I chuckled, appreciating my mom’s feistiness. She used to put my dad in his place—before he turned into a psychopath. “Actually, I’m getting married today. Just wanted to kill some time, so I thought I would stop by.”
“What?” She grabbed my hand, her slender fingers covering my knuckles. “You’re getting married today?”
I couldn’t remember the last time my mother touched me. I hadn’t gotten a hug from her in years. I was a grown man who didn’t need anyone for anything, but my mother’s affection meant something to me. “Yeah.”
“That’s wonderful.” She clapped her hands and gave me a beaming smile. “Who’s the lucky lady?”
“Her name is Rome. And she’s my world.” That summarized my feelings in a nutshell. She was the center of my universe, the focal point through which I looked at the world.
“That’s so romantic. Where are you getting married?”
“St. Thomas Church.”
“Not sure where that is, but I’m sure it’s beautiful.”
I nodded. “It’s what she wanted. And my woman gets what she wants.”
“I can already tell you’re going to make a great husband.”
“Thank you.” Some days would be more difficult than others, but with Rome’s help, I knew I would be okay. We could work through any problems we had.
“I’m surprised you aren’t having a drink with your friends to fight off the nerves.”
“I’m not nervous.” Rome was the woman I wanted to spend my life with. Why should I be nervous?
“You have to admit, spending the day with a stranger is an odd utilization of time,” she said with a chuckle.
“You aren’t a stranger.” I didn’t know what motivated me to say that. Since I’d been visiting her for years and having the same conversations over and over, I guess I just didn’t want to repeat them again. It was a special day for me, and I wanted something different.
She tilted her head slightly, unsure of my meaning.
“I’ve been visiting you every week for years,” I whispered. “You’ve lost your memory due to illness, so you don’t recall me. But I’ve been reading to you, keeping you company, and spending time with you for a long time.”
Instead of asking a million questions, her face fell in sadness. She watched me with pity, like I was the one who was suffering. “You’re right…I can’t remember anything. My parents…my friends… I woke up this morning in a place I’ve never seen.”
I held the book in my hands, hating the fact that I was sitting there completely helpless. I couldn’t make my mother better. If I could shorten my life so she could fully live hers, I would. “I know it must be scary. Just know that you’re in a safe place, and you have people who love you.”
She felt her necklace around her throat, a piece of jewelry my father gave her when he wasn’t such a monster. He eyes drifted to the wooden floor, her look suddenly sunken with despair.
I hated seeing it.
“Are you one of those people, Calloway?” She lowered her hand from her necklace and looked me in the eye, strength slowly replacing her sadness.
“What people?”
“One of the people who love me?”
I gripped the book before I nodded. “I am.”
Her eyes watered like she already knew exactly who I was. Maybe she recognized my eyes because they were identical to her own. Maybe she felt the unspoken connection between us, the bond between mother and son. “You’re my son…”
I swallowed hard before I nodded, feeling the pain deep in my throat. I thought I would feel happy the day she knew who I was, but somehow, it made me feel worse. Now she knew she missed out on so much of my life, not because she wasn’t there, but because those memories were lost. “Yeah.”
“Oh…” She reached for my hand, comforting me when I should be comforting her. “You’re such a handsome man… I can’t believe you’re my son.”
I gave her hand a squeeze. “I have your eyes.” I looked into hers without blinking, wanting her to see the blue color she carried.
“Yes…you do.” She brought my hand to her mouth and kissed it. “I’m so sorry I can’t remember… I try but I can’t.”
“Don’t apologize, Mom.” Tears burned in my eyes when I finally called her by her rightful name. I hated saying Theresa. It was impersonal and improper. “I remember for the both of us. You were a great mom. The best, actually.”
“Yeah?” Tears bubbled in her eyes then fell down her cheeks. “Do you have any siblings?”
“A younger brother. Jackson.”
“Aww. Do you two look alike?”
“Yes,” I said with a chuckle. “People think we’re twins from time to time.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m glad the two of you have stuck together. And what of your father?”
I wasn’t going to tell her that he was an evil psychopath that made the world a better place once he died. “He passed away a long time ago.”
“Oh…I see.”
“You two loved each other a lot.”
“I’m sure we did. So, my son is getting married today?”
I knew she wouldn’t remember this conversation in the morning, but it was nice to have this moment with her. It was fleeting, about to disappear as quickly as it came, but that was okay. I was grateful I got to have the experience at all. “Yeah. I’m meeting her at the church in an hour.”
“I would love to meet her, Calloway. I’m sure she’s lovely.”
I’d never taken my mom out of the facility before, but we’d never ventured to this level of honesty either. “Come to the wedding.”
“Really?” she asked. “You think that’s a good idea?”
Rome and Jackson would be surprised, but they would welcome her with open arms. I couldn’t think of anything that would make this day more perfect. “Nothing would make me happier.”
25
Rome
I stood outside the church with Christopher, listening to the cars pass in the street just a few feet away. When pedestrians walked by, they looked at me in my floor-length wedding dress. There was some pointing and smiling. Some people waved. I even got a few whistles from both men and women.
