a gift your Dad gave me a long time ago."
Lifting up her arm, he crawled underneath it and curled himself into her. "Should I...should I call you Mom?" he asked as he pulled on his bottom lip.
She kissed the top of his head. "Only if you want to Jack. You can call me Nathalie if you aren't ready to call me Mom."
The room fell very quiet as everyone waited for his answer. Rubbing his fingers together, he looked up at her and smiled shyly. "I think...I think I would like to call you Mom."
Several tears fell as she hugged him tightly again. "I would...I would like that very much."
Seeing that Nathalie was beginning to tire, Eric stepped forward. "Hey bud, I think we need to let your Mom get some rest now. She's still recovering from her operation."
She looked up pleadingly. "I'm okay, really." Now that she had him back in his arms she was almost unwilling to let him go at all.
Andrew chimed in. "Eric's right Nat. I don't want you to impact your recovery by overdoing it."
"I can come visit tomorrow, right Aunt Sarah?" he asked.
"Of course you can" she replied quietly.
Jack hugged his mother again. "Last birthday when I blew out my candles I wished for you" he told her. "And here you are. This year is gonna be the best birthday ever!"
"I love you Jack"
"I love you too Mom." He kissed her cheek before scrambling off the bed and heading to Sarah.
"Sarah?" she called to her sister. "Can you stay for a couple of minutes?"
Eric held his hand out to Jack and then smiled at Nathalie. "I'll come back later to visit, okay?"
Smiling tearfully, she nodded. "I'd like that." She waved at Jack as they left the room. As the door closed she beckoned her sister to the bed.
Sarah was barely within arms' reach before Nathalie had pulled her into a warm embrace. "You are the best sister in the world," she whispered against her shoulder. "I can never repay what you have done for me and for my son."
It took Sarah a moment to give in to the embrace but she did and returned it with equal warmth. "You are my sister, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."
Nathalie wiped again at her eyes and smiled as she let go of her. "I know...I know I said some awful things to you when I found out about Jack being here-"
"You were in shock" she offered.
"It was no excuse Sar. I unleashed my self-loathing on you and that was not fair. I know every choice you made was out of love for me...and Jack....and it turns out you knew better than all of us what we all needed. Thank you is inadequate but it's all I have right now."
"Do you know what you're going to do when you're released? Are you staying?"
"I'd like to. I was...I was wondering if I could come home with you?"
"With me?" she asked in surprise. "Not Eric?"
"Eric and I aren't there yet - we may never be there. Sarah I have missed you and I have a lot of time to make up for. I thought I could start by spending time with you. And since your home is the only Jack knows maybe it would be easier on all of us if he gets to know me there." The stunned look on Sarah's face troubled her. "If you're okay with it," she amended. "If not, I mean I'm sure I can get an apartment. I do have some money and-"
Her words got muffled as Sarah hugged her tightly. "I'm more than okay with it."
The two women held onto each other for several minutes until Nathalie pulled back to look in her sister's eyes. "I don't know what's going to happen with...well, anything in my life. But you will always be a part of my life, of Jack's life."
Sarah nodded as she fought back tears. "I hope so," she rasped.
Nathalie grabbed her sister's hand. "Sarah, I am done running."
"Good." Sarah smiled tentatively.
"I hope you are, too."
Nathalie continued on at Sarah's perplexed look. "I really hope you can stand still long enough to love someone, to...to let yourself be loved."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"What's going on with you and Drew?" Nathalie pressed gently.
"Nothing." Sarah's response was emphatic.
"Nothing looks a lot like something to me. Neither of you can keep your eyes off one another when you're in the same room."
"Please," she scoffed. "You said it yourself, he's a total