.”

“Hm” was her entire reply, and also the last thing we heard from her for the rest of our time on the couch.

When it came time to go to bed, Mom was still clinging to my arm. That didn’t change when I got off the couch. I couldn’t tell if she was doing so to seek comfort or to literally hold on to me, but I felt myself reminded of the time I came home after being assaulted in front of the house. Back then, she also refused to let go of me, and, just like then, it caused mixed feelings in me as I still had no idea how to handle it. Though, I did remember how she wordlessly decided to crawl into bed with me that day, and, as expected, she did the same thing now.

I surprised myself again, as I had to stop myself from groaning internally when I came out of the bathroom and found her already under my covers. The irritation and annoyance I felt over her neediness grew with every second she was forcing herself onto me, and I just couldn’t understand why.

Again, I pushed my feelings down, lifted the sheets up, and lay behind her. She instantly scooted back to press herself into me before draping my arm around her. I noticed she wasn’t wearing much, apart from one of my shirts she must’ve grabbed while I was in the bathroom.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”

I didn’t answer. I felt my patience slip away. I just wanted to fall asleep and spent a few hours blissfully unaware of the shit my father was piling onto me again. But I also knew that she had to talk this through, or she wouldn’t get over it herself.

“I guess I’m just a little stressed. And I didn’t have much chance to release ... I mean ... The last few weeks ... months ... were...”

She didn’t finish that sentence, but I understood what she tried to say. I had seen the texts on her phone, the discussions with the rest of the family who implored her to stop punishing herself and join them again. Maybe...

I was now her big spoon, with her head resting on my left upper arm, and my right arm draped around her midriff. On impulse, my left hand slid underneath her shirt, with my fingertips trailing along her skin. As they passed her belly button, I felt a light tremble travel through her body and heard her gasp. It didn’t deter me, and as my hand traveled up her soft body, my arm pushed her shirt up, exposing more and more of her skin. If she needed release so I could sleep, I would give her that release and be done with it.

“Baby!” she almost whined when my hand took a firm grasp of her breast, and I felt her hard nipple press into my palm.

I still refused to speak. Instead, I let my right hand travel downwards her body and pressed it against her lower stomach, right before my fingertips would rest on her pubic bone. Her breathing was heavy by now and she gyrated her naked ass into my groin, causing my dick stiffen in record time. For some fucked up reason, me getting hard at that moment irked me.

Feeling the hard nipple still pressed into my palm, I stopped kneading her breast to instead pinch that protruding little pebble, and was instantly rewarded with another needful moan from her. Then I finally parted the fingers of my right hand and allowed my fingertips to slide down on either side of her clitoris, which caused her entire body to twitch.

I continued by sliding my fingers down even further, massaging her labia while rubbing the palm of my hand over her clit. And then it happened.

“Oh, Baby! Yes! Thank you!” I heard Mom’s panting. “My Baby Boy is so good to his Mommy!”

I frowned, finally understanding where all this annoyance I felt towards her had come from. Before I could even say something about it, however, she spoke again.

“Be a good boy for Mommy, Baby.” she moaned.

Suddenly, I just wanted to finish this. I no longer cared about getting her properly warmed up, or making sure she was sufficiently wet. I just pushed my right hand further down to cup her entire sex, roughly kneaded it for a second, and then plunged two fingers into her canal.

As soon as my fingers were buried so far inside her that the heel of my hand was now pressed against her clit, I felt her instantly climax. Her inner walls contracted around my fingers as she stretched her body and stiffened. After a few seconds, she spoke again.

“Oh GOD! Baby!” she paused for a second to catch her breath. “Mommy needed this so badly! It’s been so long! You’re so good to Mommy! Such a good boy!”

Ths was, again, the wrong thing to say, as I felt outright anger well up inside me.

I didn’t want to hear her happy moaning. I didn’t want to hear how much pleasure I was giving her. I didn’t want to hear what a good fucking boy I was. Couldn’t these people take care of themselves for once!?

My left hand, which had played with her breasts and nipples until now, quickly moved out of her shirt. Before she had a chance to protest, it covered her mouth, stopping her insufferable declarations of pleasure. Then I continued my assault on her sensitive sex.

My fingers inside her started moving with vigor, though I kept my fingertips pressed to her upper walls in an effort to look for her G-spot. I did find a patch of tissue about the size of a grape that felt spongy, but lacked the walnut texture I had felt within Mia and Tess, so I wasn’t sure if it would work. I attacked it regardless.

I kept my hand firmly on her mouth and muffled her squirming moans, even when she raised both her hands to grab my arm and I felt her nails dig into my skin. Though she only held onto it, not attempting to pull it away.

“Why is it always my job to make you happy?” I growled without letting up on my assault. “Why is it always me that has to take care of your needs and make sure you’re happy!?”

This got her attention, as her eyes grew wide and locked onto me.

I removed my hand from her mouth long enough to pull my left arm out from underneath her and roll her onto her back. It quickly clamped down onto her mouth again before she had the chance to say anything.

Leaning over her, my fingers still working inside her, I looked directly into her eyes.

“Logan messes around with fucking rapists, so I have to risk my fucking life to fix it for you. You fuck up Ava, so I have to let her move into my home to fix her for you. Aaron pisses away your bank account, so take mine instead! After you spent years not giving a shit about me, you one-sidedly decide to move in here, regardless of what I think about it! Now I have to give away what little I have left, to get rid of your damn husband! Why is it always me who gets to deal with the consequences of your bullshit!? And now YOU complain to ME about being stressed and needing release!?”

