“I don’t understand,” I say, cutting her off, feeling more pain in my throat from the dryness.
“I was going to surprise you,” she says quietly, with a small huff of a laugh. I find myself looking between her wide gaze, noticing the stain of pink surrounding the golden hue of her chestnut eyes. She bites down on her bottom lip, I assume to stop the quiver, and she sits down on the small space left beside me on the bed. “I was able to prove your biological rights to Ever, and they were granting you the same legal rights as they were giving me. We’re both legally her parents again. We never made the hearing, but I was notified by the judge.”
“That’s why you needed my DNA sample. I had hoped, but I figured you would have told me.” My face heats, and all of the feeling in my body rushes back at once. My heart fills with so much love and gratitude it feels like it may explode. My chest aches with the most beautiful type of pain, and I don’t know why life has to drag me through dizzying circles of disaster before I find the light I’m supposed to be following, but I’m here now.
Cammy places her hands on the sides of my face and presses her forehead to mine. “Full circle. We’re so lucky, AJ,” she mutters, as her tears fall over my nose.
I lift my heavy arms and place them around her, wanting so badly to pull her down on the bed with me, but I stop myself and behave, as I remember that I better be careful, considering all that happened to me over the past week. “I love you, Cam,” I tell her.
“AJ,” she sputters. “I prayed every day that you were going to wake up and be okay. I couldn’t understand how the best thing in the world could have happened at almost the exact moment I thought my life was crashing down in front of me. I can’t lose you again.”
“It’s all going to be okay,” I tell her softly.
“AJ,” Hunter exhales, rushing across the room. “My God. You scared us to death, bro.” Cammy stands up to let Hunter in, and he wraps his arm around her neck, pulling her in and kissing her on the forehead. “This girl…she is your goddamn angel. You need to know that.”
I feel confused or like I’m missing something. I don’t want to question him, but the look on my face might be doing that without words. “She stopped your bleeding. She kept you together until the ambulance showed up, all while taking care of both kids. I don’t know if I could have reacted so quickly and handled it all the way she did. She saved your life, AJ.”
Cammy’s hand folds over Hunter’s shoulder, easing him back. “Hunter,” Cammy says quietly, squirming out from beneath his arm. “I’ll be right back.”
“Sorry,” Hunter tells her. “I just wanted him to know how amazing you are.”
“I already know,” I tell him.
As Cammy disappears into the hallway, Hunter continues. “I didn’t mean to come off so strong, I just—she’s been taking such good care of Gavin all week. She hasn’t left his side. Mom and I offered to take him a dozen times, and she insisted on keeping him with her. Each time I showed up at the hospital, she had him curled up in her lap. I don’t think she took her hands off of him for one minute this week. We made her go home to get some sleep and shower, but it was a fight every time. She didn’t want to leave you, either.”
Listening to all of this doesn’t feel surprising but it also feels surreal. No one has loved me like that, and it’s all I’ve ever wanted. “She really loves Gavin, huh?” I ask him.
“AJ, she really loves you. It’s the same love I had with Ellie. I’m telling you, the relationships that grow from a young age mature into a kind of love that can’t be created between two people meeting later in life. It’s just different. It’s stronger and more resilient, even if you did take a thirteen-year break, she’s your one. Always has been.”
Hunter places his hand down on my shoulder and pulls in a long inhale. “God, what a week, man. I don’t think I’ve been so scared in a real long time.”
“Where’s Charlotte and the girls?” I ask.
“It was a fight, but I made them stay back home. This would have been too much for the girls. Olive and Charlotte have taken turns calling me once an hour for the past week I’ve been here, though. They’ve been going crazy.”
Mom and Dad walk up behind Hunter, and they’re both trying their hardest to hide their emotions. I have to say, they’ve gotten pretty good at doing that over the years. What Mom doesn’t realize is that I can tell she’s been crying for a week straight by the puffy bags under her aging eyes. And Dad, the man of no tears, he looks pretty similar. “I’m okay,” I tell them.
“You know, we went your whole life with no real incidents other than a couple of broken bones here and there, but it looks like you were just saving it all up for this year, huh?” Dad says.