Promise

By the time the family reached the restaurant, Peter’s face hurt from smiling.

He had graduated. Not simply graduated, but graduated as valedictorian, after standing before thousands of people and telling them who he was, where he had come from, and who had stood beside him while he learned to become himself.

Now, sitting at a long table surrounded by family, Peter was beginning to understand that the ceremony had not felt like an ending at all.

Derek sat beside him, their knees touching beneath the table. Aunt Lynn and Uncle Jerry were there, along with Aunt Rachelle and Uncle Vic, Carrie and Nathan, Nonnie, and Linda and Richard Williams. Cathy and Michelle sat together farther down the table, talking and laughing.

And Garry was there.

Peter noticed his father occasionally, but he did not dwell on him. Garry had appeared after the ceremony and apologized. He had not asked Peter to forgive him. He had simply said that he intended to spend whatever time he had left becoming the father he should have been.

Peter had listened.

For now, that was enough.

“You’re thinking again,” Derek said quietly.

Peter looked at him. “I do that sometimes.”

“I’ve noticed.”

Peter smiled and reached beneath the table for Derek’s hand. Then he stopped himself.

Why beneath the table?

He brought their joined hands up and rested them beside his plate.

Derek looked down, then at Peter. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“That’s not a nothing look.” Peter shrugged. “I meant what I said today.”

Derek’s expression softened. Peter had stood before everyone at graduation and spoken openly about the man beside him, about the love that had helped him discover who he was. After everything it had taken Peter to reach that point, hiding their joined hands beneath a table suddenly seemed ridiculous.

“I know you did,” Derek said.

Peter squeezed his hand. Across from them, Linda noticed. She smiled and continued her conversation with Aunt Lynn.

Peter looked around the table again and found Cathy and Michelle. His smile faded.

Derek followed his gaze. “You want to do it now?”

Peter nodded. “Before I lose my nerve.”

“You’re not doing it alone.”

Peter turned toward him.

Derek gave him a look. “They’re coming to live with both of us, remember?”

“I remember.”

“Good. Come on.”

They stood together.

Cathy saw them approaching and narrowed her eyes. “What did we do?”

Peter laughed. “Why do you assume you did something?”

“Because you have that look.”

“What look?”

“The Peter look.”

Michelle nodded solemnly. “Definitely the Peter look.”

Derek pulled out a chair. “I’ve been trying to explain that look to him for years.”

“Whose side are you on?” Peter asked.

Derek sat beside him. “Theirs, apparently.”

Peter shook his head, but the teasing had done what Derek intended. His nervousness had eased.

He looked at his sisters.

Cathy was fifteen now. Michelle was fourteen. They were no longer the little girls who had once followed him everywhere, but Peter could still see those children in them. He could also see things he wished he could erase. Years of instability. Adults making decisions for them. Promises made and broken.

Peter took a breath. “Derek and I are moving to Seattle.”

“We know,” Cathy said.

“You’ve mentioned it once or twice,” Michelle added.

“Probably more than that.”

“A lot more.”

Derek smiled. “He’s excited.”

Peter ignored him. “What we haven’t told you is that we’ve been making plans for where we’re going to live. We’re going to build a house.”

Michelle’s eyes widened. “Build one?”

“That’s the plan.”

“You know how to build a house?”

Derek laughed. “I know how to design one. I’m going to let people who know what they’re doing actually build it.”

Peter leaned toward Michelle. “Good decision, believe me.”

Derek nudged him. Peter smiled, then became serious again. “There’s something else we’ve been talking about for a long time.”

Cathy watched him carefully.

Peter reached across the table and took her hand. “When the house is finished, Derek and I would like you and Michelle to come live with us.”

Neither girl moved.

Michelle looked at Derek, then back at Peter. “Live with you?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

Peter felt something tighten inside him. “As long as you want.”

Cathy stared at him. “You mean permanently?”

“If that’s what you want.”

Michelle looked at Derek. “You want us there too?”

The question landed harder than Peter expected. Derek did not hesitate.

“Yes. Peter and I talked about this together. We’re starting our life in Seattle together, and we want you to be part of it.”

Cathy looked down at Peter’s hand holding hers. “Dad won’t let us.”

“I haven’t talked to him yet.”

