Family.
Lorna’s eyes bounce back and forth between us before she bursts out into tears, covering her face with her hands. Instinct tells me to give her a moment, so I do. In a few seconds, she puts her hands down and is laughing through her tears.
“Yes! Yes, I’d love to go to breakfast and I’d love to make this a weekly tradition.” She digs in her purse, pulling out a wad of tissues to dab at her cheeks.
“Well, follow me, then,” Levi says as he steps forward and takes her hand. “Let’s go inside and get the others. We’ll let Duncan pick the place.”
I stay on the street, watching as Levi and Lorna go back upthe steps and inside the apartment. This is a moment I want to sear into my memory banks for always so I can tell Duncan about it one day. How his grandmother and Levi made peace in order to give him the life he deserves.
How they became a family.
“Hey,” Levi calls out, gripping the door handle still. “We need you in here.”
“Really?” I ask. I make my way up the steps as Duncan appears in the doorway beside him.
“I need you,” Duncan says, pointing to his tie, which has already come untangled. “Austin messed my tie up, but Levi says you know how to fix it.”
Grinning, I hold my hands out to my side. “Guilty as charged, I'm good at tying ties.”
Duncan giggles. “Tying ties. That’s going to be the title of the first book I write.”
“Is it?” I say, smiling over his head at Levi. “I like that. I can see you being an author.”
Levi ruffles his hair, a move I love watching him do. “Okay, buddy, let’s get the family together and get some food, okay?”
Duncan nods, his eyes still trained on me. “You heard him. Come on, Georgie, I need to get the family together.”
My heart hiccups in a way that I’m not comprehending. As Duncan holds his hand out for me to take, and I do, I’m hit by a wall of emotion and overwhelm.
Family. Even Duncan sees me as family, and it’s more than reciprocated. I feel this in my bones as pure and solid as the Earth is round and rotating in a circle, orbiting the sun.
I don’t care what else there is to this life. This moment of acceptance is all I’ve ever needed.
Ever.
TWENTY-ONE
Georgie
“So, if I’m going to be an author, I figured I should start a journal.” Duncan hoists a giant five-subject notebook on the counter in front of me. “I’m going to write in it every day and put down what I did.”
“That’s a good idea,” I say casually as I price the stack of books in front of me. “Have you started already?”
“On Sunday, after our first Sunday dinner with Grandma.” He pats the notebook and slides it my way. “Can you keep it back there for now? I don’t want to lose it while I’m here working my shift.”
“Sure.” I slide it under the counter. Duncan has been with me at the store almost every day for the last ten days, ever since Lorna called off the court case. It’s been blissful and surreal as we’ve all settled into a new pattern, routines that needed to be there, and now that they are we’re all benefiting from them. Even Toto, who is getting walked twice a day by Duncan now as well as serious playtime in the park, usually after work.
“You know, we shouldn’t call it a shift since technically you’re not supposed to be ‘working,’” I tease.
“Well, you’re paying me in books, so we can’t be breaking the law.”
Wise guy. Still witty and I’m still not going to let him know I think so. Don’t want it going to his head.
“Good point.” I grab the stack of books and head into an aisle, placing them on their designated shelves. “Are you looking forward to moving into your new place with Levi this weekend?”
“Yeah!” Duncan cries out, jumping in place. “We’ll be in town now, so that is cool. I can go to the park when I want to, but we’ll still go to the farm, too. That’s also cool.”
“Everything is cool.” I giggle.
