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I watchedside by side, just happy they were happy Mads had co with his mom and sister, but he was nowhere to be seen at theHe had a nook to hide in at every house A corner deep in the garden allery at St Killian’s Aseat behind the drapes at Will’s

While I worried about him in ways I didn’t worry about Jett, I always knehere to find him He never scared me

“I gotta go to the bathroo off the stool

“Wash your hands,” my mom told her

Jett sca her flour-coated hands on her little apron, and closed the door

I stepped into the kitchen “You’re a good mom, you know?”

Mywith her hands in the bowl

“You should have had a house full of kids,” I told her

She sh as I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders I tucked my chin into her neck playfully

“You were enough,” she said

“Maybe too much?”

“Oh, yeah” She scoffed “Way too much”

I chuckled, appreciating the jest even though she wasn’t really lying Getting arrested and ih for the disappointment and heartache I’d caused, but even more so since I was their only child I hatedbetter

I glanced down at the s behind hter, and she paused, letting me

She loved being a grandmother

“They still in the dojo?” I asked, pulling back and plucking one of the slices of a e from the little bowl that was probably Jett’s snack

I stuck it into my mouth

“For two hours now,” my mother replied “Go see if she’s still alive”

“My wife can take that old man”