Page 128 of The Pact
My heart cracks, and Rhyan falls silent in my lap.
Saint pulls Remy onto his lap. “I get that.”
He starts to cry now. “I just don’t want to feel like that again.”
Saint closes his eyes briefly. “Rem, I wish I could make it so you never had to feel bad again,” he says. “But I can’t.”
Remy’s chin trembles.
“What I can do,” Saint continues, resting his head against Remy’s, “is go with you. And if you want to leave, we go.”
Remy looks at Saint, then at me. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Why do we have to go at all?” he swallows.
Saint brushes a hand over his hair. “Because they love you. And they miss you. And seeing you and Rhyan helps them heal too.”
“They’re sad too?” he asks.
“Very sad,” Saint says.
“Because Dad died?”
Saint nods. “Yeah. Because your dad and your mom died.”
Rhyan tucks herself closer against me.
“Mommy liked Grandma,” she says quietly.
He looks at me before saying, “Yes, she did.”
“You’ll come too?” Remy asks me.
I don’t hesitate. “Yes, of course I will.”
Remy thinks on it, then nods. “Okay.”
Saint presses a kiss to the top of his head.
“Okay,” I repeat.
An hour later, and we’re in the thick of our nighttime routine.
I read Rhyan a story while Saint gets Remy to bed.
By the time I step into the hallway, Saint is coming out of Remy’s room.
He looks exhausted, but calm.
I reach for his hand. “Hey.”
He looks down at our joined hands. “Hey, Doc.”
I smile. “Long day.”
“Very.”
