“Should I go?” I whispered to him.
“No,” croaked my mother. She reached for me, and I took her trembling hand.
The three of us lay there like that for over an hour. Mom stopped hiccupping, and her breathing returned to normal. Just when I thought she’d fallen asleep, she spoke.
“How long have you known, Patrick?”
“My memory came back two weeks before you left the hospital,” Dad told her softly.
She pulled away to look at him. “How could you not tell me?”
“Caroline, you heard what the doctors said. No stress or anything that can cause a relapse. It hit me hard when it all came back, and I couldn’t put you through that until you were ready. I decided it was best to wait until your memory returned on its own.”
Mom was silent for a long moment. “And Jesse? How long has she known?”
Dad’s eyes met mine over her head, and I said, “I was with him when he remembered.”
She rolled onto her back and pushed up to recline against the pillows. Her face was drawn and tear-streaked, and her eyes were red. She used the edge of a sheet to blot the moisture from her face and hugged a pillow to her chest. Dad and I were silent as we waited to see how she would respond.
Mom stared straight ahead as if she was seeing something we couldn’t. “I knew he was alive. All these years, a part of me could never believe he was gone. Then I saw him. My baby. My Caleb.” She looked at me. “When he was born, he had my hair, but I said he would look like his father when he grew up. I was right.”
“I know. Dad showed me the photos of him when he was younger. They could have been twins.”
She held the pillow in a stranglehold. “They stole my baby boy and tried to make me believe he was dead. Then they changed him into one of them. Why? Why did they take my Caleb?”
“I don’t know.” My father’s voice was gentle, masking the agony in his eyes.
I brushed away the tears streaming down my cheeks. My chest felt like it was being squeezed by a hot metal band, and all I could do was watch my parents suffer.
“The Seelie queen did this. She stole him and raised him as her child,” Mom went on as if Dad hadn’t spoken. “Did she think we wouldn’t know our own son when we saw him?”
“Maybe that’s why she didn’t want him to come here,” I said, remembering a conversation I’d had with Prince Rhys. “When he refused to stay in Seelie, she probably hoped she had changed him enough that you wouldn’t see any resemblance. I mean I know him, and I didn’t see it until Dad pointed it out to me.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I’d messed up. Dad and I hadn’t talked about Prince Rhys around Mom, and that included my friendship with him.
Mom stared at me. “You know him?”
“I’ve talked to him a few times, but I wouldn’t say I know him well.”
She reached over to grip my hand. “What’s he like? What did you talk about?”
“He’s nice, and it was mostly small talk. He found out I was a bounty hunter, and he wanted to hear about it. He didn’t talk much about his life in Seelie.” I paused. “From what he did say, he had a happy childhood.”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “Because he had no idea he was stolen from his real family. How will he feel when he learns the truth?”
“Caroline,” Dad began quietly. “We can’t tell Prince Rhys the truth.” Mom started to object, but he cut her off. “The queen’s guard tried to have us killed because we recognized him. They warned Jesse to stay away from him. They’ve worked too hard to cover up what they did to let us expose them. We have no proof, and all we would do is put our whole family in danger.”
She shook her head. “No proof? What about the child we buried? We can have DNA tests done to prove it’s not Caleb.”
I bit my lip as I waited for Dad to tell her the storm at the cemetery had destroyed the grave. But he knew as well as I she wasn’t ready to hear that truth.
“DNA tests would prove that baby wasn’t ours, but it won’t implicate Seelie in any way. The prince has no human DNA left to test, and not a soul will believe he is Caleb even if there is a close resemblance to me.” He placed his hand over hers. “The only people who know the truth are the three of us and Maurice. I wanted him to know in case anything happened to us. We can’t let on to anyone that we have our memory back. It’s the only way to keep our children safe.”
She looked incredulously from Dad to me, and I knew the exact moment she comprehended what he was saying. All I could do was watch as my beautiful, fearless mother crumpled before my eyes.
Dad took her in his arms, and she buried her face against his shirt as she fell apart again. This time, I couldn’t bear to witness it. I eased off the bed and slipped out of the room.
Emotionally wrung out, I found a bathroom and splashed water on my face before I went in search of Finch and Aisla. When I couldn’t find them in the house, I walked out to the veranda. There I got the surprise of my life when I caught sight of the two tiny figures playing in the sand. Finch, who had never gone outside except for Lukas’s warded garden, was outdoors.
I stood quietly by the railing and watched him lie on the dry sand above the water’s reach and make a sand angel. Aisla took his hand, pulled him up, and made her own angel. Their joy was almost palpable, and I smiled in spite of my heavy heart.
Aisla saw me and gave me one of her shy waves. I walked down to them and sat on the warm sand, and Finch immediately asked how Mom was.
“She’s sad, but she’ll be okay. How about you two? Do you like it here?”
They nodded eagerly, and Finch signed, Are you going to live here with us now?
“I’m going to visit for a while, but I have to go back.” My smile widened when I remembered the surprise I had for him. “Guess who I saw in Faerie.”
His eyes widened. Gus?
“Yep. He came to visit me. And guess what else. He’s big like the dragons in that cartoon you like to watch.” I stretched my arms out for emphasis. “He picked me up and flew me around. It was amazing.”
Finch demanded I tell them all about Gus. When I said Gus remembered him, he jumped up and down in the sand. Can Gus come visit us?
“I don’t think so, but I can take you to visit him sometime when Mom and Dad say it’s okay.”
Finch considered this. Six months ago, the closest he wanted to get to the outside world was through the windows of our apartment. Today, he was playing in the sand on a tropical island and pondering over the idea of visiting another realm. Life had changed so much for everyone in my family.
Can Mom and Dad come, too? he asked hopefully.
“Humans can’t go to Faerie, remember? But we can bring back lots of gifts for them and tell them all about the fun we had.” That reminded me of my trip to the market, and I grinned. “In fact, I might have something in my bag for you guys.”
The two of them were at the veranda steps before I got to my feet. Laughing, I brushed sand off my pants and followed them into the house.
* * *
It was two days before my mother was strong enough to leave her room. She didn’t need to be sedated, but Dad and I had to fight to get her to eat and drink. When she wasn’t sleeping, we took turns sitting with her so she wasn’t overwhelmed, and during my time with her, she wanted to know all about Prince Rhys.