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I remembered all those years.
Grant had always been difficult.
He had struggled to find direction.
There had been plenty of nights when I wondered whether he would ever discover what he wanted to do.
I had told him many times that he was capable of more.
“You used to tell me I could be anything,” he said. “You just wanted me to stop acting like I didn’t care.”
I smiled through my tears.
“I told you that because I knew you cared more than you showed.”
He looked down at his badge.
“I wanted you to be proud of me.”
That sentence broke through the last of my anger.
I reached out and touched the badge.
“You did this.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
“You scared me half to death.”
“I know.”
“I was afraid something had happened to you.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
Then he hugged me.
At first, I stood stiffly.
Then I wrapped my arms around my son.
“I thought you were gone,” I whispered.
“I’m here,” he said. “I’m here.”
Behind us, my other children began apologizing.
Mark stepped closer.
“We should have told you something.”
Sarah wiped her eyes.
“We thought the surprise would be worth it.”
Jason nodded.
“We definitely underestimated how stressful this would be.”
I looked at all of them.
“There is no perfect surprise,” I said. “Sometimes showing up is enough.”
They all nodded.
The officer who had brought me there introduced himself as Nate.
“I’m sorry for frightening you,” he said. “Grant planned the whole thing.”
Sarah gave him a look.
“You can go now.”
He smiled politely and left.
The moment the door closed, Jason clapped his hands.
“Okay. Enough drama. We have food.”
Everyone laughed.
The room finally relaxed.
Mark started serving dinner.
Caleb brought out the warm dishes.