In a last ditch effort to change Theodore's mind about the drugs, I called him to try to reason with him. I knew it was probably futile, but maybe some of Harry's optimism had been rubbing off on me. "I'm afraid to give these medications to Harry because he could have serious complications," I firmly told Theodore.

"They're prescribed by a medical doctor," he said, emphasizing the word medical. "They are fine."

"He hasn't been seen by a doctor!" I retorted, putting on the air of courage even though my insides were trembling. "I don't know how things work in Canada, but in the US, there's not a single doctor I knew of who would prescribe medications without actually seeing the patient. In person!"

"I don't fucking care what they do in fucking America!" He raged and I could hear his calculated breath over the phone. "You will do as I tell you! Or you're gone."

I realized after that phone call that I was handling too much of this. Not that I expected Harry to step in and handle it, but I wasn't even giving him that opportunity. He was an adult for fuck's sake and I was going to start treating him like one! So I was going to let him make the decisions, with my help, of course.

I sat down with him and carefully explained everything that I suspected. With or without his birth certificate, I wanted him to know that the medical forms said he was older. "Do you remember anyone ever telling you how old you were?" I asked.

"I'm seventeen," he shrugged.

"But if you don't remember having birthdays, what if you skipped some years and you're really older? Like maybe you thought you were sixteen but that was for two years. Can you remember anything like that? Like maybe you were a certain age but you went through two winters or summers?"

He looked a little uncomfortable and cringed. "I don't...I don't know, Jules. Maybe."

"Please try," I encouraged him.

Again, my heart split in two when he started crying softly. He rubbed his hands up and down his face and sniffed. "I don't know," he repeated. "I j..ju...just remember...before you came, everything was b...blurry. I did my school work and watched TV and slept." He met my gaze with absolute heartache. "I don't...don...don't remember much about my life." I wiped his cheeks with my own hands, trying to soothe his nerves and his stuttering. "Wh...when you got here," he said with a weak smile, "That's when I felt like I started living."

Where my heart had been split, it was now fusing back together with his words. "I'm so sorry that happened to you," I said, still holding his face in my hands. "All I can tell you is that from now on, you will remember a lot more and you're going to make your own choices."

"When I turn 18, right?" He said.

"Well, I think...I think that you're actually older."

"Really?" He asked, sitting up straighter in surprise. "What? How? I mean how did you find out?" 

I was hesitant to tell him but I knew he'd understand why I did it. "I, um, broke into Theodore's office. I know it was wrong, but he wouldn't tell me anything about you or your medications. And I looked in his files." Harry's jaw dropped in shock but I knew he wasn't mad at me; he may have been concerned for my safety, though. I pulled out my phone. "I found some of your medical records." I showed him some of the copies I'd photographed.

When I flipped to the six-year-old well-child check, he gasped loudly. "I remember that! I liked the green paper and the little dog in the corner eating a bone with a 6 on it!"

"So you remember that you were six when you got this?" I asked to confirm.

"Yes, I remember," he nodded.

"Look at your date of birth," I said, zooming in on it. "Harry, if you were 17, you would have been born in the year 2000. But this says 1997."

His eyes widened in shock, then a glimpse of fear took over, and finally triumph. "I'm what...I'm 20? Like a real adult?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling, sharing his tears that were now happy instead of miserable.

"So Theodore can't tell me what to do anymore!" He said jubilantly.

"That's absolutely right," I agreed. "But here's the problem. Most parents encourage their kids to grow up and take responsibility for their own life. Theodore hasn't done that with you. He keeps giving you more and more drugs and I think he's trying to keep you...I don't know, sedated or something. But I don't know why. And you saw how angry he got with me about your pills."

"Yeah," he winced, as we both remembered Theodore slamming me against the wall. My head and shoulders still hurt today and you can bet I wrote every detail of that interchange in my journal.

"Harry, I would absolutely love for you to walk out the front door and do whatever you want to, but I honestly don't think Theodore will allow it. He's...." I struggled to find the right word. "He's not....He's evil and I think he wants to do something awful to you."

"What?" He asked. The expression on his face showed concern but I could tell he was trying to hold back the panic.

"I don't know," I said. "But as long as you live here, he won't let you do whatever you want."

"So I have to leave?" He asked mournfully.

"That seems like the best thing, doesn't it?" I asked. "I know you love your house and your playground - I love it here, too - but if Theodore isn't acting like the loving parent he should be, then you should be able to walk away."

"I...I know," he said bravely. "But please, Jules," his lip trembled, "I can't do it alone."

"I know," I smiled. "I'm not going to leave you alone, I promise. But here's the thing. You can choose not to take those medications that he brought last night. You have that right as an adult. You have the right to control what goes into your body."

"So the doctors won't get mad?"

"Doctors work for you," I explained. "They give you medications to help you and if you want to be healthy and strong, then you should follow their advice. But you are not required by law or by anyone else to take those medications."

"But Theodore will get mad," he said.