Her head snapped up. “You asked us first?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s your life. I’m not going to decide where you should live and then tell you afterward. Too many people have already done that to you. Derek and I want you with us, but this has to be what you want too.”

Michelle looked at Cathy. Peter waited.

Finally, Michelle asked, “We’d go to school in Seattle?”

“Yes.”

“And live with both of you?”

Derek nodded. “Yes.”

“And we’d have our own rooms?”

Peter smiled. “I would strongly recommend it.”

Michelle laughed. Derek added, “Sharing one room with Peter is bad enough. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”

“Excuse me?”

Cathy laughed too, but tears were gathering in her eyes. “You really want us?” she asked.

Peter’s smile disappeared. He reached for Michelle’s hand as well. “I have wanted you with me every day since I left Arizona.”

Cathy lowered her head.

“I couldn’t always give you what I wanted to give you,” Peter said. “I know that. But I can now.”

Derek rested his hand over theirs. “We can,” he said. “Both of us.”

Michelle wiped quickly at her eyes. “Then yes.”

Peter laughed softly. “That was fast.”

“I already knew.”

Cathy looked at her sister. “You could have waited for me.”

“You were going to say yes.”

Cathy tried to glare at her, failed, and turned back to Peter and Derek. “Yes.”

Peter closed his eyes for a moment. Five hands rested together on the table. When he opened them, Derek was watching him.

Peter smiled. “Okay,” he whispered. “Then we figure out the rest.”

The rest began with Garry.

Peter and Derek found him outside after lunch, standing beside his car.

Garry looked from Peter to Derek. “Everything all right?”

“We need to talk to you about Cathy and Michelle,” Peter said.

Garry’s expression immediately changed. “What about them?”

Peter glanced at Derek once, then faced his father. “When our house is finished, we want the girls to move to Seattle and live with us.”

Garry stared at him. “No.”

Peter had expected the answer. “They want to come.”

“You already asked them?”

“Yes.”

“Before talking to me?”

“Yes.”

Garry’s jaw tightened. “Peter, they’re my daughters.”

“I know.”

“They live with me. You don’t get to decide they’re moving to Seattle.”

“I didn’t decide. Cathy and Michelle did.”

“They’re fifteen and fourteen.”

“And old enough to have an opinion about where they feel safe.”

Garry flinched. Peter hated saying it, but he would not take it back.

“You’re twenty-two years old,” Garry said. “You and Derek are just starting your lives. You don’t know anything about raising two teenage girls.”

Peter stared at him. “I know more about taking care of those girls than you think I do.”

Garry looked away.

“I’ve been taking care of Cathy and Michelle since I was eleven,” Peter continued, keeping his voice level. “When I came home from the academy, I had them by myself while you were gone trying to save your marriage. I know what they eat. I know what scares them. I know when Michelle says she’s fine and isn’t, and I know when Cathy gets quiet because she’s angry instead of sad. Don’t tell me I don’t know how to take care of my sisters.”

Garry said nothing.

Derek remained beside Peter, close enough that Peter could feel his presence without looking at him.

Finally, Garry said, “I meant what I said after the ceremony.”

Peter’s anger eased slightly. “I know.”

“I want to fix this.”

“Then let this be part of fixing it.” Peter looked at him. “Dad, I’m not trying to take your daughters away from you. I’m trying to give them some stability. You said you want a relationship with your children again. You don’t rebuild that by making Cathy and Michelle live somewhere they don’t want to live.”

Garry lowered his eyes.

“You rebuild it by showing up,” Peter continued more quietly. “Call when you say you’ll call. Visit when you say you’ll visit. Listen to them. Let them decide what kind of relationship they want with you.”

“And if they decide they don’t want one?”

“Then you keep trying without forcing them.”

Garry looked toward the restaurant. “How often would I get to see them?”

Before Peter could answer, Derek spoke. “As often as the girls want to see you and you’re willing to come.”

Garry turned toward him.

“The house is going to have a guest room,” Derek continued. “It has your name on it.”

Peter looked at Derek. That had never been part of their conversation. Derek glanced at him and gave the smallest shrug. Peter smiled.

Garry looked between them. “You’d let me stay in your house?”