“This is the one and only time I’m gonna say this,” Christopher said. “So you better not miss it.”
“I love you too,” I blurted.
“Actually, that’s not what I was gonna say. Let’s not get carried away.”
“Fine,” I said with a laugh. “What were you gonna say?”
He grabbed both of my shoulders and turned serious. “You look really pretty.”
“Yeah?” This was already turning out to be a great day.
“Yeah.” He squeezed my shoulders before he extended his elbow. “You ready for this?”
“So ready.”
“Not nervous?”
“Not even a little bit.” Calloway was the only man I wanted to spend my life with. He was exactly what I’d been looking for my whole life. I was excited to change my last name, to become one with him forever.
“Good.” He opened the door and walked me inside. Calloway stood at the end of the aisle in front of the empty seats and the pastor. Jackson stood beside him, wearing a dark suit and tie. Music came over the speakers, and even though there was no one there but the four of us, it felt perfect. It was just right—for us.
I loved the way Calloway looked at me. It was the exact same way he’d stared at me every single day of our lives so far. There was need, desperation, and unconditional love in those beautiful blue eyes. I knew he would cherish me every single day, make me strong when I was weak, make me feel beautiful when I was hideous.
He would give me everything I needed.
It seemed to take a lifetime for Christopher to walk me to the front. We didn’t walk with the music, but time seemed to slow down anyway. By the time I finally got there, I didn’t even realize I was holding onto Christopher. I didn’t feel him beside me at all.
Calloway took my hand and
ignored Christopher like he wasn’t there. Calloway grabbed my hands and looked me in the eyes, not having a flicker of doubt on his features. He looked like the strong man I’d seen every single day. Calloway wasn’t the kind of man to be nervous, and he definitely wasn’t nervous then.
The priest began the short ceremony, reading our vows and our promise to love one another. I nearly forgot to repeat the words that were spoken to me because I was concentrating on Calloway’s face, on the clean look of his jaw since he shaved that morning. The priest read the vows to Calloway. “Will you take this woman to be your wife, to love and cherish her until death do you part?”
The corner of his mouth rose in a smile. “I’ll love you longer than that.”
The priest continued. “Do you take this man to be your husband, to love and obey him until death do you part?”
I knew Calloway specifically asked the priest to put that line about obedience in there. But that was a compromise, one of many that we would make together. “I do.”
His eyes darkened just the way I liked, the way he looked at me before he possessed me on the bed. He hands gently squeezed mine, and he restrained himself from pulling me into his chest.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Calloway took those words very seriously as his hands cupped my face and he kissed me, giving me that delicious mouth and some of his tongue. He kissed me long and hard, not caring about Jackson and Christopher being forced to watch our ridiculous display of affection.
My hands moved around his wrists, feeling his gently beating pulse under the skin. I could feel forever in that kiss, feel a lifetime of joy. Calloway and I had our problems in the past, but all of that didn’t seem to matter anymore.
He pulled away then pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Mrs. Owens. I love the way that sounds.”
“Me too, Mr. Owens.”
Calloway took my hand and guided me to a seat in the front aisle. A woman I hadn’t noticed before was sitting there, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. It took me a second to understand who she was.
“Your mom…?”
Calloway nodded. “I visited her today, and things went well…”
“Then she knows who you are?”
“Yeah.”
His mother rose to her feet, her eyes still wet. “You look so beautiful.” She pulled me into her arms and hugged me in a way my own mother never did. Her touch was full of affection even though, to her, she’d just met me that day. She didn’t know a single thing about me, but she already loved me. “You’ll give my son such beautiful children. That makes me so happy.” She pulled away and kissed me on the cheek. “So proud of you, Cal.” She moved into his side and hugged him.
“Thanks, Mom.” Calloway never showed his weak spots to anyone. The only time his shell seemed to soften was when he was with me—and his mother. I loved the fact that he wasn’t callused all the time, that he wore his heart on his sleeve sometimes. “Jackson is gonna take you home so Rome and I can head on our trip.”
“That’s wonderful,” she said. “You two have the best time, okay?”
“We will.” Calloway grabbed my hand and guided me to the large church doors I’d entered through in the beginning. When we got outside, a white limo was waiting for us, Tom holding the back door for us.
Sunlight hit us hard in the face on that spring afternoon, making Calloway’s eyes light up brighter than usual. He rarely smiled, but right now he wore a grin I’d never seen before. It was the kind of happiness that infected all of his features, turned him into a softer version of himself. Sometimes he chuckled when I made a joke, but it wasn’t anything compared to this. It was the first time he’d seemed truly happy.
“I like it when you smile like that.”
He guided me to the car, but his eyes were on me the entire time. “Smile like what?”
“Smile like you’re free.”
“I don’t feel free,” he said. “I’ve been free my whole life, and that’s why I was so miserable. But now…I have something to live for.” He took the door from Tom and extended his hand so he could help me inside.
“Now I have something to live for too.”