Looking at her underneath me, tears were streaming down her face. Her eyes were contorted in sorrow as she let go of my arm so she could place her hands on either side of my face and carefully sweep her thumbs over my cheeks, directly underneath my eyes. At the same time, though, her hips were still grinding into my hand, I could see her stomach muscles spasm, and I could still hear her muffled moans.

Suddenly, her legs parted, as if to either grant me better access or invite me to go further. I thought it was time I got something out of this whole mess myself, and quickly climbed in between her now widely spread thighs, but refused to remove my fingers from her gushing pussy.

“Lift it up!” I said firmly, while pressing my fingers strongly against that spongy patch on her upper walls.

Her body shuddered as her eyelids fluttered, but she complied by pulling her feet towards her ass. Then she planted them on the mattress to either side of my knees and pushed her hips upwards as far as she could manage. It was just high enough.

I readjusted my hand, so my fingers could stay inside her without my hand being in the way for what I had planned next.

“Baby!?” she asked, as soon as I took my left hand off her mouth to grab my cock instead, lining it up with her opening. Without pulling my fingers out of her, I shoved my cock inside her as well.

“OH FFFFUUUUCCCCKKKK!” she wailed upon the sudden intrusion. “MY GOooOoOOD!”

I didn’t care. This was for me now, not for her. I recklessly slammed myself into her until I bottomed out and her arms thrashed around underneath me. My fingers were now lodged in between the shaft of my cock and her pussy walls, my fingertips pressing into her G-spot stronger than before. Simultaneously, the tip of my cock was stimulating her A-spot, and it seemed to be almost too much for her.

As I continued to repeatedly slam myself into her almost violently, I also started rubbing the palm of my hand against her clit. With this, I had to make quite the effort to hold her hips up, as her own legs seemed to lose all of their strength.

“You Bitch!” I growled through gritted teeth. “You fucking Bitch! You happy you have such a good boy, who keeps taking care of you ungrateful fucks!? After all these years of not giving a single shit about me, I’m still here for your pleasure. Must be nice, huh!?”

She didn’t try to answer anymore. She held my face in her hands while moaning her delight, as I buried myself balls deep into her over and over again. After a few minutes of this, however, I reached my limit. Just as Mom removed her hands from my face to instead hide her own behind them as if to hide her shame, and let out yet another loud orgasmic scream, I emptied my balls as deep inside her as I possibly could. Her knees were quaking and I had to push my arm underneath her to hold her up.

As soon as I shot my last spurt of cum into the depths of her canal, I collapsed on top of her, my face resting on her collarbone. To my big surprise, despite what I had just done to her, she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and held my body against hers.

“Shhh. It’s okay, Baby.” she cooed. “Let it out. I’m here. I’ll hold you.”

At first, I had no idea what the fuck she was talking about, but I was too exhausted to care either. That changed when I felt the wetness on her skin, and suddenly realized that it wasn’t sweat. I was crying!

As I lay there, trying to hold in my own sobs, I felt the mattress shift behind me. Then, two slender arms added themselves to Mom’s, which were wrapped around me. And, finally, Ava’s face appeared next to mine, placing a slow, affectionate kiss on my cheek.

Replaying what just happened in my head, I finally understood the real reason for the sorrow in her eyes. I must’ve been crying the whole time I fucked her. That was why she had swept her thumbs over my cheeks, because even then, there were already tears on my face for her to wipe away. She wasn’t sad about me insulting her, she was sad about me hurting.

“I hate you for abandoning me like this.” I said quietly, after I had regained at least some control over my voice.

“I know.” Mom whispered. “And I deserve it.”

“I hate this situation we’re in. Every time something finally goes right for a change, another major screw up happens that I have to deal with.” I added, noting how neither Mom nor Ava loosened their grip on my body.

“Hm” I heard from both of them, while feeling Mom nod her head in acknowledgement.

“I can’t keep up if it continues like this.” I admitted, in an even lower voice than before, and, this time, it took them a few seconds before answering.

“I know, Baby.” Mom said, matching my low volume. “I know we screwed up. It was wrong of us to pile all of this onto your shoulders. I know how much damage we caused you.” She paused, and started lightly scratching the back of my neck. “We only have to get through this divorce. I swear to you, Baby, I will make up for everything I did! Whatever it takes, I will help you heal. And I will take care of you instead of being a burden!”

“We both will.” Ava added with conviction, before kissing my shoulder.

I didn’t know if I could believe them. Not because I questioned their sincerity or intentions, I was past that weeks ago. I simply had no idea if it was even possible for them to deal with whatever came up in the future, because they had relied on me to deal with the real hardships. I didn’t know if I wanted to do this anymore. But, at that moment, I chose to cling to that hope of them stepping up. I pulled myself closer to Mom, followed by Ava pulling herself closer into my back.

“My beautiful Baby Boy.” Mom softly cooed while stroking my hair. “Sleep now. Tomorrow it’s going to be better. I promise.”

I don’t know if it was the physical exhaustion, the muscle relaxation my orgasm had caused, or the emotional drain I was under, but I did just as Mom told me to and was asleep within a minute.

When I awoke alone the next morning and the memories flooded my mind, I noticed three things.

First, I felt strangely liberated. I had no idea why, but I felt even better than after that epic thanksgiving-blowout, where I finally, after years, had the chance to air out all my grievances with the entire family.

The second thing I noticed, however, was that, despite the positive side effect, I was fucking embarrassed! I was a working, self-reliant man who takes care of shit ... and I cried like a damn child in my mother’s and sister’s arms because daddy was mean to me. Fuck. My. Life! I would have loved to simply sneak out of the house and avoid Mom and Ava for the following few weeks, but I had to take Mom to the college campus and enroll at some point.

