“Whatever will I do with one of those things?” Her mother’s face screwed up as she motioned toward the laptop Rebecca was setting up on the side table next to her bed. Beside it, she placed Shane’s Spider-Man watch.
“Believe me when I say that you’re going to want to keep this close,” Rebecca said, motioning toward the laptop.
“Tell her I don’t know how to use it,” Mother said to Brody. Her gaze stopped on the keepsake.
He smiled and his clear blue eyes sparkled. “Trust her. She knows what she’s doing.”
The past few weeks had been good to her mother after hearing news of Thomas Kramer’s death and his aunt’s arrest. Her mother had started leaving her room to play chess every afternoon and stopped resisting physical therapy. Every day she was getting stronger and the doctor was hopeful, especially following the initial results of how well her body was adjusting to the new medication.
Rebecca hadn’t told her about all the events that had transpired. She’d been waiting for the right moment to talk about Shane. And this was it.
“I’d rather help make wedding plans than dicker around with one of those,” Mother protested. Again.
“Just a second.” Rebecca pulled up the program she’d installed to allow an overseas face-to-face chat. “There’s someone who wants to talk to you.”
“What’s wrong with the phone? I know mine still has a cord, but people do use it from time to time.”
“Nothing. But this call can’t be made using one of those.” Rebecca checked the screen, her heart thumping in her throat. “Are you there?”
Static and blur were all she had.
Then, the screen cleared up and she saw his face. It was Shane, her baby brother. She’d found him—tests had confirmed it—and she was about to share him with her mother.
Rebecca shifted the laptop so her mother could see. “Mother, it’s Shane. He’s alive. Your son is alive. And he has something he wants to say to you.”
“I heard what happened. How you never gave up on me. I love you, Mom.” He looked good, strong.
Her mother clasped her hands together and tears streamed down her face as disbelief transformed into joy. “How could I? You’re my baby boy. I love you.”
“There’s so much I want to know, but I only have a few minutes to talk,” Shane said. He had that proud Hughes chin and determined gaze.
“It’s okay, son. We have the rest of our lives to get to know each other again.” And from the looks of her, her mother planned to stick around to enjoy every moment.
* * * * *
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