Page 38 of Her Righteous Protector

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Max said as he sauntered into the room. He crouched down next to the bed. “So where should I sit?”

“On the other side of me. Right, Hannah?”

Hannah nodded. She set the other two books on his nightstand and opened Clara’s Galaxy.

“This is the book that Hannah made. It’s very special, and you’re lucky that she’s showing it to you. Understand?” Zephyr squinted up at his dad.

“Thanks for explaining, Zephyr,” Max said solemnly.

* * *

He watched as she showed Zephyr picture after picture in the big science fiction novel and made up a childish story to go along with it. There were three times that Zephyr stopped her because she had obviously gone off-script and he corrected her; this was a well-worn past time between the two of them. Zephyr struggled to stay awake.

“Don’t leave me ‘til it’s finished,” he whispered with his eyes closed.

“I won’t, baby,” Hannah whispered back.

“Not a baby,” he growled softly right before his breathing went into the even pattern of sleep. Hannah kissed his brow. Max could see tears glittering in her pretty green eyes right before she turned off the bedside lamp.

“Come on,” she whispered as she rose from her side of Zephyr’s bed. She adjusted a little unit, then picked up the accompanying monitor and motioned Max out of Zephyr’s room. They went downstairs to the living room.

“A baby monitor?” he asked.

“He’s been having nightmares ever since Meghan left.”

“Left? Don’t you mean died?”

“We had a small service for her, but Zephyr really didn’t understand it. What he did understand is that close to her death, Meghan hugged him one day and said she was leaving. She left for hospice and never came back. She was on so many painkillers that she could just as well have stayed here, but she didn’t want Zephyr to see her like that, so she left. She refused to let me have him come visit. So, to Zeph’s mind, she just hugged him good-bye one day and was never seen again.”

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Max had seen so many children he’d grown up with in foster care get their heads fucked up, and apparently, Meghan was just one more example.

Hannah turned to him. “Just another thing I wasn’t able to talk her out of. The doctors said it was probably all the pain she was in. Two different social workers and Mom and Dad tried to talk her out of her decision. She was just sure it was best for Zephyr. But now he has abandonment issues.”

Hannah’s movements were jerky as she went over to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of red wine out of the cupboard. Max watched as she fumbled to get the cork out.

“Let me,” he said as he took the bottle out of her hand. She turned away from him; he could tell that she didn’t want him to see she was crying. She went to another cupboard and grabbed two glasses. He poured them both a glass then took them back out to the living room.

“Coasters?” he asked.

“That’s my mother’s house, not this house. Just put them on the coffee table.”

He did and they sat down next to one another, neither of them picking up their glasses.

“So do you write science fiction?” he finally asked, choosing to change the subject.

She laughed and it made him feel better. She’d been on edge through dinner and storytime so this was good.

“No, I’m not the writing type,” she sighed. “Just making up that little fairy tale for Zeph is a stretch for me. Didn’t you figure out it is kind of based on Snow White and Jack and the Beanstalk?”

Max’s lips twitched. “Now that you mention it. So why did Zephyr say it was your book?”

“I did the illustrations.”

“Ahhh,” Max nodded.

Hannah picked up her wine glass and took a mouthful then swallowed. Not meeting his eyes, she asked a question. “What do you think of your son?” He could barely hear her words.