Finally, after I came to terms with what I did, my third realization set in. Guilt.

Just a few mere days ago, I had told John how I don’t see sex as a casual recreational activity, how it actually meant something for me, and how I would stay faithful to my girlfriend. And then I went ahead and fucked my Mom. Somehow I didn’t think Mia would just accept that, even after she gave me permission to do it with my sister.

Shaking my head, I got out of bed and collected a few clothes. While I was in the closet anyway, I also packed a sizable amount of cash into my sports bag for my meeting with John later that day. Then I snuck into the bathroom to take my shower and get dressed.

I felt mildly relieved when I realized that I wasn’t just alone in my bedroom, but that I was actually alone in my apartment. I had no idea where Mom and Ava went so early on a Saturday, but I suspected they probably just went shopping, so I grabbed the sports bag full of money, as well as my barely touched toolbox, and drove to the condo.

Four hours of lifting, carrying, and assembling IKEA furniture had me sweating like a pig, even in spite of the relatively mild late march temperatures. Staying true to the safety standards I had established during my apartment’s renovations, I had managed to rip my shirt full of holes already, so I simply discarded it. So, when the family suddenly walked through the door, answering the question of Mom’s and Ava’s whereabouts and allowing them to see me shirtless and covered in a sheen of sweat, the first thing I heard was Maggie whistling at me.

“I have to say, little cousin.” she said while sauntering over to my side, where she wrapped one arm around my waist and started trailing the scars on my torso with her extended index finger. “Seeing you like this, with those scars giving you that bad boy look ... Maybe we should get together some time.”

She looked up at me with a suggestive smile, which I initially returned with a grin.

“Yeah? You know who else thinks that?” I replied with a raised eyebrow, that dropped before I continued with a firm and clearly unamused voice. “My girlfriend.”

She looked rather rattled as she quickly backed away, but I appreciated that she got my meaning without a need to explain any further. Maybe that reaction was harsh, but the guilt I felt over what I did with Mom the night before had returned with a vengeance as soon as Maggie put her arm around me.

And, honestly, while I may have forgiven her parents, that only happened because they actually put in an effort to earn my forgiveness. Just like the new feelings I developed for Mom and Ava only existed now because they redeemed themselves by reversing the damage they had done and continuously showing that they cared for me. Maggie, however, was still the same superficial bitch I had come to know her as.

“Now, now, Pumpkin!” Grandma entered the conversation with a playful chiding voice that instantly had me on edge, since the last time we spoke to each other wasn’t exactly on good terms. “She gave you a compliment. A well deserved one, as I see. Take it as one.”

“Grandson.” I heard Grampa’s voice next, as he greeted me with a nod.

“Grandfather.” I imitated his tone as I returned the nod, before I returned to my work, not eager to start a discussion.

“I see you were busy.” he continued while looking around the room.

Mom and Ava were keeping themselves to the background, though they were looking at me with disturbingly bright smiles.

“Yeah.” I sighed somewhat exhausted. “Bathroom’s done and ready to be stocked. So is the kitchen. I also put in the carpet in Maggie’s room. Good thing you brought them along, because I get the feeling the bigger furniture is not meant to be dragged around after assembly.”

“I told them not to buy all that cheap Swedish stuff.” he shook his head, with an expression of silent suffering.

“It would have cost us a fortune to buy solid wood furniture, Dad!” John called out, as he and Danny entered the house carrying baskets full of small decorations and dust catchers. “Girls, how about you go into your rooms and figure out what goes where.”

With this, Ava and Maggie, followed by Granny, skipped into Maggie’s room first, from where we could hear their vivid discussion. Though, Ava planted a kiss on my cheek as she passed me.

“So, I take it, furniture alone wasn’t enough?” I asked, gesturing to the baskets John and Danny were carrying.

“Of course not!” Danny revolted. “They’ll have to live here, Tim.”

“If you say so.” I chuckled.

My chuckle died down when Mom took possession of my arm, the guilt flaring up yet again, though she didn’t let herself be influenced by that and simply kept smiling happily at me. She also kept that up the entire time we walked through the condo, so I could show them how much I had accomplished so far.

After everyone had gotten a firm grasp of what was left to do, we started assembling all the furniture, while Grandpa was outside taking care of the little green patch in front of the condo. Only then did Mom finally let go of me, though she and Ava made sure to stay close to me.

It took two hours before I finally managed to signal John that I wanted to catch him alone. Since the others were now all working in Ava’s room, I walked into the third bedroom which was furthest away from them and, about a minute later, John joined me.

“Sorry about showing up with the entire family in tow.” he started before I could even open my mouth. “Claire and Ava showed up this morning to talk with Danny, and then I couldn’t find a plausible excuse to not let the others come with me.”

He looked surprisingly guilty about this. And, as if to prove his point, Danny walked through the door at that moment to wordlessly stand next to him, regarding me with a curious look.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t think you’d call them intentionally after I told you that I needed to talk.” I waved his concern off. “So ... that contact you had for cleaning the money. Is that still an option?”

He thought about that for a moment.

“I guess so.” he mused, but then he looked at me alarmed. “This isn’t about Aaron taking your money, is it?”

“No.” I said, feeling embarrassed again. “You heard about that, huh?”

“Yes. Sorry. When the girls start talking, they’re not exactly quiet about it.” he chuckled, earning him a slap on the chest from his visibly unamused wife.

“Yeah. Great. Anyway!” I quickly continued to steer the topic away from what happened, not thrilled about prospect of learning how much they actually knew, and handed him the sports bag. “Think you can get them to clean that too?”

