Ghostwriter

Epilogue

(Three Weeks Later)

"What happened to the Hill boy?" Momma J adjusts her spectacles and buries a sleeping Colton in her shoulder. Thin, cracked lips purse into a thinner line. Her hair looks whiter and she's more wrinkled than before; I think that's my fault.

When I visited for the first time three weeks ago, Momma J and I both wept like children, but we tried to keep it down for sleeping Colton's sake. She thought I died or got abducted. I explained to her about Ghostwriter--- but I avoided talking about any of the heroes that helped. I told her I stayed with a friend, she probably assumed Manon. I told her I met Jason through a friend, too (not technically a lie, it's Tim's fault that Jason bulled-headed into my apartment AT FREAKING 3 AM).

Today I took Jason to meet her. We just made introductions, and instead of shaking Jason's hand like a normal person, she's asked about Hill.

I glance at Jason, who sits at my right on the cushioned chest at the foot of the bed. He winks at me. I do my best to shake it off.

I face Momma J. "Hill... he's dealing with some things right now. Couldn't handle it after his soulmate died." I shift on the rocking chair's lumpy butt cushion, coffee cup in hand as ritual demands. The gentle heat leeks through the ceramic mug into my hands.

I don't want to tell her that the good man I'd known is chained to a hospital bed and sentenced to half a life in prison.

I visited him yesterday. I'm keeping my promise to Maja, even if it's not under the same context as before. I'll help him through the grief.

"Hm. Not everyone can handle it as gracefully as you did. Now, tell me son, you gonna take care of my baby girl?" Momma J squints at Jason, and I can't tell if it's because she's trying to glare at him or if we need to up her prescription.

"Momma!" My shoulders jump ...She was so enthusiastic when I told her about Jason earlier!

Jason leans forward, his elbows on his knees and his mug (already empty. He can drown any drink in seconds, I swear...) dangling from his hand. His green eyes blaze. "Ma'am, Annie wouldn't be safer in Batman's hands."

Momma J's eyebrow raises to Wayne tower's peak. "Oh really? You want to set the bar at a man who dresses like a bat and jumps off buildings?"

She must be toying with him; Momma J likes Batman just as much as the next person. A bit of sweat breaks out on Jason's forehead.

I rescue him for pity's sake. She knows the answer anyway—she's always calling and roping me into visiting her now, and one of the routine reports she draws out of me is about Jason and our activities. Or the civilian ones, anyway. She's always approved so far.

"Momma, you know what he meant. He takes care of me. Don't worry,"

Her eyes snap to me and she gives me the same look she did when I was twelve and drove Mari's car (it had been Mari's idea, in my defense). "Don't you butt in. This is a conversation between me and the boy, you hear? I'm not about to let just anybody take my baby girl."

I'm quick to nod and apologize, even if I'm fully aware that Jason's not just "any guy".

My brow creases, and I glance at Jason. Jason's regained his cool. He's leaning forward, doing his best to show interest and otherwise give nonverbal cues to make him seem trustable (which I find a little funny, because beforehand he told me that he didn't care what Momma J thought of him and he was going to date me approval or not, then he tried to look all nonchalant about the meeting).

"Ma'am, your daughter and her son just so happen to be two of the few people that I actually give a crap about, a number that I can count on two hands. I'm not about to let any harm come to them, physical or emotional. When I say she's safe with me, I'm not just talking about from crime. I'm talking about her dreams, her secrets, her fears, her past--- all of it.