The first time they met was when he's four. Mama and Papa, as he called them, said that a friend was stopping by. He didn't wonder whether it was a friend of theirs or someone who was (supposed to be) a friend of his. When the tall Man arrived, something clicked into place. Like a puzzle, he thought, as he hugged the stranger so tight that maybe if he just held on he could go with him (because he was smart enough to know that this place wasn't home, not really).
He didn't see the Man again for two years. He felt like a part of him was missing; like he lost a limb or the feeling in his legs like his best friend, James. He didn't know why, exactly, the Man didn't come around again. Over the years he had heard Mama and Papa whisper about it; about how it was too dangerous, about how he was their son and this was never meant to be an open adoption. He wasn't their son, and he'd always known that. In his dreams he had flashes of a woman with red hair and blue eyes that looked just like his and he knew; he knew they weren't his parents.
When the Man finally (finally!) did come to see him again, they went for a walk together. They weren't supposed to venture past the long and winding driveway, but that was okay because the Man had come back. When he stopped walking and looked up at the Man, he had simply asked if He was his daddy. Just as simply as he had asked, the Man had nodded. He took Daddy's hand and they kept walking.
Mama and Papa were becoming sad, he knew. He loved them very much, but the puzzle pieces inside of him didn't lock into place like they did when Daddy was around. It had been almost another year before Daddy came to visit again. This time it was the day after his seventh birthday and Daddy came with a baseball and a mitt. He taught him how to throw the ball (this made Papa very upset). They played in the yard for what must have been hours. They laughed so much; he didn't think he'd ever laughed this much in his entire seven years (except maybe when he had another life before this one).
When it started to rain, Daddy lifted him off the ground as the storm clouds rolled in. He looked at Daddy and simply asked if he felt the puzzle pieces too. Daddy nodded and he cocked his head slightly as he told Daddy that there was still a missing piece.
Daddy was back again within six months. They played in the snow and when they went back inside, Mama had fixed them hot cocoa and let them be. They sat at the table and talked about baseball and school before he finally found the courage to ask where Mommy was. He feared her dead, but he didn't feel dead so he didn't think she could be either. Daddy told him that Mommy didn't know about these special visits yet and he would understand when he was older. He didn't need to tell Daddy that he could understand now because they both knew that already.
Daddy didn't come back for almost three years. The ache in his heart for the missing puzzle pieces never dissipated, and for all they tried, Mama and Papa couldn't make him happy. He sensed that Daddy wasn't around anymore because of them and he didn't like it. Sometimes he wondered if it was because of Mommy, but he didn't think she would keep him away. When Papa was gone for the weekend, Mama told him she had a surprise for him. She walked into the living room with Daddy and he didn't know he could move so fast as he threw himself into Daddy's arms. Papa always told him that boys don't cry, but Daddy didn't care and he sobbed for the lost years and how happy he was that part of his lost puzzle had been found. He looked over Daddy's shoulder, as if Mommy might have been behind him. She wasn't and that was okay. Someday she would be.
Another four years went by and he hadn't seen Dad. He learned to live with the ache in his heart. He made Ma and Pa proud with his outstanding grades and his excellence on the baseball team. At night, he quietly searched for his Mom and Dad. He found an address and he followed it. If they weren't there, he always had a place to return to. If they were there, then he would be Home.
He rang the doorbell and he didn't even need to see Dad and the woman from his childhood dreams peeking out from behind him to know his puzzle was complete.