He opened the bag, looked inside, and then looked at me.

“That’s more than the last time.” he deadpanned with a raised eyebrow, as Danny pulled the bag towards her to look inside as well.

“It’s $450,000.” I informed him, and saw his second eyebrow lift to join the first one while Danny choked a little.

“Correct me if my math is wrong.” he started slowly, with a suspicious tone. “But, that would make $600,000 dollars you gave me to clean so far. Didn’t you say that you only kept ‘two or three’ bricks?”

“Well, I lied.” I shrugged, seeing their eyes widen in realization. “Shocker, I know! Do you think you can get them to clean it? If they keep their previous rate, they’d need sixty smurfs, and we should come out with $390,000.”

“The warehouses aren’t the problem. They have hundreds. Though, that amount could draw attention on our side if it comes in too quickly. Maybe we should let them work on it over the next few months. How quickly do you need it?”

“Three months, at the earliest.” I said, and he nodded. “So, since you two seem to have all the insight ... Why does Mom seem so disturbingly happy today?”

“Make sure we have a minute?” Danny asked while looking at John and placing a hand on his biceps, who simply nodded and left the room. She waited patiently for him to close the door behind him before she spoke again. “Despite what he said earlier, he doesn’t know what happened last night. He only heard your Mom and me talking because, when she told me about Aaron getting half of your money, she was angry and got louder.”

“But you know everything?” I asked, my voice dropping.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Tim.” she said firmly, pointing a finger at me. “What happened last night was a good thing! We’ve been waiting for something like this to happen. That’s why she and Ava are so happy today.”

That took me by surprise.

“I’m sorry ... what? How the hell was that a good thing!?”

Ignoring my incredulous tone, she sat down on the bed and patted the mattress with her hand, signaling me to sit next to her. When I did, she turned a little, so she could look at me directly.

“Tim ... every time something bad happens to you, what do you tell us?” She looked at me expectantly, but continued when she realized that I had no idea what she wanted from me. “You tell us that you’re perfectly fine! No matter how much obvious pain or distress you were in, it’s always been ‘I’m fine, I’ll manage, go on with your day’.”

“So?” I asked, not understanding how this could be of significance. After all, I was fine. I did manage.

“You were obviously NOT fine!” She sounded a little angry. “You weren’t fine when you were beaten bloody, you weren’t fine when I found you in the living room, you weren’t fine when you got stabbed, and you most certainly weren’t fine after you got shot and left alone in the hospital! But you kept insisting you were fine because you knew that...” She took a moment to compose herself, knowing that this would be the first time she openly admitted what their negligence had done to me. “Best case scenario, we wouldn’t care. Worst case scenario, we would use it to hurt you again.”

She was absolutely right. I had never thought about it to that extent, not even after Mom had said something similar when she moved into my apartment, but, hearing Danny say it in such detail, I knew she was spot on. Danny, John, and Mom wouldn’t have cared. Before last Thanksgiving, they probably wouldn’t even have noticed. Aaron would’ve made fun of it, since, no matter how serious my situation was, he was all too eager to find confirmation in his belief that I was less of a man than his Golden Boy. Logan would’ve used it to hurt me more, and Ava, in her quest to please the real men in her life, would’ve done everything they demanded of her to help.

“Now, you may not have outright said that you needed their help, but you did admit that you won’t be able to keep up if you don’t catch a break soon. You would have never admitted that if you didn’t finally trust them enough to not use that knowledge against you. You finally opened up to them! For the first time in years, you honestly told them how you felt. And, granted, telling Claire that you hate her for abandoning you doesn’t sound like a good thing, but it was necessary to start the healing, and I had already warned her that this would probably happen. Without that, she had no chance to ever rebuild your relationship. That’s why your mother and sister are so ‘disturbingly happy’ today.”

“So...” I started, not entirely sure how to handle this situation. “What am I to expect next, then?”

“Support.” was all she said, in a tone like it should be obvious.

“Meaning...” I let my voice trail off.

“You’re not gonna get rid of ‘em.” she nodded with a serious expression before it lighted up and she giggled. “It’s not a bad thing, Tim. They want to prove that you can rely on them, even while they have to rely on you for other things.”

I don’t know whether she was a lot better at that therapy-thing than I gave her credit for, or if she had just accidentally hit another big doubt that had lodged itself into my thoughts, but I decided to just let it go and see where this would take us. Maybe she was right. And, if not ... I would manage.

As I got off the bed, she raised as well to give me a tight hug before letting me go. When we walked back to the others, they were already done with the last piece of furniture and happily chatting away about the best placement options for their dust catchers.

“Alright.” I said loudly to get their attention. “I think you ladies can take care of the aesthetics without my help. I’ll need a shower, and then Mom and I need to go spend some money.”

“OH!” we heard Maggie shriek in delight. “You going shopping? Can I come too?”

All of us stared at her for a second, before Granny gently smacked her over the back of her head with a disapproving look. Though, I didn’t necessarily disapprove. I thought she was just trying to lighten the mood, until Granny explained to her the reason for my need to lighten my bank account, after which Maggie quickly apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t think it’s as bad as I thought yesterday.” I shrugged.

“You don’t?” Grandpa asked, making no effort to hide his skepticism.

“I thought about it the whole morning, but ultimately took the liberty of calling Mom’s lawyer. When Mom filed for divorce, I had ninety-five hundred saved up again.” I paused briefly when I heard his approving whistling. “But almost two thirds of that is pre-tax income from my developer pages, so he can’t take all of it. The court should consider this when dividing ‘their’ assets. There’re also a few expenditures I can make without owing him that money afterwards, so I can lessen that amount as a whole.”

