Page 161 of Effortless

I carefully undid the folded picture, not wanting to accidentally rip it since it was already so delicate. What I saw was a hospital bed, and in it was a woman with a short, black bob. In her arms was a newborn that had clearly just come out of the womb. Leaning next to her with a wide smile was a man. His brown skin resembled the two babies that he held in his arms, both appearing to be around one year old.

“Your parents?” I asked gently.

My boyfriend stared at the photo with longing eyes. “It’s the only picture we have of them. I’m sure there’s more, but Macy never let us see. Emerson and Easton had this picture, but they gave it to me.”

I hated that woman more and more. How dare she keep them from seeing what little they have left of their parents?

I looked between Eli and the picture, realizing how much he took after both of his parents. He had his father’s skin tone andphysique, but his mother’s eyes and smile. A perfect blend of the two.

“You look just like them, amor.”

Eli’s eyes slowly met mine, water that I hadn’t noticed before brimming them. “You think so?”

“I know so. You’re a nice blend of them.”

He smiled, but the smile was sad. Eli never spoke much about his parents, how could he when he did not know anything about them? Still, he loved them like any child would. He missed them, and there was not a thing I could do to fix it.

If I could go back in time and take pictures of them for Eli, I would. I would record a video of his parents telling him how much they loved him so that he would know it. I would do absolutely anything for him.

But I could offer my words. “They’re part of you, baby. You carry them with you everywhere you go. In your face, in your personality, in you. I know you miss them, but they’re always with you.”

My boyfriend’s lips pressed tightly together before he wrapped his arms around me tightly, a tear sliding down his cheek. I squeezed him tightly with one arm while the other wiped the wetness off his cheek.

We stayed like that for a while, and at one point I wondered if Eli had fallen asleep because of how still he was. That was not the case, it was that he was comfortable enough to not feel the need to fill the silence. He was right, he never needed to say anything with me. I had him no matter what.

Eli and I were more than ready to tackle college together, and I couldn’t wait.