Chapter 32

Wild Man

Iplace a kiss against momor's stomach before I lay my arm over her legs and put my head in my hand so I can stare up at her. She's leaning against the piece of wood above the bed. I brush my fingers over her legs until I reach the spot between them. I can feel the combination of our wetness that leaks out of her.

"I like this," I say, swirling my fingers around.

It's not our releases I'm talking about—although I like that too—but the bareness of her pussy. I noticed it when I ate from her when I first came into her room, but I was too overcome with my need for her to have really paid attention. The hair that she had is now gone and the smoothness that's left behind makes my mouth water.

"This is how I normally keep it."

"Good. I do same."

Heat pools in her eyes and my cock moves against my thigh. I already want to take her again, but I was rough with our last fucking, so I want to give her body a little time to recover. Especially since she's carrying our baby.

I'm going to be a peepa. I want to throw my head back and roar to the sky in triumph.

"I like bed. Soft."

She smiles. "I liked it too before I found you. When I was brought back here, it was too soft. I missed the bed in our tree hut."

"Missed just bed?"

Her smile gets bigger. "I may have missed the man who always kept me warm in it and always fucked me so good."

I growl, lifting my hand to fist her hair. I drag her head down and lean up so our lips meet. I'll always need her kiss. I'll always need it like my body needs my heart to beat.

"I missed you, Wild Man," she says against my lips. "So much. I was so worried about you. I wanted to go back, but they wouldn't let me. I was going to make them today, but you got to me before I could."

"I wanted to come soon, but couldn't." I don't want to worry her by telling her how injured I was, but I need her to know I would have been here quicker if I could have. "I hurt."

A line forms between her eyes. She lightly runs her finger over the marks still on my stomach. "They told me they weren't sure if you were alive or dead. How bad was it?"

I don't answer that. Instead, I say, "Teeja find me. Bring me food. Keep animals away."

"Teeja is a good friend."

I nod.

"How did you find me here? You've never been out of the forest, right? And where did you get the clothes?"

I pick up a piece of her hair that's lying on her chest and slide my fingers through it. "Ben gave paper long ago. It says how get to his home. It take me a day to find home. Was surprised to see me, but knew why there. Heard from people when brothers took you." I bring her hair to my nose and breathe in deep. "He know your peepa name and find where you live. He gave clothes and gave paper to here."

"I can't believe you came for me."

"Always, momor."

Wherever my momor is, is where I will be.

"Phenix."

I tilt my head to the side. That word sounds familiar, but I don't know how.

"That's your name," she says softly, her deep brown eyes watching me. "Fey is the name your older sister called you."

"Sister? I don't—" My mouth slams shut when a fuzzy memory fills my head. A female, a young one, with dark brown hair that's twisted on both sides and hangs over her shoulders. Bright pink pieces of cloth hang from her hair. She's smiling in my head.

"Come play with me, Fey."

I snap my eyes shut, trying to hold on to that memory. Wanting more of it to form.

"You have an older sister, Wild Man."

My lids open and find momor looking at me. She has the same smile on her face as the girl in my head.

"Her name is?—"

"Cammie," I finish for her.

"Cammie. Yes. Camille." Momor slides her fingers through the hair on my face so she's cupping my cheek. "She's been looking for you for years. She wants to see you again."

For the first time in my life, I have no words. Not because I have nothing to say, but because I don't know what to say.

I have a sister.

Cammie.

Now that her name is in my head, more faint visions appear.

Sitting at a small table while Cammie gives me a little cup. There's nothing in the cup, but we pretend there is and drink from it.

"Would you like more tea, Fey?"

Me sitting on something as Cammie pushes me. I go forward and backward. I felt like I was flying.

"Higher, Cammie!"

Cammie lying in a bed in a white room. She has something stuck in her arm and there are beeping sounds.

"Why are you sick, Cammie? You won't die, will you? You can't leave me."

"I'll never leave you, Fey."

The last time I saw my big sister was the day me, Peepa, and Noeny went to the forest. We were both sad she couldn't go with us. Peepa helped me crawl on the bed so I could give her a big hug.

"Tell all the little baby animals I said hi. And bring me a pretty rock home."

Cammie had a bunch of rocks in her room that she kept in a box. She said they were her favorites because they were neat shapes and colors.

I don't know why I forgot about her. I've held onto some faded memories of Peepa and Noeny, but it was like Cammie disappeared. Maybe my young mind knew, when I was left on my own, that it would be too hard if I kept Cammie with me.

I focus back on momor. Her eyes are wet, but she has a small smile on her face.

"How you know Cammie?" I ask, my tone deeper than normal.

I listen intently as she tells me how Cammie showed up here and everything my sister told her. She talks about my sister with excitement, and I can tell she's happy for me. I'm happy too. I thought I was left alone in the world, but then momor showed up and I wasn't anymore. Having her made me realize how lonely I felt. Without her, I was nothing.

But now I have a sister. Not only a sister, but her two sons. Momor said I am an uncle.

"Do you want to meet her?"

"Yes."

Momorlaughs at how fast I answer. Now that I remember my sister, I don't want to wait.

"Now. Want to see now."

She laughs again and her dark eyes glitter like there are stars in them. She tugs lightly on my beard.