“Which are?” Grandpa asked, and I noticed how, by now, every one of them was practically glued to my words.

“The $2,600 dollars I spend each month for rent, utilities, and groceries, for one. Then education. Enrolling Mom will be thirteen hundred, enrolling me will be seven hundred, and I paid for all of Ava’s and my school supplies after christmas break. After all that, he’ll get two grand from me. At the most.”

“That’s ... still a lot of money.” John said carefully, and I had to suppress the urge to smirk when my eyes fell on the sports bag he was holding.

“Sure. But he’ll pay me back. With interest!” I remarked with an evil grin.

That caught them by surprise, and they looked at me like I had just made a threat against my father. After a few seconds, however, Mom looked like she wanted to smack her own head.

“Child Support!” she called out, and I chuckled.

“Bingo! Apparently, the courts don’t give a shit about me having a job, being a minor and all that, but they will acknowledge that I have my own health insurance through that job, so he won’t be able to claim those deductibles for me. There are actually quite a few things he can’t claim, since he hasn’t supported me financially for quite some time. He’ll most likely have to pay about seven-hundred dollars a month in child support. Now, if we can get him to stop stalling, the divorce should go through in three months.”

As I said that number, John’s eyes widened in recognition, and I could clearly see that he immediately understood what the money I asked him to clean was for. He didn’t comment on it, but his expression brightened significantly.

“That would mean...” I continued. “ ... he’ll pay me - or, he’ll pay Mom for me - seven-hundred dollars a month for the five months until I turn eighteen. That amounts to twice of what he’ll get from me.”

There was a moment of silence, then Mom spoke up.

“If Aaron stops stalling.” she said, but it was clearly more of a question.

“Yeah. About that.” I said, feeling a little uncomfortable. “I kinda thought you could ... offer him the investment account if he agrees to an otherwise fair split.”

“WHAT!?” Grandpa thundered suddenly, causing several people in the room to flinch. “You want Claire to give up a six figure investment, just so you can get a few lousy grand for yourself! How selfish can you be, boy!?”

Most eyes in the room were locked onto him with an incredulous look. Me? I felt a familiar numbness come over me, and prepared myself for the mother of all arguments. What held me back was Mom, who wrapped her arms around me in a protective gesture and glared at her father. Before I could voice my displeasure, though, others did so for me.

“Mike!” Granny said quietly. “Shut up!”

“Excuse me!?” he retorted, still angry.

“No, seriously Dad.” John implored his father as well, though he wasn’t quiet about it. He looked as angry as Mom. “You need to shut the hell up!”

“I will not...” Grandpa started flabbergasted, but John cut him off.

“How selfish can HE be!? Do I need to remind you of that college fund disaster YOU insisted on, while he did nothing but support us all! HE went to Austin and took on those men for us. HE let Claire and Ava live with him when our guest room was already occupied by you. HE has paid for EVERYTHING they needed since Aaron cut them off completely. And while YOU’ve been sitting around in my living room, driving everyone crazy with your never ending criticism of everything we chose for this place, HE’s been spending his entire school break actually working to make this place livable!”

The vehemence with which he attacked his father took me aback. And, as far as I could tell, everyone else as well. What concerned me, though, was the way he shook the sports bag around. Like he was a hair’s breadth away from telling everyone how it was actually my money that bought this place, as well as the house the grandparents were about to move into.

“Son, we talked about this already. He only supports his family when he benefits from it!”

Now I felt the numbness being replaced by quiet anger, though I still held back from letting him know how I felt about what he just said.

“You can’t be still spouting that nonsense, Mike!” Danny remarked. “How in the world did he benefit from anything that happened during the past four years!?”

“We all heard him on Thanksgiving.” Grandpa threw his arms into the air, and sounded like he couldn’t believe none of them would see the obvious. “He didn’t go to Austin to help any of us. He called it ‘self preservation’, if you care to remember. He let Claire and Ava live with him because he needed someone to help him while he couldn’t even get dressed by himself. And he’s helping you renovate this place because, in case you didn’t notice, there’s a third room here! So, now that Claire is taking college courses as well, I bet you he’ll tell her to move here with Ava, so he’ll get his apartment for himself again.”

Looking around the room, I saw most of the family shuffle around in discomfort while exchanging pleading glances between themselves. It seemed to me like they wanted to refute his arguments, but simply didn’t know how. And that’s when it hit me and my anger vanished in an instant.

Half a year ago, after I had dealt with the bookie and wanted to go back into my apartment, they wanted me to stay. I asked them all for a reason to believe their assurances about things being different now, though they couldn’t think of anything. What stood out to me in this moment, however, was the fact that everyone had the exact same look and demeanor as back then. It made me wonder where we would be today if I had been able to give them the benefit of a doubt back then.

“Huh. I see your point.” I said calmly. “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

Instead of retorting, Grandpa took a look around the room and, not finding any support, let out an annoyed tone, shook his head, and wordlessly left.

“I’m sorry, Darling.” Mom said, giving me a worried look.

Since she was still hugging me in that protective and comforting way, I placed my arm around her waist, hugged her back, and gave her a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry. I really do understand where he’s coming from. He’s where I was half a year ago.”

Mom looked at me open mouthed, though my attention was drawn away from her when I heard John groan.

