𝐒𝐲𝐧 ┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

49. 𝐻𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔

May 10, 2023

Syn

"What for?" I asked, adjusting Saint in my arms.

When she looked up at me, relief flooded her eyes and she wrapped her arms around me, making me stumble back slightly. With my free arm, I wrapped it around her and held her tightly against me.

I, unfortunately, wasn't here to witness the entire conversation. But I did hear the last bit and it made me want to go back into Aiden's room and beat him to a pulp. I wanted to interfere as soon as I heard him raise his voice, but I held back. She needed to do it alone and to my disappointment, it wasn't my place to come in and rescue her.

"Come on," I said to her. "Let's go."

We headed down the hall together to the elevator and I kept my hand on the small of her back. She hadn't said anything since leaving Aiden's room, but I wouldn't push her. If she wanted to talk, she would. I had a feeling that just being there was comfort enough.

We reached the elevator on the floor and I pressed the button. While we waited, I looked down at her and she glanced up at me. Neither one of us said anything, but for a brief second, I could sense exactly how she was feeling.

Relief.

The elevator opened and a familiar woman caught my eye. I tried to remember where exactly I knew her from but failed miserably. "Queen? Is that you?" She spoke with a huge smile. "How are you?

"I-I'm good." Queen nodded. "How are you?"

"I could be better," she said. "I'm too old to be worrying about this boy." Queen laughed with her and her eyes floated to me. "And who might you be?" She asked.

I glanced at Queen who seemed like she didn't know what to say and decided to take matters into my own hands. "I'm a friend of hers. You?," I asked, reaching my hand out for hers.

She quickly shook it and gave me a sweet smile. "Great to meet you! I'm Aiden's mother."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Greene."

"Call me Simone," she insisted. Her hold on my hand lingered as she looked at me and I glanced at Queen awkwardly. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"It's possible," I answered. "I tend to get around."

"Hmm." She let go of my hand and returned it to the bottom of what looked like a pie. There was aluminum foil over it so I couldn't exactly tell, but there was the familiar circular shape. "Aww, is this your son?" She asked me.

"Yes, it is."

"Oh wow, he's precious," she said in a small voice. "Are y'all sure you don't want to hang around for a little while? I brought pie."

"As great as that sounds, we have an important meeting to get to," I said. "Thank you for the offer."

"Of course." She smiled.

"What type of pie?" Queen asked from beside me and I held back a groan. If she was hungry, I'd get her something to eat but right now we needed to leave.

"It's a Reese's cup pie," she said. "You know whose little chocolate candies? They're Aiden's favorite so I just...made it into a pie." They both laughed together and I looked between them in confusion. "I figured it would cheer him up a bit."

"Of course." Queen nodded. "It does sound delicious, but he's right," she looked up at me, "we do have to go. Maybe some other time?"

"Absolutely," she said, stepping aside to let the other people onto the elevator. "You have my number, feel free to call or come over anytime. We'd love to have all of y'all over."