A Christmas Wish by Sienna Carr

Author:Sienna Carr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sienna Carr

Chapter 22

She hugged Peter as if he’d been away for months on a military tour.

“Where did you get this from?” he asked as soon as they walked into the house. He set down his backpack and picked up the big purple octopus Brody had won for her. In the haste of moving the furniture out of Peter’s room before painting, she’d left the octopus on the couch in the living room and had completely forgotten about it. Or what she was going to say about it.

“The fairground?” It came out as a question instead of a statement.

Peter’s brows rose. “You went to the fairground? With who?”

There was no way out of this. So, she tried deflection. “I’ll tell you all about my week, sweetheart, but first I want to hear all about yours. You’re the one who went away. How was camping? I want to know all about it.”

“Why do I smell paint?”

“Come upstairs, I have a surprise for you.” Glad to have something to change the topic of conversation, she rushed up the stairs with him following close behind. “Ta-da!” She gestured with her hand.

“Oh, Mom. You didn’t!” Peter walked into his room, his face filled with joy, his hands on his head as he struggled to contain his surprise.

“Careful, don’t touch the walls. It’s still drying.”

“Oh, Mom!” In the next second, he put his arms around her. “I love it!”

The emotion, the genuine enthusiasm—instead of the usual grunts and apathy— filled her with happiness. “You like it?”

“I love it. But the color, how did you know?”

“I guessed?”

He beamed at her. “You know me so well.”

“Of course I do. I’m your mom.”

“I love it.”

He stared at the room, going over to the walls and examining them carefully. “It looks so much bigger now.”

“Because everything has been moved out.”

His eyes narrowed. “You didn’t do this by yourself.”

Her cheeks burned. “Brody helped me.”

He looked at her and blinked a few times. She wished he’d say something, so that she could gauge his reaction. She hoped he wasn’t still thinking about the octopus. Not that she had anything to hide.

Nothing had happened.

Unfortunately.

“I had a hospital appointment, sweetheart. I meant to tell you.” She wrung her hands together, then saw the fear creep across her son’s eyes. “It’s nothing like that. It’s good news. It’s great news, actually. I’m in the clear.”

“You are?” he whispered. His shoulders lowered a few inches, giving her an indication of his worry.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Forever?”

She couldn’t answer that. She prayed it would be forever. “Let’s hope.”

He hugged her again, only this time he didn’t let go as quickly. Sensing that something was wrong, she held onto him. “Peter?” And when he still didn’t pull away. “Peter, sweetheart. It’s fine. I’m fine. I got the all clear.”

Slowly, he moved away, but his hands were still around her shoulders. “But what if—”

“Let’s take it one day at a time. This is good news, sweetheart. This is the news we needed. Okay?” She willed him to smile. The last thing she needed was for her boy to worry about her.

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