Angel Falls

He turns, smiles up at her, and it is there, in his eyes, the love, the welcome, the need she’s seen so many times and—until now—always taken for granted.

Mikaela laughed. She knew it was an inappropriate response, but she couldn’t help herself. The joy inside her was so big, so dizzyingly unexpected, that she wouldn’t have been surprised to look down and see that she was floating. “Come here, Jacey. ” She opened her arms for a hug.

Mikaela clung to her daughter. God, it felt so good.

“Oh, Mom … I missed you. I was afraid—”

“Shhh. I know. ” She stroked Jacey’s hair. “I know, baby …”

It came to her then, wrapped in the scent of her daughter’s hair, caught in the sticky dampness of tears, and Mikaela laughed and cried at the same time. “Oh … there it is! I remember your first day of school. You wore a black corduroy jumper and carried a Fraggle Rock lunch box. You wouldn’t

get on the bus without me, so I went with you. I was the only mom there. ”

Jacey drew back and smiled up at her. “I love you, Mom. ”

“Oh, Jace, I love you, too, and I’m so sorry for ev—”

The door burst open. Bret and Rosa stood in the doorway. Rosa shrugged. “He thought that Jacey had enough time. ”

Mikaela kissed Jacey’s damp cheek and drew back.

Bret stood motionless, his arms belted to his sides, his little hands curled into fists. His mouth was trembling and there was a look of fear in his eyes. This fear and uncertainty, he’d learned recently. The boy she’d raised was fearless … not this hesitant child.

The smile she gave him was weak and watery, and she could see that it scared him more. It wasn’t her smile at all.

She started to cry; there was no way to stop it. She knelt in front of him and opened her arms. “So, how’s my favorite boy in the whole world?”

He screamed “Mommy!” and flung himself into her waiting arms so hard that they toppled backward.

She lay there on the ugly linoleum floor, squeezing her son until neither one of them could breathe.

“I love you, Bretster,” she whispered against his small, pink ear. He buried his face in the crook of her neck. She felt, more than heard, his broken voice when he whispered back, “I love you, too, Mommy. ”

At last they drew apart and climbed awkwardly to their knees. Mikaela’s weak right leg was trembling so badly, she couldn’t get to her feet. She stayed kneeling, unable to let go of Bret’s hand.

Over his head, she looked at Rosa, who was crying now, too.

Mikaela sniffled. “Too bad we can’t sell all this water to the Californians. ”

Bret giggled. It was what Liam always said when Mikaela cried over a stupid movie.

She smiled at her son. “So, kiddo, what’s new with you?”

“Sally May Randle has a crush on me. She smells bad, but she’s sorta pretty. ”

Mikaela laughed, mesmerized by the ordinariness of it, seized by a sudden hope. Maybe, with time, they could all find their way out of the woods and back onto the main road. “Where’s Daddy?” she asked Bret.

Bret bit his lip and didn’t answer.

Rosa looked down at Mikaela. “He did not come. ”

“He’s at home,” Bret said. “I think he’s sad ’cause you didn’t remember him. ”

Mikaela grabbed the bed rail and dragged herself to a stand. She looked at Rosa. “Take the kids home, Mama. I’m going to check out of the hospital and meet you there. ”

Rosa frowned. “The doctors say—”

“I don’t care. ” She started to say more, then changed her mind. “Please, Mama, take them home. I’ll be right there. ”