"So, I've got something I want to run by you, and you can absolutely say no," Daniel spoke as soon as Madeline was in her wheelchair. "About Christmas."

Christmas. The holiday where he was meant to make Madeline breakfast, open presents, and watch Christmas movies before taking her ice skating. All the plans they'd made four years ago while Elijah was trying desperately to concentrate on her words rather than the feel of her hand against his stomach.

When Elijah said nothing, Daniel continued. "It's two months away, and you said Madeline would probably be on crutches by then."

"I did say that." Elijah had gone into greater detail of what went down during Madeline's accident. Not just the injuries and how long they'd take to heal, but them coming face to face once again, the awkwardness in the waiting room, his issues with Johnny.

"If Madeline doesn't have any medical appointments that week, I'd love if you and your family would come to visit mine in Oregon."

He supposed it shouldn't surprise him. They'd been getting along well so far that day, and even did fair the day before, all things considered. "What about the DNA test?"

Daniel shrugged and placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "We can still take it if you want to. I'm already pretty well sold, but I suppose it would be the responsible thing. But all three of my kids have called me more than once asking all about you. They want pictures and updates. Most of all, they want to meet you.

"I know that's a big step for you, and if you aren't ready, I get it. But I figure with it being two months away, you have time to prepare yourself. And Andrew's already a weeklong break in his schedule at the beginning of November, and said he'd wouldn't mind flying here to meet you if you think it'd be easier on you. Honestly, I think he's just chomping at the bit to have a male sibling."

Elijah laughed at that, but the sound soon died off. Instead, he focused on his surroundings, and not tipping Madeline's chair over amidst all the bumps. Every few graves they passed, there was some trinket, or artificial wreath, or floral bouquet placed against the different shades of granite. Only a few feet away, Madeline's eyes focused on a chipmunk chasing another, weaving around the headstones and eventually finding their way into the tree.

He remembered the tame chipmunk from their childhood, and how he'd take Madeline into the front yard, fill her tiny hand with shelled peanuts, and told her to remain still. Elijah had been throwing peanuts to him for the first month of summer, and it'd been daring to come closer. M&M would have hated to miss it, so when he chose a day, they sat on the front steps together, and Elijah would toss peanuts closer and closer, while Madeline held her cupped hands still next to the ground.

Her laugh when the chipmunks' tiny claws balanced on her hands scared him away at first, but only for a moment. M&M's face turned bright red from holding her laughter in when she watched it fill its cheeks to the breaking point, then lit up like a firecracker when it scurried away. Its demise to the dog from the house on the other side of the Martins was likely his fault, considering by that time it was running up to people looking for food. He told Madeline he'd moved on to the next town with his little chipmunk family.

"I don't know about you," Madeline said, cutting through the silence, "but I don't think I'd mind a change of scenery by then."

The subtle way of her saying she'd be there for him tugged at his heart. In two months, Madeline's shoulder will have healed enough for crutches, and she wouldn't need the revisions he'd made to his apartment nearly as much by then. Help with the shower and steps, sure, but she'd be able to get herself to the bathroom, navigate her way around a home, and even be able to come and go by herself within reason.

But Madeline was right. While they'd be going back and forth between their place and her parents, chances are she'd be chomping at the bit to get away from it all by then. Not that they couldn't do that on their own, and Elijah wouldn't mind making plans to do just that. Maybe he'd find a rental house to take her to for her birthday in January, give himself time to decompress after Christmas.

"I'll talk to Madeline's doctor. See what she has to say," Elijah agreed.

When he spotted the large stone angel ahead, Elijah's steps paused. Even after eighteen years, he recognized it as if he'd seen it only last week. He remembered crying the first time his eyes had fallen upon it. No, the angel did not belong to his mother's grave. Instead, it was in the background, watching over her. He recalled being fifteen, still too young to lose his mother, but old enough to fully understand she wasn't coming back. Despite not being religious, Elijah wondered then if his mother was an angel watching over him. A thought that remained in the back of his mind all these years later.

Elijah turned the wheelchair and pushed forward, Daniel following his lead. His mother's headstone seemed miniscule compared to the one behind it. Harrison had purchased a flat grave marker. Name and dates. That's it. No mention of her being a wife, mother, daughter, or sister. No sweet poetic phrase or melancholy words. Just a name, her date of birth, and her date of death. Not even the full dates. Just years. Like he'd paid the absolute bare minimum.