Epilogue
Calloway
Mom sat on my left at the table, while Jackson sat on my other side. Rome just finished placing all the dishes on the table and finally sat down to eat. Our wineglasses were full, and the meal smelled incredible.
“So how long have you two been married?” Mom asked.
“A year,” I answered. “Our anniversary is next week.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Mom said. “They say the first year is the hardest… I’m not sure how correct that is. Honestly, I can’t remember the first year of my marriage. I can’t even remember your father.”
“That’s okay, Mom,” I said. “We can always remind you.”
“Yeah,” Jackson. “Calloway and I look just like him—except we have your eyes.”
“And that’s not correct,” I said. “The first year was a breeze.” Rome and I enjoyed our honeymoon and all the fantastic routine of our married life. We worked together every day, used the gym together, came home and had dinner, and of course, the sex was as great as it’d always been—in and out of the playroom.
Rome wore a smile as she sat down. “I’ve enjoying picking up his dirty socks a lot more than I thought I would.”
Mom chuckled. “I just hope they didn’t smell too bad.”
“I don’t smell,” I countered. Mom could probably contradict that with stories of my childhood, but fortunately, she didn’t remember any of that. When I went to visit her in the nursing home, I reminded her who I was, and she took the revelation well. But there were times when she didn’t take the news well at all. She screamed and cried and got so worked up that she demanded I leave and never come back.
“I’m sure they smelled like ass.” Jackson dug into his food immediately, shoving large chunks of food into his mouth like a grizzly bear.
“Manners,” Mom snapped.
Jackson took his elbows off the table and took smaller bites of food, eating like a human rather than a wild animal.
Mom took a few bites then turned to Rome. “You have a brother, don’t you, sweetheart?”
“I do.” Rome sipped her wine before she returned the glass to the table. “His name is Christopher. He works in bonds and mutual funds at a private wealth company in the city. He likes it.”
“Delightful. Is he older than you?”
“By a few months.”
Mom raised an eyebrow, knowing that didn’t add up.
“Rome and Christopher were both adopted,” I explained. Mom asked about this many times, but since she could never remember it, we had to repeat.
“Oh, I see,” Mom said. “Water is just as strong as blood sometimes.”
“I think it’s stronger.” I shot Jackson a glare.
“Oh, shut up.” Jackson picked up a piece of corn and threw it at me. “You love me, and you know it.”
“Do not.”
“I distinctly remember you saying otherwise.” Jackson shoved another pile of food into his mouth.
“Only because you said it first, and I didn’t want you to feel like an idiot.” After I was shot, Jackson turned soft on me. But now we picked on each other again like I’d never had a near-death experience.
“Shut up, you two,” Rome said. “Theresa and I know you two love each other. So stop pretending that you don’t.”
“I never said I didn’t love him,” Jackson argued. “He’s the one saying he doesn’t love me.”
I rolled my eyes. “This is the stupidest argument we’ve ever had.”
“No,” Jackson said. “I’m pretty sure we’ve had worse.”
A knock sounded on the door.
“Hmm, I wonder who that is.” Rome set her napkin on the table and pushed her chair back.
“No.” I rose to my feet and pointed at her chair. “Sit.”
Jackso
n grabbed his fork and knife and started acting like a caveman. “You do this…you do that. Now.”
Rome covered her mouth and laughed at his dead-on impersonation.
“You got something to say, punk?” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down.
“Me?” He continued to do his caveman act. “Me hungry. Me thirsty.”
The knock sounded again.
Rome laughed again, and that’s when I gave up. I walked to the front door and checked the peephole before I let Christopher walk inside. “Hey, man. We’re just having dinner. You wanna join us?”
“Free food?” he asked. “Hell yeah.”
“Then come on in.” We walked back into the dining room. Christopher grabbed a plate and sat beside Rome. Just like Jackson, he shoveled pounds of food onto his plate like he hadn’t eaten in days. When he realized my mother was at the table, he introduced himself. He’d met her dozens of times, but he was used to the routine. “Hey, Theresa. I’m Christopher, Rome’s brother.”
“Oh, we were just talking about you,” Mom said. “They were all good things, I promise.”
“I’m sure,” Christopher said. “Rome thinks the world of me.”
“Yeah…” Rome said sarcastically. “I always chat you up.”
Christopher grabbed a piece of corn and threw it at Rome just the way Jackson threw a piece at me earlier.
Rome opened her mouth and caught it.
“Wow.” Jackson clapped his hands together. “That’s good instincts right there.”
“That’s my woman,” I said proudly. “Quick reflexes.”
“Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something,” Christopher said as he turned on Jackson.
“Yeah?” Jackson asked. “Finances? Women? Style? I’ve got a great tailor on Fifth—”
“No, it’s about that chick, Isabella,” Christopher said. “I ran into her at Ruin the other night.”
I didn’t realize Christopher was a new member. And I certainly didn’t know Isabella was back.
“What’s her story?” Christopher asked. “She’s hot.”
Rome kept eating like she didn’t want to be part of the conversation.
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