Making it Official(Moreaus and Jameses)

[Rhys Moreau]

"She was hurt," Rhys reasoned, even though he knew this kind of thing wasn't necessarily rational. "When it comes to this kind of thing, you don't pretend it hasn't happened. It's better to just accept the present and deal with the rest when you can." He was talking from personal experience, though he'd kept his own upbringing mostly secret from Andy. After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "There's a lot of pain involved, trust me, I know, but sometimes taking what you can is the best option."

[Andy Moreau]

"She left me!" Andy shouted. He didn't care if people could hear him. "When she lost me, she was always okay! She didn't even have Carl for a year! When she lost me she was always okay again!" He'd seen those pictures. He'd seen that the one with him and Tam in it had been torn up, and the one with Carl was fine. His dad hadn't wanted him, and his mom hadn't even wanted him. She'd been okay without him.

[Rhys Moreau]

Rhys took a chance and put his hands on Andy's shoulders. "Breathe," he said. "She didn't leave you because she wanted to. Mental issues don't mean she didn't want you or that she wanted to leave you alone. Maybe she won't remember this visit, but maybe she will, and isn't it worth banking on her remembering?" It was so different dealing with someone he intended to adopt. It felt like every word had more weight.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy hadn't wanted that contact, but he didn't shrink away from it. He almost kind of sort of didn't want to admit that part of him might like the feeling of having Rhys's completely undivided attention.

Breathe. He tried, though his gaze remained on the ground.

Maybe she won't remember this visit, but maybe she will. His hand rose, and he looked at the charm bracelet again. He'd sold a lot of condoms to be able to buy it. He should probably give it to her.

After a long moment, Andy nodded. He was subdued as they walked back, as Matthew left with a still-cheerful Tam. Bye, Mom! Remember, I'm Tam!

Andy glanced back at Rhys, part of him hoping he'd stay, and part of him hoping he'd leave. He decided to not even look. Instead, he watched the floor all the way to his mother's bed, where she saw staring at, or maybe through, the crumpled drawing tucked into her hands. Andy's brows drew together.

"Um, Mom?" He glanced at Rhys again, then sat gingerly beside a woman who'd been nothing more than a memory for half the life he could remember. "It's Andy. Presley." His nose scrunched at the name. Did he see a flicker in her eyes, or was it his imagination? "Mom?"

Nothing.

Andy sighed, then started working the bracelet off his wrist. "Mom, I bought this for you. It's just a bracelet, but... look. See this? It's Luxor." He hadn't gone back to the shop in Hogsmeade, but he had found a place that didn't object to selling him stuff just because he didn't have a job.

He caught up one of the two charms between his fingers, lay it across his palm, then put it in her line of sight. "See? It's the pyramid, and this jewel is the light on top. Remember? You always told me if I got lost to find the blue light." She looked aside at him, and for a full second, time stopped. For a full second, he recognized the look of relief in her eyes that she'd always had when someone had brought him back to her.

"Mom I love you!" The second passed, but Andy went on as fast as he could, hoping she'd heard him, hoping she'd hear the rest. "Mom, it's Presley, I'm here, Mom, someone wants to adopt me and Tam, Thomas, someone wants to adopt us, and they took us here to see you, they're really good Mom, it's almost like when we were with Carl, remember? We were happy and Carl was there to take care of us, they let me go to Hogwarts, Mom! Tam-Thomas- is seven now, he's almost as old as I was... Look, see this one?" Andy's hands shook a little as he held up the other charm. "The Luxor is me, and this one is T-Thomas. Luxor is Presley, little house is Thomas, 'cause we lived in that nice house, remember?"

She didn't seem to hear him, but he'd seen that look, he knew he had! Shaky fingers took her unprotesting wrist, and he clipped the bracelet around it, then adjusted it so the charms rested, visible, against her. He was crying again, but he was working hard to smile through it. "Luxor is Presley, house is Thomas," he said, and kept repeating it like a chant. Like a charm. The way she'd repeated things when it had just been the two of them, so long ago that it didn't feel real anymore.

---

He stayed there for a long time. Eventually Tam came back with something from the gift shop, a little teddy bear with a bow tie that changed color from a cheerful blue to a pale, hopeful pink when he handed it to Andy.

"I told Dad that Mom looked lonely, so he said we should get her something. Hug it! Dad said if we put it full of love Mom will be happy."

Andy smiled and tried to wipe away his tears. Tam saw them anyway, but didn't say anything. He just waited patiently for Andy to hug the bear tight, then tuck it against their mother's pillow. "That can be Carl, okay Mom?" He'd been jealous of Carl, but he'd liked him, too. His second dad, one he'd known less than a year, who'd loved him just as much as the baby that was biologically his.

Andy looked at his little family, a broken mother, a brother who seemed to have forgotten all the abuse they'd ever been through, and two men who wanted to be their parents even though Tam meant they never had quiet and even though Andy had blown up their bathroom within a couple hours of meeting them. He turned back to his mother and touched the charms one last time. "The house is Thomas. Luxor is Presley. I love you, Mom." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and stood. As Tam insisted on doing the same, Andy walked toward the door, stopping instead between Rhys and Matthew.

"Thank you," he said softly. He looked at his bare wrist rather than at either of them, but his chest felt like exploding from the combination of happiness and pain. "Um, I asked Tam, and... we're okay, I mean, we want to... um..." He shook his head, as though that would make the words fall out. He took a breath. "If you wanted us to change our names, we would." He sneaked a hopeful glance up.

[Rhys Moreau]

"We'll let you choose if you want to change your name," Rhys said. Matthew hadn't pressured him to change his last name, and he wouldn't pressure the kids to change theirs. "We can send in the adoption paperwork when we get home. For now, how about we get something to eat?" And get out of the hospital. When things were approved, which he knew would happen despite whatever his anxiety told him, they could celebrate.

[Matthew Moreau]

Matthew slipped an arm around Rhys, "I think he meant that they're okay with changing their name." It made his chest feel tight, something similar to few other times in his life, like when he'd asked Rhys to be his boyfriend and when Rhys had moved in and, then, some time later, when Rhys had changed his name after their wedding. He resisted the urge to ruffle Tam's hair and instead lightly stroked that ponytail, and he definitely resisted any urge to touch Andy, who often shied away from contact. "We can also put in paperwork to change your names. We know how it works, Rhys changed his whole name when we got married."

[Andy Moreau]

There had been a moment of doubt, a moment when Rhys, arguably Andy's favorite of the Moreaus, had misunderstood and Andy had been a heartbeat from changing his mind, but Matthew understood. Matthew understood, and from the glance Andy took from beneath his fringe, Matthew really, really understood, and Andy really, really appreciated it.

Andy managed a brief, but very real, smile before he knelt to give Tam a piggyback ride. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah!"

Leaving the hospital was a lot easier than walking in, even with the final glance Andy spared for his mom. He thought maybe he'd be okay visiting her again some time.