Page 38 of Remade

Please like me, ma’am.

“I’m not even gonna try to hug her first,” Ryan muttered. “She’ll leave me hanging.”

Mary emerged with her husband, and a new round of tears filled her eyes immediately. Her feet carried her faster, low heels clicking against the floor, at the same time as it looked like her husband had to hold her up a little.

The distance between us disappeared too fast for me to be able to process it, and I stood there frozen in both mind and body. I just registered her falling apart, her blue eyes, her thin coat, the purse she dropped, and?—

“Oh, I see him in you, sweet child.” She let out a sob and threw her arms around my neck. “My darling boy—I see him in you.”

I screwed my eyes shut and broke inside, and I hugged her back awkwardly. Emotions surged forward so quickly that there was no chance I could build up a defense to hold them back. Myeyes burned, it suddenly felt like someone was standing on my chest, and my nerves were officially shot.

Mary smelled of a sweet perfume, like you expected old people to.

“Oh, Jake, Jake, Jake,” she wept. “You look so much like him, Leighton.”

I sniffled and clenched my jaw, refusing to make a sound. That tears rolled down my cheeks couldn’t be helped, but I wasn’t going to embarrass myself.

Mary eased back and cupped my face in her hands, and she smiled through her own tears.

“To learn Jake had a son…” She laughed tearfully and shook her head. “He left behind the best kind of legacy.”

Oh Christ.

I blinked hard and inched away to hurriedly wipe at my cheeks.

The best kind of legacy.

She was killing me.

I wasn’t alone anymore?

I swallowed repeatedly, and Mary made room for James, who walked forward and extended his hand to me.

“It’s good to meet you, boy,” he said thickly. As Ryan had predicted, as soon as I grasped James’s hand, he added a second and squeezed mine firmly.

“You too, sir.” I nodded once, unable to speak another word.

I guess I look like you, Dad.

I mean, I’d seen it—some of it. Some of my features. But the rest of the family had decades of memories. A few pictures couldn’t compare.

Mary surprised me with another hug, and a whimper almost broke free.Fuck, fuck, fuck.I needed to get my shit together.

“I can’t wait to get to know you, sweetheart,” she cried. “I’m sure Jake loves you so, so much, wherever he is right now.”

“Okay, Ma—let’s not… He’s overwhelmed as it is.” Ryan cleared his throat and stepped forward. “C’mere, you.” He saved my ass by gently pulling Mary to his side. “Leighton, meet Darius and Gray.”

I coughed and discreetly wiped at my cheeks once more, then summoned all my strength to face the next two. I’d done my best to avoid looking at them because I could only handle one emotional attack at a time.

Gray couldn’t be much older than me. Like, fuck, a few years, maybe? He was way younger than Darius. And he smiled warmly and snuck in for a quick hug.

“It’s great to meet you, Leighton.”

“Thanks, you too,” I croaked. Goddammit. I bet I was all red-faced too.

In the background, I heard Mary ask why I had cuts and scrapes across my face, so I hoped Ryan had a good response.

Darius was…a presence. I met his gaze briefly as he extended a hand to me, and I could see he was affected by all this, but he hid it fairly well. Unless his eyes burned like that on the regular. His jaw ticked with tension, and I shook his hand.

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