Headlights swept across the windows.
Everyone turned toward the parking lot.
The room went quiet.
The second cruiser stopped.
A door opened.
Footsteps approached the entrance.
Then the door opened.
Grant walked in.
But he wasn’t wearing the clothes I expected.
He was wearing a police uniform.
A badge was pinned to his chest.
Jason stared.
“No way.”
Sarah whispered his name.
“Grant…”
Eliza made a soft, broken sound.
Caleb just stared.
I looked at my son.
Then at the uniform.
Then back at his face.
“What are you wearing?”
Grant lifted both hands as if he were walking into a storm.
“Okay. Before anyone murders me…”
He gave me a nervous smile.
“Happy birthday, Mom.”
My mouth finally worked.
“What are you wearing?”
“A uniform.”
Mark stared at him.
“You’re a cop?”
Grant nodded.
“Yeah.”
Sarah exploded.
“Are you out of your mind?”
Grant flinched.
“She thought you were dead!”
His eyes snapped toward me.
“Mom, I’m sorry.”
I said nothing.
“I didn’t think,” he continued.
“I just wanted to surprise you by showing up here in my uniform. I thought it would be funny.”
“Funny?”
My voice cracked.
“You thought making your mother believe something terrible happened to you was funny?”
“No.”
He looked down.
“I didn’t know you were sitting at home for hours.”
“I was.”
I pointed toward the door.
“I was sitting at that table.”
Nobody spoke.
Eliza quietly began crying.
Grant swallowed hard.
“I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”
I looked at the badge on his chest.
Then I remembered all those years.
The little boy who was always getting into trouble.
The teenager who made me worry.
The young man who had never seemed to know what he wanted to do with his life.
And now he was standing in front of me in a police uniform.
“You’re really a police officer?”
“Yes.”
“When did this happen?”
He looked at the floor.
“I’ve been training for it.”
“You never told me.”
“I didn’t tell anyone.”
“Why?”
His voice became quieter.
“Because I didn’t want people to treat me like I was going to fail.”
My heart tightened.
“And you thought I would?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Not you.”
He looked directly at me.
“Never you.”
Then he said something that made the entire room go silent.
“I didn’t want you to end up disappointed in me.”
