Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN I HAD LOST
The boys moved into my Tribeca apartment permanently three weeks later.
I moved out.
That surprised Mara.
“You don’t have to leave.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because you and the boys need a home that doesn’t feel conditional.”
I rented an apartment two floors below.
Close enough to help.
Far enough to respect her space.
Every morning, I made breakfast.
My pancakes were terrible.
The boys ate them anyway.
Every night, I learned something I had missed.
Milo hated peas.
Max talked in his sleep.
Mason read two grades above his age.
Micah collected bottle caps because Mara once told him every object had a story.
I learned how to sign school forms.
How to cut sandwiches into triangles.
How to identify which twin-sized navy sneaker belonged to which child.
They were not identical in personality.
Not even close.
I wondered how anyone could ever see them as simply “the quadruplets.”
One night, after the boys were asleep, Mara found me fixing a broken toy truck.
“You look ridiculous.”
“I’m aware.”
She sat beside me.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then she said.
“I almost married someone.”
The screwdriver stopped in my hand.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“What happened?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Because of me?”
“Because I didn’t trust love anymore.”
That answer hurt more.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
She looked toward the hallway.
“Elliot, I don’t hate you now.”
“That sounds promising.”
“But I’m not ready to love you again.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“You look like you’re asking every time you walk into a room.”
I smiled faintly.
“Then I need to work on my face.”
She laughed.
For a moment, we were twenty-four again.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Take the boys and leave New York.”
Mara froze.
I took the phone.
“Who is this?”
The line disconnected.
Within minutes, security traced the call to a prepaid device.
No identity.
But the timing mattered.
Harold had been arrested.
Cartwright was under investigation.
Someone else was still afraid.
The next morning, a package appeared outside Mara’s door.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
May you like
Alive.
Taken two months after the date he supposedly died.
