Her eyes filled with tears. So did Alice’s. Then mine did too because I couldn’t let them cry alone. “Wow. We’ve had so much fun.”

Before I could get too weepy, Merit came tearing up the stairs in full-on football pads, spotted me, and yelled, “Are you insane? Are you serious? You just sat here and recorded a total lunatic? You could have been killed.”

I tried to look nonchalant. “I’m fine, Merit.”

“Well, that is the last time I ever leave you alone. You have no sense, Iris.”

Mom and Alice shared a look. I knew that look. They thought Merit was in love with me. Alas, if only they knew the truth. Merit was in brotherly love with me. For the first time in hours, my mind flipped to Ben. Had I totally blown it with him? Would he ever try to make a move again after I’d stopped him?

Then I had a really great thought: just because Ben might never make a move didn’t mean I couldn’t.

Charlotte Social Life

I don’t know why, but ordeals like these always call for a shower. I wasn’t dirty in the traditional sense, but I felt it all the same. I let Iris go first since, come on, she was the real hero of the day, a fact that made me nothing short of nauseated. I wanted to wrap her in bubble wrap with a small nose and mouth hole for breathing and keep her in the closet so nothing bad could ever happen to her. That should really be an option parents can choose at birth. I was proud of her moxie. But it also terrified me. Why was it that our best qualities could also put us in harm’s way?

The phone rang beside me. I picked it up, recognizing the number right away—wishing that I had never had to recognize the number, feeling in the depths of my bones that I wouldn’t have to see it much more.

“Hi, babe,” I answered.

We had discerned that he could hear me even as the voice was playing asking if I would accept the charges for the collect call from the correctional center.

“I’m coming home tomorrow!” the ecstatic voice on the other end of the line said.

I had pictured this moment so many times, held a vision for it. And yet, it wasn’t at all what I expected. As tears streamed out of my eyes, I flopped back onto the mattress. “Tomorrow is the best day of my entire life!” I said through my tears.

“You’re telling me,” Bill said.

I was so overwhelmed with joy and relief that I couldn’t even respond.

“So, how is it being home?” Bill asked.