“Of course,” Derek said. “If you’re serious about rebuilding your relationship with them, Peter and I aren’t going to make it harder.”

Garry’s eyes filled.

Peter stepped closer. “This isn’t revenge, Dad.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

Garry nodded.

Peter looked through the restaurant window. Cathy and Michelle were still at the table. “The house will take a few months to build. Derek and I will be in an apartment until then. I want the girls to stay with Aunt Lynn and Uncle Jerry until the house is ready.”

Garry was quiet for a long time. Finally, he nodded. “All right.”

Peter exhaled.

Garry looked at Derek. “You really have a room for me?”

Derek smiled. “We will.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Peter snores.”

Peter stared at him. “I do not.”

Garry laughed. It was brief and unexpected, but Peter felt something shift between the three of them. Not forgiveness. Not yet. Maybe simply the possibility of something that had not existed yesterday.

Before they went back inside, Peter stopped his father. “Dad?”

Garry turned.

“You’ve said before that things were going to change.”

“I know.”

“This time, show us.”

Garry nodded. “I will.”

Peter did not answer. Some promises needed time before they deserved belief.

Aunt Lynn agreed without hesitation to let Cathy and Michelle stay at the farm until Peter and Derek were ready for them.

“You’re really taking them with you,” she said.

Peter nodded. “If we ever get the house built.”

“You’ll get it built.”

“Derek will. I’ll pay for it.”

Derek looked offended. “I thought you were going to help.”

“I’m an accountant.”

“You can carry lumber.”

“I can calculate how much the lumber costs.”

Aunt Lynn laughed, then pulled them both into a hug. “Take care of each other first,” she said. “The rest will come.”

Peter looked at Derek. That, at least, he knew how to do.

Seattle became their home quickly.

They rented a small apartment while Peter began his accounting job downtown and Derek started with the architectural firm that had transferred his position to its Seattle office. Their first weeks disappeared into work, boxes, bank accounts, grocery lists, and evenings spent driving through neighborhoods looking for land.

They finally found a piece of property on the edge of the city, surrounded by tall trees with enough open ground for the house Derek had already designed during their final months of college. Peter checked the numbers. Derek checked the land. Then Peter checked the numbers again. They bought it.

Construction began soon afterward. The months that followed were busy enough that neither of them had time to notice how quickly their old life was disappearing. The apartment filled with material samples and revised drawings. Derek came home from work and spent evenings adjusting plans for their own house. Peter tracked every expense, questioned every change order, and learned that loving an architect occasionally required accepting that moving a wall several inches could apparently be a matter of life and death.

They argued about flooring. They argued about cabinets. They argued about whether Derek actually needed to redesign a bathroom because a wall had been framed eleven inches from where he wanted it.

“It ruins the proportions.”

“It’s a bathroom.”

“That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have proportions.”

“It has a toilet, a sink, and a bathtub. Those are the proportions.”

Derek stared at him in horror. Peter laughed until Derek finally did too.

They never argued about Cathy and Michelle.

Two bedrooms were part of the house from the beginning, along with a guest room for family. Derek designed a large living room around the baby grand they already owned, and Peter made sure the budget left enough to furnish the girls’ rooms properly once they arrived. They did not tell Cathy and Michelle what those rooms looked like. That was one surprise they intended to keep.

By October, the house was finished.

The night before the girls arrived, Peter stood alone in the living room. The baby grand rested exactly where Derek had imagined it months before, and two framed photographs sat on top.

Anne.

Grand Papa.

Peter touched his mother’s frame gently. “Tomorrow,” he whispered.

Derek entered behind him. “Talking to your mama?”

Peter smiled. “Maybe.”

Derek wrapped his arms around Peter from behind. “Nervous?”

“Terrified.”

“Good.”

Peter turned in his arms. “Good?”

“It means you understand how important this is.”

“What if we’re not ready?”

“We’re twenty-two years old; we just started our careers; we built a house, and tomorrow two teenage girls are moving in with us. Of course we’re not ready.”

“That is remarkably unhelpful.”

Derek smiled. “We’ll learn.”

Peter looked toward the stairs. “Together?”

Derek’s expression changed. “Peter, they aren’t coming here to live with you. They’re coming to live with us.”

Peter leaned forward and kissed him. “I love you.”

