Maxwell opened his mouth to reply, but Bonnie entered the room and he stopped himself. Whoever she was, she didn't deserve to hear the insults she would say to her brother. His mother had always insisted that he should treat every woman like a lady. And he made an effort to do so, when it was possible.
"Well?" She asked, dropping the two wheelie suitcases on the floor. "Are we ready?"
"We'll wait for Anna and her father." Adam said, and she sat down next to him.
Anna packed her suitcases with only the bare necessities. Adam would have to buy her new clothes. Once her suitcase was packed, she went into Ian's room to talk to Beth.
"Beth, leave me alone with my son, please."
"Okay." She said and left, but first she messed up Ian's hair.
Anna went over to him, who was playing on his wooden horse, and sat down in the armchair.
"Ian... We're going on a trip..."
"With Uncle Adam?"
"Yes. With him."
"Are we all going?"
"You, me and Grandpa are going."
Ian frowned, as Maxwell did, and Anna smiled at the beneficial influence her lover had left on her son. It was something he would carry with him for life.
"I don't want to go, then." He decided.
"Why not?"
"I don't want to be without my grandmothers, or away from my brothers. I miss them already. And they must be going through my things!"
"We need to go. When you grow up, you'll understand better. You won't miss your siblings and your grandparents. They'll communicate with us on the computer."
"It's not the same. There's no way of hugging."
"It won't be for long."
"I think Uncle Adam wants us to stay there forever. "
Anna marveled at her son's insight.
"Yes. He does. But your daddy will pick us up soon. But you mustn't tell Uncle Adam. You must joke that you don't know your father is going to pick us up.
"I might like it there... Then everyone could move there, and we'd all be together."
"Why do you say that, Ian? Don't you like it here?"
"I do. But I don't like lying. Dad told me never to, and you're asking me to lie to Uncle Adam... Then it would be better if we really did live there forever.
Anna felt her eyes fill with tears and stood up. She went over to Ian and gave him a kiss on the top of the head. Then she took a suitcase out of the closet and began to pack the few items of clothing she had brought for Ian. She hadn't taken any precautions and had only brought enough for a few days.
"Mom..." Ian called out in a broken voice, and Anna turned to him in surprise.
She watched with pain in her heart as her son, still so young, fought back tears. And she didn't know that those tears, for Ian, were a sign of weakness. He didn't like showing feelings. She stopped what she was doing and knelt down beside him and hugged him. Her attitude made him let go of the tears he had been holding back so bravely.
They held each other for a long time, even after Ian's tears had stopped. When he finally decided to pull away, he looked his mother in the eye and took her chubby little hands and held them to his face.
"Don't take me away from my brothers, Mommy." He begged.
Anna felt the floor fall away from her. She stood up and stared at him for a while, wondering what she could do to comfort her son. She thought a lot, asking God to give her something so that she could leave her son calm, without sorrow, without worry.
"Son..." She said, thinking quickly. "If it's just for a month, would it make you feel better?"
"Is that a long time?"
Anna went over to the bedside table, where there was a calendar, and showed it to Ian.
"These are the days here." She said, pointing to the calendar.
Ian looked at it for a while, frowning thoughtfully.
"I can cross off each day, and at the end, you promise I'll be able to go back and see my brothers?"
"I promise, Ian." Anna said, amazed at how quickly he had thought of what he would do to count down the days.
"Do I have to lie to Uncle Adam?"
"No. I'll go into the living room and tell him now that you're only staying for a month." She said, knowing that it was important for her son to keep the principles that Maxwell had taught him.
"I'll go too." He said, getting off the wooden horse and taking Anna's hand.
They went into the living room. Adam moved quickly away from Bonnie as soon as he saw that Ian was entering the room with Anna.
"Hello, Ian." Adam greeted, but the boy looked at him seriously.
"Mom has something to tell you." He said and looked at Anna, then let go of her hand and ran into Maxwell's arms, running his hand over his disfigured face. "What happened, Dad?" He asked, frowning, and then looked at Adam, who was also bruised.
Adam and Maxwell exchanged glances. The boy had forgotten what had happened.
"I... I had a fight with Uncle Adam." Maxwell was forced to speak, as the boy realized that Adam was equally disfigured and he knew that Ian was very shrewd, and would know if he hid the truth.
The boy looked at Adam, and spoke indifferently.
"You came and made me very sad."
Adam looked at Maxwell angrily.
"I'm sorry, Ian, I didn't mean to."
"I don't think so." The boy said thoughtfully, there was no bitterness in his voice. "You're brothers and brothers fight. I have two brothers and a sister, and Dad doesn't allow me to punch them. Of course, Tayme's a girl, and she can't fight with girls, but the others..."
Adam looked at Ian amused.
"Would you like to punch your brothers, Ian?"
"Sometimes, yes." The boy replied with the same amused look, as if he and Adam were enjoying a secret of their own.