She fixes me a cup of tea that’s similar to hers and places some honey in it.
We sit across from each other and I take the first sip, then wince.
“It’s hot, be careful.” She slides a glass of water in my direction and I take it.
“Thanks. Do you always wake up in the middle of the night to drink herbal tea?”
“Only when I’m too excited to sleep.” She beams. “It’s so rare to have both Gaz and Kill visiting at the same time.”
Her expression becomes distant and a sad smile lifts her lips. “No one told me they’d grow up this fast and leave me. I wish they would go back to being my little boys.”
I sip from the cup and thankfully, it’s not that hot. “Mum says that, too, about us.”
“All moms do.”
We remain silent for a bit as I contemplate the best way to broach the subject that’s been bugging me since I first heard about it.
Apparently, today is courage day, because I murmur, “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“It’s about the incident that happened when Killian was seven.”
Her grip tightens around the cup. “He told you about that?”
“Yes, and he also said that you’ve been afraid of him since. Is that true?”
She pauses, then takes a long sip of her tea. “He thinks that?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not true. I would never be scared of my own son. I’m just…scared of what he could do.” Her gaze gets lost in the distance as her finger traces the rim of her cup. “At that moment, I realized that he’s different, that he has no limits and no one can force them on him. Let’s just say, I have bad memories about people like that. But that doesn’t mean I’m afraid of him.”
Hope blossoms in my chest. If it’s all a misunderstanding, then maybe Killian can move on from that part of his childhood.
Yes, it won’t heal him, since he’s not actually sick, but it’ll at least offer him closure. These are his parents, after all, and no matter how much he wants to pretend it doesn’t affect him, I know it does, at least a little.
“I didn’t know Kill thought that. I’ll talk to him.”
“Please don’t say I told you about it.”
“Don’t worry. We girls have to stick up for each other, remember?” She smiles and places her hand on mine. “Thank you, Glyn.”
“For what?”
“For bringing my baby boy home and putting the light back in his eyes. He lost it years ago and I thought I would never see it again.”
I’m about to say she’s imagining things and that I couldn’t be the reason when a male voice calls from down the hall, “Prom queen? Where are you? You know I can’t sleep without you by my side.”
“Shhh, keep our talk a secret.” She puts a finger to her mouth. “That’s my cue to go.”
Reina slips out of the kitchen and I sneakily follow after her to see how Mr. Carson wraps her in his arms, kisses the top of her head, and stares at her the way Dad stares at Mum.
Like he honestly can’t live without her.
God, will I ever have someone look at me that way?
After they disappear up the stairs, I go back to the kitchen to finish my tea and check my messages.