“It’s going to take me a while to believe that.” She laughed nervously. The dim lighting of the bedroom caught just so in the droplets of water on Gretchen’s skin. Jax glanced quickly at her bare chest and the way the towel pushed her breasts together. She turned abruptly and went back to the kitchen.

She filled three bowls with soup and buttered a few slices of the bread Amanda had gotten from the store. By the time the table was set, Gretchen joined them in the kitchen.

Jax was instantly transported back to lazy days at home with her family. Nights off and simple dinners that made them all feel good. She wanted nothing more than to break down into tears of remorse, but she forced a happy face. She sat at the table and Gretchen took her usual spot across from her. Caleb’s nose was buried in a picture he was coloring. He’d only paused to slurp his soup or take a bite of his bread from time to time.

“We’re lucky he loves coloring so much,” Jax said offhandedly. “It keeps him in one place and…” She mouthed the word quiet. Jax expected Gretchen to say something, but she just stared at her soup and held her bread in one hand. “I hope you’re not worrying about the carbs. You need to worry about getting better, not what you eat.”

Gretchen’s eyes were brighter and more alert than they had been all day. She stared at Jax and examined her for a moment. “It’s like you remember, too.”

“Remember what?”

“But you don’t,” Gretchen said sadly. She dipped her bread into the broth and ate slowly, seemingly shutting down again.

Jax wanted to ask a million questions, but Caleb launched into a story from his day at school, and Gretchen looked happy to listen. She couldn’t interrupt that. Gretchen was getting a good dose of her normal, daily routine, even if it was one of the louder parts. Caleb showed off the frog drawing he made in preparation for Gretchen’s return home, and she fawned over it just as she did every picture he colored or drew. Jax settled back in contentment. If things between her and Gretchen were rough from here on out, it’d be okay, because Gretchen was still the loving mother she always was.

“Hey, Cricket, why don’t you get the picture of the sea turtle you drew with Mama.”

“Octopus,” Gretchen blurted out.

“What?”

“We drew an octopus.”

“You remember drawing an octopus with him?” Jax felt hopeful as she saw Gretchen’s mind work to figure out what she remembered. Maybe this was the start of her memories coming back.

“No. No, I don’t.”

Jax tried to hide her disappointment, smiling when Caleb came hopping back into the room. “See that.”