My little boy.
“Just Nova,” I say, standing up. “Hi.”
“Can I hug you?” she asks.
I stare at her, dumbfounded. “Um, yeah,” I say, opening my arms.
She hugs me tight, like a mother squeezing her child. “Thank you,” she whispers in my ear. “Thank you for giving me the best gift you could ever give me.”
She lets me go and I find that there are tears in her eyes too.
“This is my husband Jimmy. And this is Greyson.” She squeezes the little boy’s shoulder lightly. He clutches a Ziploc baggie full of goldfish to his chest.
My heart … My heart feels full, like after four years it’s finally found the piece it’s been missing.
The picture I saw on the computer doesn’t do him justice.
He’s the cutest kid I’ve ever seen.
His dark hair flops over his forehead and he looks up at me with wide doe-like brown eyes. His lips are full and the smattering of freckles across his nose only makes him more adorable. I couldn’t see it in the picture, but in person he even has a tiny mole on his top lip like Owen has.
“You’re perfect,” I whisper.
“Greyson—” Sarah smiles down at him “—this is your Angel Mommy that we’re always telling you about. She’s the one that carried you inside her, and then she gave you to Mommy and Daddy to take care of because she knew you were a very special little boy and she thought we could help her with you. Isn’t that amazing? You’re so special you get two sets of parents.”
I feel Jace stand behind me, his presence filling me with warmth.
I drop down to my knees so I’m at Greyson’s height. “Hi,” I say. I realize it lacks originality but I can’t seem to think beyond that.
“Hi,” he says back, bashfully cowering closer to his mom.
While it breaks my heart, at the same time I understand, because I’m a stranger to him.
“How old are you?” I ask him.
“Four.” He holds up four fingers.
“Really?” I gasp. “That’s cool.”
“How old are you?” He asks me, leaning a little closer to me.
“Twenty. So many fingers they don’t even fit on my hand.”
He laughs at that and my God even his laugh his perfect. Everything about him is more than I ever imagined.
“I heard you like to skate.”
“I do.” He nods at this with a little grin, his hair bouncing. “I’m gonna play hockey one day.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. Do you want to go skate with me?”
He looks up at his mom and waits for her to okay it. When she nods, he says, “Yeah, that’d be fun. How do you say your name? I forgot.”
“Nova,” I tell him.
“Nova,” he says. “Like a star?”
I break out in the biggest smile. “Yeah, exactly like a star.”