“No, he’s not. You had good reasons to not trust us anymore. He...” John paused to let out a sigh. “He KNOWS that there’s no way for Claire to get that investment account. I explained that to him after we had that meeting with the investment firm, and they showed us the contract that doesn’t allow for a split of the account. Whether she demands her half or gives it away, it doesn’t make a difference in the amount of money she would get out of it. And, please, tell me where your personal gain was when you got stabbed in that parking lot! It’s so frustrating to argue with him. It’s like I’m talking to a wall!”

I had to smirk at that, since I had no doubt that was also how Grandpa felt when he tried to force me into compliance. An impression Granny quickly confirmed, as she stepped next to her son and fixed me with an apologetic look.

“Please, Pumpkin, don’t be mad at him.” she pleaded. “Claire will always be his little girl, no matter how old she gets.” she looked into space while shaking her head. “He’ll come around. Just know, I do not blame you for this in any way. And I can’t blame you for how long it took us to fix this.”

“If only there was a way to prove to him that you don’t care about the money.” Danny said, while throwing a strained look to the sports bag in John’s hand.

“Yes. If only.” I mused, not yet ready to make that announcement, before turning back to Mom. “Anyway, are you ready to go?”

She nodded in confirmation and we said our goodbyes.

The drive over to HCC was quiet, though my thoughts kept going back to the confrontation with Grandpa. Truth was, if I truly didn’t care about the family anymore, it wouldn’t have hurt so much when they ignored and discarded me. I just still had trouble admitting how much I cared.

All the while, I could see Mom throw concerned looks my way from the corner of my eye, while she was fidgeting around with her hands. Though, she didn’t actually say anything until I parked the car and was about to open the door.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Darling?” Mom asked suddenly, still looking worried.

“Yes.” I gave her another reassuring smile. “Though, I really don’t get what I did to him. Why does he mistrust me so much?”

Curiously, that question made her look at her feet like she was ashamed.

“You didn’t do anything to him.” she started in a careful and calculated tone. “He’s been that way since ... Since we met you on Christmas Eve.”

When I thought back to that day, I couldn’t suppress a small scoff.

“So, he’s angry at me because I didn’t come home when you asked?” I inquired, causing her fidgeting hands to move even faster.

“No. He’s angry because you ignored my reaction to your refusal to come home.” she clarified quietly. “He still thinks you should have swallowed your pride and shown ‘compassion for your crying mother’.”

The air quotes she performed made sure that I knew this was only a quote of what her father had said, and not an accusation from her to me. Though, I guess she would’ve had every right to make that accusation. After all, back then, I really didn’t care.

“Oh.” was my entire reply. Seriously, what else was I supposed to say?

Of course he cares about your happiness most. He’s your father. - That would’ve sounded like just another cheap shot at her own parenting during those dreaded four years.

Can’t blame him for being angry after seeing his daughter cry. - That would’ve sounded like just another cheap shot at her ignoring my depression.

Those thoughts must have played out on my face.

“Darling, don’t worry about it!” Mom said in a hurried voice. “I know why you couldn’t come home that day. You needed the money after we cleared out your bank account. I never blamed you for it! Not even for a second!”

“And I believe you.” I said, taking a hold of her hand and squeezing it, causing her to smile.

When we finally made our way into the admission office, I learned an interesting lesson. Colleges don’t give a flying fuck how you pay, or where that money comes from, as long as they get money from you. I could’ve paid for all of my certificates with the stolen cash! I even got the feeling they would’ve happily accepted a bag full of bloodied ten dollar bills with a smile, and never asked questions about it. I filed that away for later, when I had to pay for the following certifications and Mom’s second semester after the divorce was through.

When we left the building, Mom was hanging onto my arm again, regarding me with a strangely admiring look for the entire way to the car. Even during the drive home, I caught her looking at me that same way, while, every few minutes, squeezing my thigh or rubbing my arm.

During the following weeks, she continued that behavior and was even joined in it by Ava. Both of them used every opportunity they had to show their affection towards me. Every greeting and goodbye was now accompanied by kisses on the cheeks and endless ‘I love you’s. They demanded to hear how my days were every time we came together at the dinner table. After every self defense class I taught in school, Ava went on and on about how much her friends had praised me afterwards. And each evening that wasn’t spent with Mia, was spent cuddling on the couch with my Mom and sister.

On the days Mia didn’t stay overnight, I woke up the next morning with one or both of them cuddled up to me in bed. Of course, they both had picked up on my guilt about what I did with Mom despite having Mia as my girlfriend, and they seemed to respect that. So, whenever they snuck into my bed, they were more or less fully clothed and nothing ever happened. At least nothing overtly sexual, though another form of affection had manifested itself over those days.

Mom also called her lawyer and instructed her to make Aaron’s lawyer the new offer. If he stopped stalling or otherwise making problems, he could keep the investment account while they split everything else fairly. It took him a few days, but he ultimately agreed. I guess he finally came to terms with the reality of not being able to force Mom and Ava back into his life.

It was about two weeks after the confrontation with Grandpa, when something happened that had an disturbingly strong effect on me, and finally made me realize how far we had come.

I awoke unusually early in the morning, feeling the urge to visit the bathroom, and found Mom curled up at my side with one hand holding on to my shirt. Her face, a relaxed mask of contentment, was buried into the side of my chest as she slept peacefully.

I slowly and carefully extracted myself from her hold, not wanting to disturb her slumber. Though, it seemed like my mere absence was doing just that. As soon as I raised off the mattress and turned around, I could see her body stir and her face scrunch, as her hand slowly and aimlessly moved over the still warm patch of fabric my body had left behind.

At that moment, I did not yet understand what was happening. However, when I returned from the bathroom, it was obvious that Mom’s sleep had turned from peaceful to restless. She was now on her back, the blanket was kicked down to her knees, and her pillow had been pushed away. Her face was also still showing a slight frown. All of that only lasted until I got back into bed.