“I know.”

“You’re supposed to say it back.”

“I love you too.”

“Better.”

Aunt Lynn and Uncle Jerry arrived shortly after noon the next day.

Peter and Derek were outside before the car had completely stopped.

Michelle jumped out first. “Is this it?”

Peter laughed. “Hello to you too.”

She hugged him quickly and immediately turned back toward the house. Cathy climbed out more slowly. For several seconds, neither girl spoke.

Derek stood beside Peter. “Well?”

Michelle turned around. “You designed this?”

“I did.”

“The whole thing?”

“With occasional interference from your brother.”

“I paid for things,” Peter said.

“A valuable contribution.”

Uncle Jerry opened the trunk. “You two can argue later. There’s half a farm packed in here.”

They carried suitcases and boxes inside, but Peter barely made it through the entryway before Michelle asked the question he had been waiting months to hear.

“Where do we sleep?”

Derek looked at Peter. Peter smiled. “Upstairs.”

The girls raced ahead. “Second and third doors on the right,” Derek called.

Michelle reached hers first and disappeared inside. A scream followed.

Peter stopped halfway up the stairs. “Is that good?”

Cathy laughed. “With Michelle? Probably.”

They found her standing in the middle of her bedroom staring at the windows. “I have two windows!”

Peter looked at Derek.

Derek folded his arms smugly. “You’re going to be unbearable about this, aren’t you?” Peter asked.

“Absolutely.”

Michelle began exploring every corner of the room while Cathy crossed the hall to hers. Her reaction was quieter. She stepped inside and looked around at the bed, dresser, desk, bookshelf, and closet. Peter remained at the doorway with Derek.

Cathy ran her fingers across the quilt on the bed. “This is mine?”

“Yes,” Peter said.

“All of it?”

“All of it.”

She looked at Derek. “You did this?”

“We did.”

Cathy opened the closet, looked inside, then closed it. Peter saw the change in her face. “What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Cathy.”

She looked around the room once more. “Nobody can make us leave?”

Peter’s chest tightened. He walked into the room. “What do you mean?”

“What if Dad changes his mind?”

“He agreed.”

“But what if he changes his mind later? What if something else happens?”

“Cathy.” He reached for her hands. “This is your home. You don’t have to wonder where you’re going next. You don’t have to pack because somebody else made another decision. You and Michelle are staying here for as long as you want to stay here.”

Cathy’s face crumpled. Peter pulled her against him. “You’re safe,” he whispered.

She began to cry. Michelle appeared in the doorway, took one look at her sister, and crossed the room. Peter opened an arm and pulled her in too.

Derek stood a few feet away.

Peter looked at him. “Get over here.”

Derek laughed softly and joined them. For a moment, the four of them simply held one another.

When they finally went downstairs, Aunt Lynn was standing beside the baby grand. Her eyes were fixed on the two photographs resting on top. She touched Anne’s frame. “Your mama would have loved this.”

Peter smiled. “She already does. Her picture is on the baby grand.”

Aunt Lynn looked at him.

Peter nodded toward the second photograph. “Grand Papa too.”

Her hand covered her mouth.

Derek slipped his hand into Peter’s. Aunt Lynn looked around the room — the piano, the photographs, Cathy and Michelle coming down the stairs together, Derek standing beside Peter — and smiled through her tears.

“Yes,” she said quietly. “I suppose they are.”

Peter looked around too.

For most of his life, his mother’s promise had felt like something he carried alone. Even after he learned he didn't have to carry everything by himself, some part of him still believed taking care of Cathy and Michelle was entirely his responsibility.

Standing there beside Derek, he understood differently.

He had not brought his sisters into his home.

He and Derek had brought them into theirs.

And they had built more than walls around them. They had built a place where Cathy and Michelle would not have to wonder how long they were allowed to stay. A place where Garry could come if he kept his promise and the girls wanted him there. A place where Aunt Lynn and Uncle Jerry would always be family, where Anne and Grand Papa still had their place on the piano, and where Peter no longer had to carry every promise by himself.

Derek squeezed his hand.

Peter looked at Cathy and Michelle.

For the first time in a very long time, there was nothing uncertain about where his sisters would sleep that night.

They were home. More importantly, they were safe.