LOGINChapter 99OLLIE"Really?" I asked, my eyes going wide. "You'd do that?""Of course," Papa said. "These are important. Your first paintings in your new home with your new family. They should be displayed properly."My new home. My new family. Those words still felt big and strange, but also kind of nice. Like maybe they could be real, not just pretend."Can we eat now?" I asked, because my tummy was rumbling again even though I'd had pancakes for breakfast. "I'm hungry again."Mama laughed, and it was a real laugh this time, not a scared one or a sad one. "Of course we can eat. Growing boys are always hungry."Grandma Elena had already started making plates for Mama and Papa—pancakes and eggs and bacon and fruit. She put them on the kitchen island, and Papa lifted me up onto one of the tall chairs while Mama sat beside me.We ate together, the three of us, while the family moved around us doing family things. The other kids kept painting, and the grown-ups talked about boring stuff l
Chapter 98OLLIEHypervigilant. That was a big word. I didn't know what it meant, but it sounded like something doctors said."Come on," Grandma Elena said gently. "Let me make you some coffee and breakfast. You must be starving.""I should get dressed first," Mama said, looking down at Ramon's shirt. "I just ran down here in—""Nobody cares," Aunt Sarah interrupted, smiling. "Lake, we're family. You could come down in your underwear and we wouldn't bat an eye.""Please don't," Uncle Rafael said, making a face. "I don't need that visual with my morning coffee.""Rafael!" Aunt Michelle smacked his arm, but she was laughing.Mama laughed too, just a little bit, and I felt something relax in my chest. When Mama laughed, even small laughs, it meant things were okay. It meant the scary stuff was getting smaller."Can I finish my T-Rex first?" I asked, looking at my painting. "Before we eat? I'm almost done with the spikes."Mama looked at me like I'd said something amazing. "You want to fi
Chapter 97OLLIEI was adding spikes to my T-Rex's back—really big spikes that would make him super scary—when I heard it. Fast footsteps on the stairs, like someone was running, and then Mama's voice calling out."Ollie? OLLIE?"My heart jumped in my chest, and my paintbrush stopped in the middle of a spike. Mama sounded scared. Really scared. The kind of scared that made my tummy hurt and my throat feel tight.I looked up just as Mama came rushing into the room. His hair was all messy, sticking up in different directions like he'd just woken up. He was wearing one of Ramon's big shirts that went down almost to his knees, and his eyes were wild and panicky as they scanned the room."Mama!" I called out, putting my paintbrush down.His eyes found me, and his whole face changed. The scared look got replaced with something else—relief, I think, but also maybe he was going to cry. He rushed over to where I was sitting at the table, practically running, and then he was on his knees beside
Chapter 96 OLLIE"That's pretty, Ollie," Sophia said, looking at my painting. "It looks like the ocean. Or maybe the sky."I looked at it again. Maybe it did look like the ocean. The ocean where Mama and I had gone into the water that one time, before Ramon saved us. But that was a scary memory, so I tried not to think about it too much."It's the sky," I decided. "With the sun." I added a yellow circle in the corner to make it official.We painted for a long time, and it was nice. Quiet but not too quiet. The other kids talked and laughed, but it wasn't overwhelming. It was just... normal. Like how things were supposed to be.I was working on my third painting—this one was definitely dinosaurs—when I heard footsteps on the stairs. My whole body went tense, my heart speeding up, because what if Mama was awake and looking for me and got scared that I wasn't there?But it was just Uncle Troy and Uncle Rhodes. They looked tired, but Uncle Troy was holding Uncle Rhodes's hand, and they
Chapter 95OLLIEShe lifted me down from the chair and got me a special stool to stand on so I could reach the counter. Then she showed me how to pour the batter into the pan, how to watch for bubbles that meant it was time to flip. I was really careful, holding the measuring cup with both hands, and Grandma Elena said I was doing a great job.It felt good to help. It made my chest feel less tight, less scared. Like I was doing something useful instead of just being scared all the time.Uncle Rafael came in while we were making pancakes, and he ruffled my hair. "Morning, kiddo. You're up early.""I'm helping," I told him, showing him the pancake I'd just poured. "See?""I do see," he said, smiling. "That's a perfect pancake, Ollie. Nice work."After the pancakes, I needed to take a bath because I'd gotten syrup on my pajamas somehow. Aunt Michelle offered to help me, and I almost said no again because Mama was the one who gave me baths usually. But Mama was still sleeping, and I was s
Chapter 94OLLIEI woke up when the sun was just starting to come through the window, making everything look orange and pretty. Mama was still sleeping beside me in the big bed, and Ramon was on the other side of Mama, his arm wrapped around Mama's middle. They both looked really tired, and I remembered why.Yesterday had been scary. Really, really scary.I'd thought Mama left me. I'd thought he wasn't coming back. My tummy had hurt so bad, and my chest had felt tight, and I couldn't breathe right. Everything had felt wrong, like the world was ending and I was all alone.But Mama came back. He promised he'd always come back.I looked at him now, at the way his face was soft and peaceful in sleep, and something in my chest felt warm but also kind of achy. I'd scared him yesterday too. I knew I had because I'd seen his face when I was crying outside, when I couldn't stop screaming and my breath wouldn't come right.I didn't want to scare Mama anymore. Mama needed to sleep and rest and n


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