"Let's wait an hour or two. It's still pretty early. We'll wait until the sun comes up and then I'll call her." She shifts her legs, and I remove my arm from over them. She gets up from the bed. Her naked body tempts me to pull her back down. I don't like it when she puts something on that covers her body. "For now, I'm going to blow your mind by making you my famous omelet."

* * *

I can't stop lookingat my sister. She can't stop looking at me either, so I guess it's okay.

She's beautiful. Long brown hair, almost as black as mine. Her eyes aren't as dark, but the lines of hair above her eyes are the same shape as mine. I only know that because after momor and I were under the falling water, I looked in what she called a mirror for a long time. I stared at every part of my face, studying it closely. It was weird looking at myself.

"You look just like Dad," Cammie says. Her face is still red from when she cried earlier. "He had the same black hair and was thick like yours. You have his eyes too, and we both got his height, although you're much taller than me. But it's Mom who gave us her high cheekbones and full lips."

We're on the long thing with padding called a sofa. I'm sitting in the middle with Cammie on one side and momor on my other side. Momor has my hand in hers, squeezing my fingers. She's had a hold of it since we first sat down.

"Mom and Dad adored you. They adored us both." She rubs her lips together. "I have some pictures of them if you want to see."

I clear my throat when it feels like something is stuck inside it. "Yes."

She grabs a bag she has on the floor by her feet and pulls out a small box. The top is flipped open and she pulls out several small shiny papers. She holds them out to me, and I take them with hands that shake.

I look down at the top one. It's of a man and a woman who look familiar. They both have wide smiles on their faces. They look like they are looking out of the picture and straight at me. Peepa has his arm around Noeny's waist and she's turned toward him a little with her hand resting on his stomach. Peepa has hair as black as mine, just as Cammie said. He's taller than Noeny, his chin higher than her head. Noeny's hair is deep red, like the color of leaves when it starts getting cold. Her skin is lighter than Peepa's and she has little dots of color on her nose and cheeks. She's more beautiful than I remember. They look happy as they smile at me.

I look at the next picture. This one Peepa is holding Noeny with one arm under her legs and the other around her back. She has one arm around his neck and her other hand is on his cheek. They aren't looking at me this time. They look at each other, their smile not as big, but still filled with love and happiness.

I move to the next picture and this one holds my attention more. Peepa and Noeny are standing in front of a big tree. One of his arms is draped over Noeny's shoulders. In his other is… me. The little boy version of me. My legs are hugging his hips and Peepa's arm is under my butt with his hand on my leg. A little girl—Cammie—is hugging the other side of Noeny. We all look forward with big grins on our faces.

The last picture tightens my chest so much that it's hard to breathe. Peepa and Noeny are on a sofa. Cammie sits across both of their laps, her butt on Peepa's thighs with her legs lying on Noeny's. In her arms is a bundle of light blue blankets, my tiny scrunched up face peeking out of them. All three are looking down at me.

"That was the day Mom and Dad brought you home from the hospital," Cammie says. "I was at home with a babysitter. I was too young to really remember, but Mom said I couldn't wait to meet you. She said as soon as they walked in the door, I demanded to hold you right away." She laughs, the sound coming out choked. "I was so proud to be your big sister and promised to be the best one you ever had."

"You were," I say in a hoarse voice.

"You remember me?"

I glance up. Tears slide from her cheeks and drip off her chin. Momor reaches around me and offers Cammie another tissue. She has a small pile of used ones on the table beside us.

"Little. I remember drinking empty cups." Cammie laughs. "And playing in rain. Holding hand and talking under sheets."

"We used to have tea parties and build forts made out of sheets in your room." She wipes her nose with a tissue. "I'd sneak into your room at night after we were supposed to be in bed and we'd huddle under one. We'd try so hard to be quiet so Mom and Dad wouldn't hear us, but we always ended up giggling and they'd catch us."

I grin. It's not really the memories that make me smile, but the sound of childish laughter I can hear in my head.

"Can I—" she stops and her throat moves. "Can I hug you?"

I don't answer with words. I reach out and pull my big sister into my arms. She falls against me, her arms going around my middle and pressing her face in my shoulder.

"Never ask," I rumble in her ear. "Always hug."

She cries against my shoulder, her tears soaking my shirt. "I've missed you so much, Fey."

The warmth of momor's hand touches my back, and I hear her soft sobs behind us. I don't want her to cry, but I can't stop it. Not when my own eyes have tears in them.

"I'm going to get us more coffee," momor says when Cammie and I pull apart.

I grab her hand before she can walk away and bring it to my lips. "Thank you, momor."

"Momor? Is that what you call Ever?"

We both look at Cammie.

"Dad used to call Mom mon amour. It's French for ‘my love'. Dad's father was French, and he lived there for the first fifteen years of his life, until he and our grandmother, who was American, moved to the States." She looks from me to momor and then back. "Even if the endearment is altered, he would really like that you use the same for the woman you love."

Mon amour. Now that Cammie has said the word, it does sound right. I can almost hear Peepa's voice saying it.

But Ever will always be my momor to me.

And she agrees when she looks down at me with a smile and says, "I like momor better."