As soon as I lay back down next to her, she turned to wrap an arm around my stomach, pulling herself into me until she could rest her head on my shoulder. While I draped the covers over us, she also pushed one of her legs over my waist, laying herself half onto me. Before I could even think up a comment, the hand of her arm that had wrapped itself around my waist drifted upwards, until it came to a rest cupping my cheek.

“My beautiful boy.” she mumbled barely louder than a breath, clearly still half asleep, and her face relaxing. “Love you so much.”

And with that, she returned to her deep and steady breathing, signaling me that she was back in wonderland. I think I stared at the top of her head for a full minute before I realized that I was smiling happily. As I kissed the top of her head, to which she reacted by squeezing herself even tighter into me and releasing a contented sigh, I felt the urge to tell her that I loved her too. I was now believing them when they said it. And I felt more than just gratitude for them being part of my life again.

The day we all met up in court, so the judge could make the final divorce decree, held a few surprises with lasting consequences. I was mainly there to show support for Mom, so I was a little rattled when the judge suddenly spoke to me directly.

“Young man.” he said, after Mom’s lawyer had announced the new agreement and he had looked through the paperwork. “I have here a note from your parent’s counselor. It informs me that you were the one who took over all financial responsibilities for your mother and sister. Is that true?”

I blinked at him for a second, then, seeing Mom’s lawyer urgently waving her hand up and down, hastily stood up before answering him.

“Uh, yes ... your Honor ... I have a part time job and some extra income from my work as a software developer.”

“And, may I ask, that is enough to house and feed three people?” he continued with a skeptical glance at me.

That look he gave me bewildered me a little. I looked at Mom’s lawyer for guidance, though she just shrugged her shoulders, so I decided to speak up.

“Your Honor, between school and my jobs, I work roughly seventy-two hours per week. So ... yes, it’s enough.”

“Commendable.” he simply nodded, before signaling me to sit back down and turning his attention to Mom. “Mrs. Brown, was your son truly able to come up with enough money for all of your and your children’s needs?”

“Most of them, your Honor. Since my husband removed me from our joint accounts, and also removed us from his insurance plans, we had to give up our cars and make use of the free clinic instead of our family doctor. But he was able to cover most of everything else.” Mom explained, a little hesitant.

I hadn’t even thought about either of those things. Since they had moved in with me, we went everywhere together. At first because I couldn’t go alone, and then because they demanded to spend as much time as a family as possible. I had simply assumed it was a coincidence that we always used my Jeep. And after they never said a word about any problems regarding their health, I also never noticed their change of doctors.

“Hmm.” The judge hummed, seemingly in thought. “I see that you have both agreed on a mostly even division of assets. However, I see the need to make a few adjustments to that.”

I could see Aaron stiffen up at that before the judge continued with a louder, firmer, and official sounding voice.

“After reviewing the financial documents, the amount Mr. Brown is eligible for from the joint account between Mrs. Brown and their youngest child is set to $1,701.90, after deducting the outstanding taxation in the amount of $853.20. In addition to that, Mr. Brown will reimburse his son for twenty-five percent of the cost of living he had to pay on his own during the last four months.”

Mom’s head whipped around to look at me with wide eyes, though I had to work too hard to suppress an involuntary laugh to acknowledge her. Twenty-five percent of the living expenses for the past four months was equivalent to the living expenses of one month. In Numbers, that would be at least $2,400 Dollars, depending on what the judge constituted as living expenses. So, basically, Aaron wouldn’t receive shit from me! In fact, he already owed me money! But the judge wasn’t done yet.

“After reviewing the information I received from their marriage counselor, I award custody of their sole minor child to Mrs. Brown. Child support is set to $730 dollars per month until Timothy Brown turns eighteen or graduates high school. Further, Mrs. Brown is awarded maintenance in the amount of $970 dollars per month for the next twelve months, since she provided sufficient proof that her current qualifications no longer allow her to find employment that could sustain her and their child, and is now enrolled into a workforce qualification program.”

Now Mom was smiling brightly. Seeing her at that moment, I couldn’t help but notice how much all that stress must have really had weighed on her. With the stress gone from her face, and her body relaxing for the first time in months, she looked at least five years younger. Then the judge said the line that broke the spell again.

“The remainder of their estate will be split evenly, as per their agreement.”

With this, it was official. Mom would not get the house. The house would go on the market instead. I just hoped it wouldn’t be sold before John and I could make our move. Maybe I could persuade Mom to help with that timeframe, without letting her know what was happening in the background and ruining the surprise.

When the judge’s gavel hit the table, Mom and Aaron were both looking at me. Or, better yet, Mom was looking, Aaron was glaring.

Mom’s look communicated mostly relief, but also a little sadness. Probably about the finality of the divorce and the loss of the house. Meanwhile, Aaron’s glare let me instantly know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he would never be my Dad again. The slap the judge had handed out to him during his decree was the final nail in that coffin, after he had already blamed me for causing this whole mess in the first place. Now he must’ve been feeling like my continuous meddling had interfered with his plans.

Strangely enough, though, I didn’t feel much more than mild disappointment about the prospect of no longer having any hope for reconciliation with my father. I guess I had already come to terms with this possibility long ago.

Naturally, there was no celebration. The family did come together in John’s house, though. There was an excessive amount of alcohol consumed while I tried to stay away from Grandpa, as to not provoke any unnecessary arguments. A task that turned out to be tricky, however, as he was very eager to lighten Mom’s mood, while Mom would still insist on me being an integral part of every family event. Even this one.

