Chapters 26 - Evelyn Williams

***Analyzing and Confronting – Part 1***

I'm at home watching a movie with Thom while Paul is at the office, and out of nowhere, Thom starts talking about having a photo of Aunt Ayumi, I smile at him as he gets up from the couch and rushes to the bedroom. He comes back with a photo frame in each hand, and I look at him as he says with a smile.

“Mom, look, Aunt Ayumi!” I take the photo frames from his hands, and as soon as I look at them, I see a woman who looks just like Ayumi, except she has blonde hair.

Life is an unpredictable journey. Sometimes there are ups, sometimes there are downs. Everything can go well, as if we're walking on fluffy, colorful clouds. But suddenly, everything can become challenging, and those clouds turn into quicksand, threatening to engulf us. And that's precisely how I feel at this very moment, as if I've been punched in the gut. I couldn't believe what I saw in my hands, and they started trembling.

“How is this possible?” I take a deep breath to conceal my confusion from my little one.

“Sweetheart, where did you find these photos?”

“As grandpa's, don't get mad at Thom, Mom.” I look at him, and he makes a pitiful face, trying to suppress his laughter, just like his father does to prevent me from getting angry.

“Mom won't get mad, honey. I just want to know where you got these photos.” He climbs onto the couch, sits down, and crosses his little arms, attempting to appear serious.

“Thom went to grandpa's house, remember, Mom?” He always has this habit of referring to himself in the third person when he wants to explain things.

“Yes, son, Mom remembers.”

“Thom didn't have anything to do, so Thom went to the basement.” I look at him solemnly. We've told him not to go to the basement because it's dangerous. Thom has already fallen down the stairs once, and since then, my father hasn't let him out of his sight for a minute. Thom uncrosses his arms, puts his hand in mine, and speaks quickly.

“Mom won't get mad, remember?” I can't believe he's trying to defuse the situation, but that little rascal is right. I told him I wouldn't get mad.

“Yes, son, Mom won't get mad.”

He smiles, crosses his arms again, becomes serious, and continues speaking.

“Grandpa was taking a nap, and Thom went there quietly. Thom saw Aunt Ayumi's photo and took it. Thom really likes Aunt Ayumi, she's really nice and plays a lot with Thom. I love her!” I find the affection he has for Ayumi so beautiful, but I need to have a conversation with him and my father.

“Sweetheart, Mom won't get mad at you. But you know you did two things wrong.” He looks at me, lowers his head, and nods in agreement.

“Thom couldn't go downstairs, nor go down the stairs, nor take things without asking,” she said.

“That's right, honey, so what are we going to do?”

“We're going to apologize to mommy and grandpa. I'm sorry, mommy.” She extended her arms, and he came into her lap.

“You're forgiven. Now we need to wait for daddy to come home and then call grandpa,” he nodded in agreement.

“Now, go to the bathroom, and mommy will turn off the TV and come help you.”

“Okay, mommy.” She put him down, and he ran off, but stopped halfway. “Mommy, Aunt Ayumi's photo is mine. She's my aunt and only mine.”

He went back to the couch, grabbed the photo frames, and ran off again. She stood there, foolishly staring at the spot where he was, and remembered something that had happened recently.

**Memories…**

“Mommy, she's mine, he can't take her!”

“Thom, calm down. Tomorrow, you can talk to her on mommy's phone.”

“No, mommy, she's my Aunt Ayumi!” He said angrily, clinging to Ayumi's legs, looking sternly at Kaléo. Ayumi knelt down in front of him, at his eye level, and gently stroked his hair.

“Sweetie! Aunt Ayumi needs to go home because she has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning…”

“Is Aunt Ayumi sick?”

“No, sweetie! Do you remember Aunt Ayumi was at the doctor's when we first met?” He nodded, and she continued. “So Aunt Ayumi needs to go to the doctor to make sure she's completely fine. That's all, understood? But before you go to sleep, Aunt Ayumi will call you, okay?”

“Okay, Aunt, I love you.”

“I love you too, little one.” He hugged her tightly, and she had never seen Thom like that with anyone before…

**End of memories.**

Thom and Ayumi share a special bond. I turn off the TV and put the remote control away. Glancing at the clock, I see that there are ten minutes left until Paul arrives. I make my way to the bedroom, and as soon as I enter, Thom is lying in bed, fast asleep, clutching two photo frames. I approach him, gently take the frames from his arms, and place them on the dresser. I ran my hand through his hair and called out to him.

“Thom, my love, let's take a bath, okay?”

“Mama, I'm sleepy. I want to sleep.”

“Mama will give you a quick bath! Come on.” I start undressing him right on the bed, pick him up, and carry him to the bathroom. I set him down on the floor and turned on the shower.

“Mama, Aunt Ayumi looks like Grandma,” Thom says, looking at me with his big blue eyes.

“Yes, son, she does. But Mama will look into that later, alright?” He nods in agreement and yawns.

I give him a quick bath to wash away the sweat, dry him off, brush his teeth since he snacked while watching the movie, put on a pair of underwear and a tank top, comb his hair, and tuck him into bed.

“Goodnight, son.”

“Goodnight, Mama. I love you.”

“I love you too.” I cover him up, turn on the baby monitor, switch on the bedside lamp, turn off the bedroom light, and close the door. As soon as I'm in the hallway, I hear Dad's and Paul's voices coming from the living room. When I arrive, I see Paul closing the door.

Upon seeing me, he smiles, comes over, and gives me a kiss.

“Hello, my love, how are you? Where's the little guy?”

“He's fast asleep in his bed.”

“I'll go give him a kiss and be right back.” He leaves the room, and I know it'll take him a while to return because he'll take a shower. Dad approaches and kisses my forehead.

“Everything okay, dear?”

“Everything's fine, Dad, but we need to talk.” He takes a step back and raises both hands in surrender.

“It wasn't me, I wasn't there, I didn't do anything at all. I'm innocent until proven guilty.” As soon as he says that, I end up smiling.

“You did something, and this time it's serious.” He stops smiling.

“Let's sit down because I know Paul will take a while to come back. He's like a woman when it comes to getting ready, and he still has that hair of his that needs to be dried with the hairdryer on level three.” He says, and I end up laughing because Dad always teases Paul, but I know he loves him like a son, especially since Paul made a tribute to him at our wedding, and he cried a lot. We sit down.

“Oh, my poor husband, Dad, but let's talk. So today I found out that when Thom was at your house, he went down to the basement.”

“What? But the door to the stairs was locked and… Ah, damn it,” he says, looking serious. “Don't give me that look, stop raising that eyebrow at me, it looks like a caterpillar.”

“Dad, stop it! This is a serious conversation,” I say, and I can't stay mad at him.

“Thomas Hayes, it's serious. Your grandson could have fallen and gotten hurt.”

“I know, daughter, I'm deeply sorry. I'll be more attentive, I promise.”

“It's okay, you're forgiven, and I know it won't happen again, but that's not all.”

“No!”

“No, Thom brought two pictures home, and I want you to tell me who they are.”

“Alright.”

“I'll go get them.” I get up and go to Thom's room, open the door, and see him sleeping, holding the two photo frames tightly. Then I approach and take them very gently, cover him properly, and leave the room. As soon as I close and lean against the door, Paul appears and looks at my ha

“Who are they?”

“Look at them and tell me who they are,” I show him, and he immediately says.

“It's Ayumi, but she's blonde, and the photo looks older.”

“Honey, this is Grandma Amanda.”