"Absolutely," I answered solemnly. "So I'm going to walk you through it and let you choose, okay?" He nodded. I explained about the pills that already had lowered doses, which he already knew about. I separated those into a group. Then I took away the extra doses plus the new ones that Theodore kept adding. "You don't have to take any of these," I said, pushing them further away. "But you really should take these, the ones you've been taking." I pointed to the smaller pile. "At least until you can see a doctor and find out if you should even be taking them. And this one," I held up a square pink pill, "is for asthma, so you always have to take that one, okay?"

He nodded in understanding. "Okay, I'll only take the ones I've been taking," he agreed.

"Now, we have to decide what to do with the other ones, the ones you're not going to take. If we leave them in the box, Theodore will know you didn't take them and he will fire me."

"No, no!" Harry urged. "We can't do that. You can't leave Jules, you just can't." That's when he truly started to panic.

"Okay but listen. If I get fired, I promise you, I will stay in Victoria and I will get the police to come and help you, okay? I've already contacted a lawyer as well, one who can help you to claim your rights as an adult."

"No, Jules," he whispered. "No, I'm scared. I can't lose you."

I was just as afraid as he was, but I was trying to be strong. "Listen to me, okay? I promise that if anything happens, I will come back for you. If he makes me leave, I will do whatever it takes to come back and help you. I promise."

His next words seared my heart. "That's what Mary said."

Fucking bitch!

"She lied," I said strongly. "I'm not lying, Harry. I care so much about you, please just believe that I will come back. I promise you."

"I don't... I just don't know what I want to do. I mean, can we hide the extra pills for now?"

"We could," I agreed. "But eventually, Theodore has to know that you're going to stand up for yourself, right? He really can't tell you what to do anymore."

"I'm scared," he muttered.

"I know," I whispered. "I made an appointment with a lawyer," I said. "I want you to talk to him, at the very least to make sure your father acknowledges your rights as an adult. But I also think you should press charges."

"What does that mean?"

"You're going to ask the law to get involved because I'm positive that he's been giving you medications that weren't legally prescribed to you. In the United States, that's a felony for some kinds of drugs, a very serious crime. It has affected your health, your life, your ability to remember things, hell, even your ability to grow up and act like an adult."

"Yeah," he said sadly.

"Or if we can find the doctor who prescribed them without seeing you, he could get in trouble, too," I told him.

"So we want to get people in trouble?" He asked innocently.

"Well, in this case, yes because they've been playing God with your life, doing things to you without your knowledge or consent and keeping you in the dark about medical conditions and your own age! So yes, they should be held responsible."

"I get it," he said, his face twisting uncertainly.

"Hey, what's on your mind?" I asked cautiously.

"So like Theodore could go to jail?"

"Yeah."

"Then I wouldn't have a place to live," he said.

"We'll figure that out if and when the time comes," I said. "I promise I will never leave you alone without a place to live and be safe, okay?" He nodded, still looking very uncertain. "So you made the decision to only take the pills that you've been taking, right?" He gave me a small, proud nod of assent. "Let's do this," I suggested. "I will put the extra pills for each day into a ziplock bag and write the date on it. I will also take pictures of everything you do take on the same date. This will help us when you talk to the lawyer. He will see what your dad has been trying to make you take. He wouldn't show me your prescriptions or your medical records, but if a judge orders him to bring them, he has to do it. And I can provide the extra pills as evidence against him."

"Good," Harry said.

"So are you willing to come and talk to the lawyer with me?" I asked.

"Of course," he said. "Just...you'll help me, right?"

"I will help you for sure, Harry."

Harry took his pills for the morning and I gathered up all the other pills for the day and put them into a ziplock with the date on them just like I said I would. Then I put them into a bin inside the cabinet in my bathroom where I had been keeping his pill box.

For the rest of the day, I tried to focus on light and happy things, like the lessons we'd been working on for science since Harry loved science. Actually, he loved learning in general. We played all different kinds of music throughout the day, trying to give Harry a feel for what his tastes might be. As we listened to jazz, Big Band, rock and roll, hip hop, disco, and even some show tunes, Harry had a ball, singing along if he caught on to the words and both of us dancing like maniacs.

"You know, they say that people who are good at math are good at music, too."

"Really?" He asked. "I love music!" He gushed. "I can't get enough of it. I wish I could sing and play every instrument and dance and do everything to music."

"Well, you can already sing," I told him. "You have a very good voice."

"Seriously?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips like he didn't believe me.

"Harry, you are a natural. Your voice is deep and smooth and you hit all the notes just right."

There was that shy yet proud smile I'd always loved. He was beautiful and when his heart came alive like this, I couldn't help but love him more.

"And one day, you'll learn to play piano and guitar and you'll sing for everyone you know!" I proclaimed. He grabbed me around the waist and hugged me and I happily returned the embrace.

As we settled into evening and got ready for bed, Harry became quiet and withdrawn, putting away his happy self and letting an anxious and fearful boy take his place. I sat on the edge of his bed like I always do when I said good-night to him. But he was having a hard time settling.

"Do you want to sleep in my bed again?" I asked, knowing I could rub his back and we could both fall asleep more easily that way.

"Yes, please," he said softly and followed me to my room. We snuggled down into my bed and for once, I didn't have any qualms about holding him tight while we slept.

* * * * *

Beware, the next chapter is a cliffhanger....