John rolled on his feet again. "Fair enough. I don't want to fight with either of my siblings."
Vicki then pushed the curtain back as she wiped tears from her eyes. Then she stood and smiled as she hugged the woman's hand.
"Peter. Mom, Peter's here."
This was surreal. The room was all white. As he stepped into the room, he stared at his mother. She had his dark hair once, though now she had more than a few grays. She had brown eyes that had haunted him all his life. In his memory, she was strong, but now he gazed at her wrinkles. She wasn't the same.
He leaned on the tray table someone had left food on. Her gaze stayed on him.
He swallowed and stepped closer. This was like one of his dreams where his mother had come home. He had forgotten that. He ignored everyone else but her as he sat on the bed. Her hands reached out to touch him. He choked on what he'd say and took her hand in his. The monitors beeped from brushing against the instrument attached to her finger.
Peter then heard his siblings, and he turned to them, "Vicki. John. Can I talk to her alone?"
Vicki tugged on their brother's arm. "Of course. Take your time."
Peter stared at his mother, who then reached out to touch his face. His heart ached that she had ended up here. The monitor on her nose clearly measured her breaths. He waited for the clack of footsteps leaving the room to end. Then he reached out and brushed her cheek.
Her eyes watered as he said all the words he could muster, "Hey, Mom."
She tried to sit, but he shook his head. She lay back down, but clutched his hand. "Peter, I wish I wasn't sick. The doctors said they'd just monitor me."
He swallowed his own tears. He then petted her arm. He had pictured her dead so many times.
He tried to smile. "It's okay. You look better than I imagined."
She tried to sit, but the monitor blocked her. Her arms were wide open as she sobbed. "Peter..."
She couldn't say anything else. Her tears filled the room with sound. He wrapped his arms around her and ignored the monitors.
"Don't cry. I'm here."
She hugged him as the monitors beeped. "All these years you were the one I saw in all my dreams and nightmares. You were so close. It was your eyes that followed me across the foyer, and that moment I remembered the most.”
“What?”
“You were my boy, my helper. You always tried to protect me and your siblings. Your lips that curled into a frown when you realized you couldn't stop your father. You followed me everywhere until your father had me taken away. Now you've grown into a handsome man."
For a long while they didn't say anything. As a child, he remembered so many details about his mother. He could have followed her everywhere. He didn't remember.
For now, he held her hand and that was it. She stopped crying and settled into the bed. Silence clung in the air now. He remembered what he had said to Belle.
"Mom, did you see me that day?"
She choked on a tear and then coughed. The monitor on her nose made noises, but then she stopped and wiped her face.
"On the stairs? Yes. You helped me put everyone to bed, and then didn't listen when I tucked you in. I argued with your father that I wanted a divorce, which he denied me. I walked out the front door to get air, nothing more. I would never have left you there."
"I wanted to follow you."
"At the dock, before I was loaded onto the ship, your father told me to consider you dead as you'd never be my boy ever again."
Those words sounded like Mitch Morgan. Peter had heard things like that all his life. His stomach now burned.
"Mom."
"I believed him when he said I'd never see you again." She squeezed his hand and he stared into her eyes. "Peter, I am sorry I didn't hold you as tight as I should have."
This wasn't her fault. He shook his head and wished he had done more to defy his father than he had. He stroked her cheek.
"Don't say that. I was being selfish and scared. When you walked in the door, I didn't know what to do. It was my boyhood dream."
"It was my dream too. I wanted all my children."
"I'm sorry, Mom."
"There is nothing to be sorry for. This was your father's fault. I'm happy you're not like him."
If only that was true. She made that sound she used to make when he made her proud with a present he had made her. He covered his lips and sat there. His mother pressed the button on her bed and moved it to sit up. She straightened her pillows and then squeezed his hand again.
"Peter, tell me about your girlfriend. Is she good to you?"
Belle made him happy. She was sweet. He sat beside his mother and saw her as she was in his memory.
"Mom, Belle and I are new with dating. I think she's too good for me."
Her gaze narrowed, much like Vicki's did when she was deciding for herself. "Why?"
This was it. He had to tell her the truth. "Because I can be a controlling jerk like dad, and she shouldn't end up all alone like you."
Her eyes misted as she petted his hand. "Your father is not the only person inside you.”
“I see him when I look in the mirror.”
“You're your own beautiful soul, and you're also my son, Peter. You even look like me, not him.”
“He taught me to be just like him.”
“But I can see in your eyes that you still have some of me in you too. You still have that protective spirit you had as a child."
She was about to cry again. She started to cough.
Peter jumped off the bed and then said, "Mom, take it easy. We want to take you home."
She finished coughing and held her hand up for him to hold again. "Take your own advice. When I get out of here, I want to sit and have a nice dinner with this girl of yours. Your brother and sister picked out nice people to marry, and I want to see you have the same happiness."
John knocked on the door. "Can we come back in?"
Peter held his mother's hand as he called out, "Sure." Then he met his mother's brown eyes, and again he told her how he felt. "Mom, Dad locked you away for years and had you listed as merchandise in a ledger. You of all people shouldn't believe in love."
Vicki and John went white as they stepped inside the room.
Their mother held out her other hand as she answered Peter. "I want for you what I should have expected for myself. I fell for your dad's good looks and charm, but that doesn't mean you will. Trust your heart."
Vicki took the offered hand. "Is everything okay in here?"
Peter didn't let go. He stared into his mom's face. "Yeah. Mom wants all her children together."
Their mom quickly added, "And happy."
John stood beside Vicki with his hand on their sister's waist. "We are, Mom."
His mother nodded. "I intend to get out of here for Peter's New Year's party. There is a family matter that needs to be done in person and not at a hospital."
"We'll all be there." Vicki added, "It's going to be fun to ring in the New Year together. "Or we can schedule something the day you get out."
"Both will be good." His mother nodded.
Peter stared at his family. With Belle at the party, his life would be complete.
Chapter Twenty Three