Eli buried his face against my shoulder.
You kept your promise.s,
Outside the courthouse, I buckled five children in five child seats.
None were placed in a separate vehicle.
None shouted their brother’s name through a window that closed.
As we walked away, Eli watched me through the rearview mirror.
Carter?
“Yes, man.
“Now we’re a family?”
I looked at the five faces reflected behind me.
We are becoming one.
That night, after all the kids finally fell asleep, I stood on the door of their new bedroom.
Five small beds.
Five sleeping children.
A family that was still united.
On a shelf by Eli’s bedroom was a red toy truck he had bought years earlier while searching for Jamie.
I had waited in my workshop for a brother who never came home.
I placed it next to Eli’s pillow and whispered in the dark:
I couldn’t keep the promise I made to you,s. Jamie. But today I fulfilled it for them.
