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For some reason, that doesn’t sit right with me. Jaxon doesn’t move. His eyes trace each letter slowly. As if committing them to memory.
I glance at Jaxon. His expression is unreadable. Without a word, I reach for his hand. He takes it immediately. His grip tightens around mine. We stand like that for a long time. Neither of us in any hurry.
Eventually, Jaxon’s eyes drift to the bouquet in his hand. The flowers we’d picked up on the way here. He bends, carefully setting them in front of the stone. His fingers linger against the stems for a moment before he straightens.
“I don’t know what to say.”
The words are barely audible. More confession than conversation. I look from him to the names carved into the granite. Then back again.
“Do you have to say anything?”
He doesn’t answer. The breeze stirs around us. I think about all the conversations he’ll never get to have. The birthdays they missed. The graduations. The day he became a Marine. The nights he needed someone to tell him everything would be okay. Years of words that never had a chance to be spoken.
Jaxon takes another step closer to the grave. His shoulders rise with a deep breath. Then slowly fall.
“I spent my whole life thinking you didn’t want me.” His voice trembles. “I was wrong.” A tear slips down his cheek. He doesn’t wipe it away. “I’m sorry it took me so long to find you.”
The sound of footsteps draws my attention. I turn. Jaxon doesn’t. He’s still standing in front of his parents’ grave. His entire world reduced to a single headstone.
Mom and Dad walk toward us first. Duncan is just behind them. Then my brothers and Declan. Xavier. Colton, and, holding tightly to his father’s hand, little Ollie.
No one speaks. No one asks if they’re interrupting. They simply come one by one. Mom steps forward first. She kneels, placing a small bouquet beside Jaxon’s flowers. She brushes her fingertips over the granite once before stepping back. Dad follows. Then Duncan. Each leaving behind a handful of flowers.
A quiet acknowledgment.
A silent promise.
You are not alone.
Finn sets his bouquet down with an awkward nod toward the headstone. Declan removes his sunglasses before crouching to place his. Ronan straightens one of the ribbons after setting his flowers in place, because of course he does. Colton smiles softly before adding his own. Xavier lingers for a second, looking at the names. Then gently lays down a bouquet of wildflowers.
Finally, Ollie toddles forward. A single sunflower clutched in both tiny hands. He places it carefully on top of the growing pile. Then pats it twice, satisfied with his work, he turns back toward us.
“Flowers.” His tiny voice echoes through the quiet cemetery.
Jaxon’s eyes move from bouquet to bouquet. Then to the people standing behind him. People who have never met Thomas or Catherine Kane. People who owe them nothing, yet came anyway.
I feel Jaxon’s fingers tighten painfully around mine. His breathing catches. The tears he’s been fighting finally spill over. This time, he doesn’t try to hide them. Mom steps quietly to his side. She slips an arm around his waist, drawing him gently against her. Jaxon goes without resistance. As though some part of him has finally grown too tired to keep standing alone.
She looks at the headstone, at the names carved into the granite. Then speaks.
“Thomas and Catherine Kane.” Her voice is soft. Respectful, the kind of voice reserved for sacred places. “You have a wonderful son.”
A tear rolls silently down Jaxon’s cheek.
“He’s kind. Loyal. Braver than he gives himself credit for. And he has a heart so big it would rather break itself than let someone else suffer.”
I feel Jaxon shake beside me. Mom only tightens her arm around him.
“You weren’t given the chance to watch him grow. To see the man he became. To tell him how proud you are.” She pauses, her own voice thickening. “So I’ll tell him for you.”
She glances at Jaxon before looking back at the stone.
“You can rest now. He isn’t alone anymore. He has a family. He has brothers, a father, a mother. And a man who loves him beyond reason.”
Her hand squeezes Jaxon’s side. “We will give him all the love you never had the opportunity to give. We will stand beside him when he stumbles. We will celebrate his victories. We will carry him through his losses. And we will make sure he never again doubts that he is wanted.”
The cemetery falls completely silent. Mom’s eyes never leave the headstone.
