I rub my eyes, as if that’ll make the tears disappear. I don’t want to walk in there crying.
Sure, Ma knows she’s dying, but she doesn’t need me to walk in there sobbing like a baby.
My eyes widen when her door opens and Da steps out, closing it quietly behind him.
“Are you planning on pacing out here all day?” he asks in that no-nonsense way of his.
I shrug, unable to meet his eyes.
“She’s waiting for you.”
I swipe at the tears that sneak out and fall down my cheek. “You think I don’t know that, Da?”
He immediately softens. “I know this is hard, my boy. It’s not any easier for me, but she’s barely holding on. You’re the only reason she hasn’t gone already. She’s in pain, and she’s ready to leave this world behind. We might not be ready, and it hurts like hell, but I don’t want to see her in pain anymore. I know you don’t want that either.”
“I don’t, but I just…” I trail off, not even sure what I’m trying to say.
“You’re not ready. None of us are, but we don’t get a choice in the matter, Finnegan.” Da pulls me into his arms, hugging me tight. “Now, I need you to suck it up and get inthere. Say goodbye to your ma, and then she can move on. Only then will we grieve for her.”
I cling to him for another moment before nodding. With one last sweep of my arms over my eyes, I prepare myself for what’s likely to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
I’m so grateful that my da has never been one of those men who believe men shouldn’t show what they’re feeling. If he had been, I might never have become a psychologist.
As I stare into his eyes, I see the pain he’s in, and I hate it.
I hate all of this.
“I’m ready,” I say, even though it’s a lie.
Da chuckles. “You’re not, but it’s time.” He pushes open the door, and I trail behind him.
As soon as my eyes land on my ma, I want to burst into tears.
She looks so small and frail lying there in the hospital bed. My ma has always been a formidable woman. She was the one who ruled the house, no matter how much my da tried to say otherwise. She was the one I feared getting in trouble with growing up. Da was a big old softie, but Ma didn’t put up with any bullshit.
But she looks nothing like the woman I remember.
I swear right then and there never to remember her like this. This isn’t the woman she is.
“My boy!” Ma’s eyes fill with tears as she reaches for me, but I see the way her arms shake with the effort. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
I rush over to her, hugging her close before taking her hand in mine as I lean down to kiss her forehead. “I’m sorry it took so long.”
“Ye're aff yer heid,” she waves off my apology, her accent growing deeper with the familiar phrase. “You’re an adult with a life of your own, and you live on the other side of the world.Of course, it took time for you to get here. Plus, you were on that show trying to win over that bonnie omega. Bree, right?”
“Aye, Bree.”
Ma nods. “I’ve been watching it with your da. There are some things I’d rather not know about my son, but I just pretend not to see those bits. The show isn’t over yet, is it?”
“No, Ma. There are still a few more weeks until her heat.”
“Well, don’t leave a dying woman on pins and needles. Did she choose you before you left?”
I give her a soft smile and shake my head. “Nay. Bree wasn’t the omega for me, and I wasn’t the alpha for her.”
Ma’s smile falls. “Oh. I was hoping…”
She doesn’t have to finish her sentence for me to know what she was hoping. She was hoping to see me mated before she died.