I managed to slip into the kitchen with John for a few minutes, so we could converse about the progress of the money laundering. We decided on him talking with Mom as soon as the opportunity arose, to make sure she wouldn’t agree to any offer without consulting him first. Then John surprised me by suddenly wrapping me in a manly bearhug, holding it for several seconds.

“Thank you for taking care of my sister, Tim.” he whispered after finally letting go of me, though he placed a hand on my shoulder instead. “Don’t let Dad’s crap get to you. Everyone else can see that you ARE caring for this family. I don’t think I could’ve achieved half of what you did if I were in your shoes. In time, he will see that too.”

With that, he squeezed my shoulder, handed me a beer, and left the kitchen just in time for Mom, Ava, and Danny to enter instead. However, once they had noticed me, their conversation stopped. I felt like they were somehow appraising me. Mom then stood to my left, while Ava hip checked me after walking over to my right...

“And how are you, little Brother?” Ava inquired with a compassionate look.

“What?” I asked, unable to hide my confusion. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

I thought I could see a shadow of disapproval cross Danny’s face.

“Because we all saw the look your father gave you after the judge finished talking.” Mom explained while wrapping an arm around my waist, like she did so often now. “And we’re a little worried about you.”

Despite everything, that made me smile and return the gesture. I pulled her closer to me before answering her.

“Look, Danny warned me about my habit of claiming to be alright despite not actually being alright. But I’m not lying this time. I don’t know...” I paused to try and find the right words. “I guess it would’ve been nice if, in the end, everyone was happy, but ... I made my peace with this outcome a while ago. It would’ve taken a miracle by now to make him change his view. So, this time, you really don’t have to worry.”

All three of them seemed to contemplate whether they could believe me, but ultimately accepted my answer with a nod.

“Now the more pressing issue is the question if you are okay.” I continued, poking Mom with my index finger which caused her to giggle.

“Yes, Darling, I’m okay.” she assured me. “I admit, it’s a little sad. You said it yourself once, we had been married for more than two decades. I spend more than half my life with that man by my side. But I’d rather lose him than my children. Actually ... I’d even go so far and say that the loss of the house hurts more.”

That was unexpected. I had seen Ava and Mom mourn the house sale, but I didn’t really understand their reasons.

“Why?” I decided to simply ask, and it was Ava who spoke up first.

“Tim ... I know that you’re not going to fondly remember the last few years you spent in our home. But...” she hesitated. “Please don’t misunderstand. It’s just, for me, for fifteen of the eighteen years I’ve been alive, I do have fond memories of that place.”

“And it’s the home I raised my Babies in.” Mom added while nodding in approval about her daughter’s thoughts.

“Huh.” I deadpanned. Not because I somehow disapproved of their statement. Quite the opposite, actually. I could see their point. I just never saw it their way, as the last few years had been so prevalent in my memory that I couldn’t see the thirteen years that came before Logan’s initiation into the family fun. Sure, those weren’t great either, with Logan being the apple of their eye since birth, but they were a lot better than the years after I became his target.

Also, as Mom made her short statement, I could clearly see that she wanted to say more, but held back for some reason. As if to confirm my impression, Danny stepped next to Mom and placed a hand on her back while giving her a small nod, like she wanted to encourage her to speak up.

“I’m ... I’m a little scared, now that the house is gone.” Mom said in a small voice.

“What about?” I asked. “You know you don’t have to pay me any rent, so you can use the alimony and child support for a new health and car insurance.”

Somehow, that seemed to have been the wrong thing to say, as she wrapped both arms around me now.

“That’s kind of the problem.” she said. “I love you, Tim. And I never want to lose you again. But I’m afraid that ... when I have to rely on you so much ... you might doubt my intentions.”

At that moment, I realized that I wasn’t the only one affected by Grandpa’s words. His tirade about me being selfish had shown both, Mom and me, how difficult it was to prove sincerity once the trust was gone, and she knew that she had lost my trust.

“I think we’ve made enough progress to be past that. But, even if we weren’t...” I tried to emphasize my following words by tightening my hug. “ ... I know you’re not staying with me because you have to. Even if the condo didn’t have a readily waiting third bedroom, as Grandpa pointed out, you could also go back to living with John if you just needed someone to support you. So, I know you’re staying with me because you want to ... well, stay with me.”

“Oh, Darling!” Mom sighed as her arms squeezed me back. “Thank you! I love you so, so much! I promise you, I will never again forget that!”

“I love you too, Mom.” I chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

I said it without even thinking about it. It just came out. It took us a long time and a lot of work, but saying it felt not only like the right thing to say at that moment, but also like the truth. I only realized what I had done when all the heads of the women surrounding me whipped up and around to stare at me.

“You ... You said ... You love me?” Mom stuttered, wide eyed and her voice full of disbelief, but refusing to move her body even an inch away from me.

“I did.”

Mom took my face in both of her hands, while her gaze stayed focused on my eyes. I could see her own eyes glazing over before thick tears started rolling down her cheeks.

“You love me?” she asked me to confirm again, which I did with a nod. “My Baby loves me again! I’m getting my Baby back! I love you more than you can imagine! I love y...”

She couldn’t continue. Her voice was wrecked with violent sobs while she clung to me like her life depended on it. I chose to let one of my hands move up her back until it reached her head, and gently held it against my chest while she cried herself out. I could also see that this emotional display affected Ava and Danny in a similar manner as it had Mom. Ava couldn’t hold back too long before she had to join in on the hug, while Danny left the room to let us have that moment.