Once Madeline's wheelchair was parked by the angel, Elijah planted his feet in from of the stone marker. "She deserved more than this. She deserved to have a gravestone that showed how important she was."

Daniel places his hand on Elijah's shoulder and gave him a soft squeeze. "She can still have that, Elijah. We can all chip in and give her the gravestone she deserves."

Elijah nodded lazily. Then, despite his brain protesting, his body leaned closer to Daniel's. "I'm surprised that bastard paid for a burial at all, honestly. But maybe a part of him really loved her, and it was the resentment of her having me to take care of that made the marriage rocky."

"He'd have no one to blame but himself," Daniel pointed out. "He knew she was a mother foremost. Maybe that anger came from a part of him just knowing she'd settled."

That was true. Though Elijah never felt that, he'd been fairly ignorant of what their relationship was truly like. But his mother was absolutely beautiful, while Harrison would go unnoticed in a crowd of just a few. Looks weren't everything, but it wasn't as if the guy had a sparkling personality or a great sense of humor. He wasn't rich, and he didn't have a good heart.

Harrison Fox was just the man who showed up after all hope was lost on her ever reconnecting with Daniel. He was a way for her to build a new life, and for Elijah to have a father and stability. Harrison turned out to offer neither of those things.

Someone walked behind them in the distance, the fall leaves crunching beneath their feet as they made their way to their own loved one. Still, all Elijah could do was look at this fucking headstone.

"I hate you left me to be raised by him," Elijah spoke, either to his mother or to Daniel. Perhaps both. But the words spoken next were only to his mother. "You and I deserved better, and you knew it. You may not have known what he was capable of, but you knew he didn't give two shits about me. He barely took care of me while you were alive, and you chose not to leave him. You chose to never tell me the truth about my biological family. All my life, you lied to me."

Daniel scratched at his face, then knelt down beside the grave, allowing his fingers to graze across the plaque. "I don't know what their marriage was like, Elijah, and I won't pretend I know what you went through. What I will tell you is that my little sister was in a toxic, emotionally abusive relationship for a good five years.

"She met him during her final year of college. He was thirty, already semi-established in life. Owned his own house, drove a decent car, was well respected by many people. But he treated her like garbage. It started out with small comments and jabs. Her weight, her friends, her clothing. Around our family, he was a perfect gentleman, so much so that my parents fully trusted him and my older brother ended up forming a bond with him.

"He joined our family for Sunday brunch every week, and one time I walked into the kitchen to hear him berating her for her skirt being above the knee, or some crap like that. When I confronted him about it, the next time I saw him, he upped his game. Made excuses of why he couldn't come to anymore brunches, then my sister started coming less and less, saying he wanted to spend more one-on-one time with her. I talked to my family about it, but they didn't believe me. Not right away.

"Eventually, they noticed. When we saw him, he was rude and cold. He wasn't even trying to hide it anymore. I used to see my little sister at least once a week, and within a year of their relationship, I'd be lucky to see her once a month. He'd find every reason under the sun for her to spend less and less time with us. He planned a hike or made reservations for them. Tell her we were obviously trying to break them up, and he didn't want to give us an opportunity to get in her head.

"He'd get jealous and cold whenever she spoke to another guy, or wanted to spend time with her friends or with us. She broke up with him a year and a half in, and I helped her move her stuff out of his place. But two weeks later, he came crawling back with crocodile tears and bullshit remorse. She fell for it; hook, line, and sinker. One time we went an entire year without seeing her, even though she was only ten miles away. I don't know if he was hitting her, and she didn't want her older brother seeing the bruises, or if he'd convinced her we were the toxic ones in her life.

"When she finally did free herself from him, it was a long time before she felt like herself again. She had no sense of self-worth. She was emotionally disconnected from everything and everyone she once cared about. It was like there was no joy in her, no passion, and no hope. She seemed empty. She didn't know who she was anymore, and it was like she had to start from scratch.

"Again, I only know the cliff notes of what it was like in your house. But what I can tell you is that it's truly terrifying what that sort of manipulation and abuse can do to a person's mind, body, and soul. You had a lot of issues from that time in your life that took you years to overcome. Just imagine what it all must have done to her."