Page 16 of Jacob Michaels is Not Here

“Yeah.” He smiled sleepily, then looked confused. “But I can’t remember a bit of it now. I know it was about you, though.”

“Is that one of those things you just know?”

“I just assume all of my good dreams are about you.”

I kissed him softly again.

“All of my good dreams are about you, too.”

“Can I…”

Lucas trailed off, but gently wrapped his arms around me and buried his head against my chest, shifting his body to adjust for his height. He held me snuggly to him as he breathed warmly against me. I felt him sigh deeply, contentedly against me as he held me and started to go still once again.

“Lucas?”

“Mmmm…?”

“Do you…”

I stopped myself, knowing that no matter how I felt, or what my heart was telling me, Oma was right. Thinking with my head was the only option.

“I love you,” I said, simply. “You know that, right?”

“Mmmm. I lurve ya’, too.” He mumbled against my chest and pulled me even more tightly against him.

“I’m glad I came back.”

“I’m glad you came back, too.” He said, a little more clearly. “I knew you would. That is one of those things I just knew.”

You saw me coming, Lucas. I thought it meant something different…but you’ve been waiting for a decade.

As Lucas started to drift off, his hold of me not lessening, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him why he just knew things. I couldn’t force myself to lay a hand on his forehead and help him remember. I couldn’t rationalize waking him from his peaceful, unbothered sleep to tell him anything. Lucas loved me. Even if he didn’t remember loving me before. Even if he didn’t know why he felt his love for me so profoundly. I had to be okay with that. For his sake.