For the first time, I was okay. I had April and Robbie, and they not only kept my thoughts calm but my heart full. We’d done every single thing together over the last week, from talking to April’s parents and introducing Robbie to them, to the court date April had made happen to give me official custody of my son and place my name on his birth certificate. She’d said goodbye to her friends and coworkers, who had all been tearful. We’d played games, taught Robbie to ride a bike and ridden around April’s neighborhood together, and he’d been cooking a lot with April while I watched. I wasn’t any good in the kitchen, but I sure as hell loved to watch her. I loved to watch her do everything.
She continued to say her decision was final, and she was happy with it. She and Bex had been talking on the phone daily about the plans for the music equipment and April’s role in the girls’ home. She’d told me she wanted to work only part time at first, to be able to be there for Robbie as he adjusted.
We’d decided to homeschool Robbie, with a tutor coming in part time and April helping with the rest. With the band’s schedule so unpredictable, he would be able to continue his studies while we traveled. Plus, we’d found out through the testing he’d done in Orlando that despite being in and out of school for the last four years and being born addicted to drugs, he was smart and was ahead of his academic age.
I had an appointment with a child’s psychologist next week with Robbie, and April wanted to come, too. He’d had no other issues since the day he almost ran away, but I didn’t want to take any chances. I wanted a full battery of tests done on him, and if he needed meds, I wanted to help him. I wasn’t ever going to be that parent that shoved my child’s problems under the rug or blamed him for them. He needed the best chance of having a full life, and I was going to give it to him.
Auntie Nat, as Robbie had taken to calling her, opened the bedroom door as Robbie squeezed his eyes shut. He was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet; he was so excited. Gone was the child we’d met at the group home. It was almost like he wasn’t the same person now. Hell, I wasn’t the same person, either, so I could understand that.
As the door swung open, April grabbed my hand. We’d moved her things down here and put them in a storage facility until she could decide what she needed or not. Her parents were handling the sale of her home in Orlando and had been nothing but supportive of what she had wanted. They’d loved Robbie, and when I had pulled her dad aside to talk to him man-to-man, he’d been glassy-eyed and happy. They’d miss her, but we were only a few hours away.
Robbie gasped as he saw his room for the first time. Natalie had outdone herself, as usual. The walls were a medium gray with huge, life-sized cars on each wall. His dresser and side table were black with shiny silver handles that had emblems of cars on them. He had a full sized bed with what must’ve been a custom bedspread covered in all of Robbie’s favorites. A large, fluffy rug sat on the floor next to his bed, and the floors were done in a dark mahogany wood. I hardly recognized our guest room from what it had been before.
Robbie ran his fingers along the dresser, taking in the pictures of all of the cars. Something across the room caught his attention, and he walked over to a bookshelf that was full of brand new books. On the top shelves were model cars, also his favorites. He didn’t say a word as he continued to look, taking in every single thing. He opened the closet and saw all the clothes they’d bought, with brand new shoes on a shelf below. Toy bins held Legos and remote control cars. Every boy’s dream.
“Wow,” Robbie said finally. “This is all mine?”
“Every single bit,” Natalie said, her voice gruff. She loved that kid as much as we did.
“Thank you.” Robbie ran his fingers along one of the toy cars. “I’ve never lived in something as nice as this.”
It gutted me every single time he said something like that. Both April and Dr. Mia had told me I needed to let it go, to let him express himself without fear that I’d have an adverse reaction to it. I was trying, but damn it was hard to hear how my boy had lived before.
“Auntie Nat did a great job.” April ruffled Robbie’s hair. He wrapped his arms around her waist, still taking it all in.
“Thank you,” I said to Natalie. She nodded, her eyes full of tears.
“He deserves it and then some.” She crouched down to hug Robbie. He went to her willingly. If there was something my boy was, it was affectionate. For as standoffish as he’d been when we first met him, now he was always hugging one of us or holding our hand. I’d never been much of a touchy-feely person but with April and Robbie, I craved it. Loved it.