Mum squared her shoulders and placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t take that shitty tone of voice with me, Scott. I would not have asked you to come if it wasn’t important.”
I forced out a breath and tried to calm down. “Sorry. Today’s been hard, but you didn’t deserve that.” I paused as the emotions running through me came to the surface. My voice softened as I added, “Harlow is pregnant again.”
Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. “That’s the best news I’ve heard for a long time!”
Nodding, I said, “Yeah…I’m concerned, though.”
“Why?”
I sat on her couch and rested my elbows on my knees. My muscles had knotted in my shoulders and back, and I dropped my head forward to stretch my neck. Looking back up at her, I laid out my fears. “Harlow told me she didn’t want to try for a baby again just yet. I’m worried this is too soon for her when she’s still trying to work through her grief. She’s come so far and I don’t want her to ever go back to where she was.”
Mum sat next to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Scott, sometimes what we think will be the worst thing for us, turns out to be exactly what we need. I’ve been keeping an eye on Harlow and I think things have changed for her. I think she’s stronger now and has the mental tools to cope with whatever happens. Amongst other things she’s been doing that helped, you going away was good for her.”
“Why?”
“It forced her to take some responsibility on again, and it also gave her something besides herself to think about. She was busy looking after Lisa and Michelle, as well as the café with her mum, and trying to help Wilder out.”
I thought I’d noticed a change in Harlow, but I figured I’d been seeing something that perhaps wasn’t there. What I wanted to see. But maybe Mum was right.
Pressing my back against the couch, I said, “I hope you’re right. And I hope to fuck we don’t lose this baby.” I drummed my fingers on my leg and did my best to ignore the tightness in my chest. We can’t lose this one.
“If you lose another child, you’ll face that together. You’re an amazing man and I’m so proud of the way you’ve stood by Harlow. Even though your father set the worst example of how to be a man and a husband, you’ve figured out how to do it right, and Harlow is very lucky to have you.” Her eyes misted over as she took a breath. When she spoke again, her voice cracked as she felt her way through her words. “I’m so sorry for allowing your father to remain a part of our family while you were growing up. I wish I’d done better and given you and Madison the kind of father you both deserved. But I can’t go back; all I can do is be there for you now, whenever and however you need me.”
I took all her words in, hearing her for what felt like the first time in a long time. I’d shut her out over the last year, but it was time to let her back in. Mum had suffered at the hands of my father for so long; she didn’t need to keep hurting.
It’s time to put our family back together.
Reaching for her hand, I murmured, “When you know better, you do better, right?”
Tears slid down her face as she nodded. “Yes,” she whispered.
We sat in silence for a while, lost in our own thoughts. A man who only cared about himself had screwed up our family from the beginning. I would build us back up and give us the opportunity to be the strong family we always should have been.
Mum eventually wiped her tears and squeezed my hand. Smiling, she said softly, “I’ve got someone who wants to see you.”
I frowned as she stood and left the room. When she returned a minute later with a red-headed man, I stood and jerked my chin at him. “Blue.” Uncle Dan. The key to understanding so damn much that we’d struggled with for so long.
He nodded. “Scott.”
“You’re finally coming home? Or, just visiting?”
Blue smiled at Mum before turning back to me. “I’m moving back to Brisbane. Finally.”
I watched their interaction closely, and anger at my father roared through me again. He’d done this – he’d broken a brother and sister apart, all for his own gain. Not that I knew the full story, but I knew enough to know that.
Regret, nostalgia and hope circled the three of us as the significance of this day was acknowledged. “What happened all those years ago, Blue? How the hell did my father force you to agree to leave town?”
His chest rose and fell hard before he exhaled a long breath. Nodding at the couch, he suggested, “Take a seat, son, this is a long story.”
Son.