They sat on the couch quietly, with Annalee curled up in Erin’s lap. For the first ten minutes she just cried, but eventually, Erin petted her enough to calm her.

“Do you think you want to talk about what happened in school today now?” Erin asked gently. Annalee shook her head, and Erin smiled down at her. “Well, that’s okay.” He sighed deeply and continued to stroke her baby soft hair.

“I get it, you know. Sometimes you feel so sad that it hurts to talk about stuff. So, you’d rather just be quiet, and hold it all in…” Annalee fumbled with the ends of his hair but still didn’t speak.

“Take my day for example. I woke up late getting you to school. And then I couldn’t find the building for my class.” He let out a little chuckle when he remembered how sweet the Alpha was to him. “I feel a little overwhelmed- what with starting at a new school and trying to follow all of Papa’s rules.” Erin leaned his head back, listening to her soft breaths. “But you know what?”

“What?” she asked curiously.

“Just talking about it with you has made me feel a lot better.” Erin watched Annalee as she grappled with the decision to tell him what happened.

“Rin…” Annalee’s sweet voice muttered.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Do I have a mommy?”

At first, Erin didn’t think he’d heard her correctly. He frowned down at her and lifted her chin to meet her blue eyes.

“Of course, you have a mommy, sweetheart. Everyone has a mommy.”

“Today at school...” Annalee looked down in her lap. “We were talking about mommies and daddies,” she explained. “A girl in my class said I was weird because I don’t have a mommy. But I do have a mommy. Papa says so.”

“Oh, sweet baby. You have a mommy. I promise you.”

“Then why don’t I know her?” Annalee's voice cracked and she began to weep again. “How come I don’t remember her?”

Erin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Knowing Annalee had lost a mother and seeing the effects of it were two separate entities. She was still too young to understand the concept of life and death. There was no rhyme or reason, and that was a hard truth to accept for anyone.

“I’m going to tell you a story, Annalee. And maybe it will help you understand, okay?” She sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes. “When I was younger, my mommy suddenly passed away.”

“How?” Annalee asked quietly.

“She got very sick,” Erin answered, wiping Annalee's nose with his sleeve. “And the doctors couldn’t help her.” Erin was ten years old at the time. Young. Scared. And devastated from the loss. “One day she was there, and the next day she was gone. I had my older sister, and my Dad to look after her, but I didn’t know how to cope with it for a long time, Annalee. It made me sad every time I thought about her. So, I decided, not to think about her anymore.”

“Did that work?”

“For a while, yes,” he answered honestly. “It helped to forget her. I felt better if I just ignored it. But eventually. I realized I couldn’t remember the way she looked anymore. I realized I couldn’t remember her scent and the sound of her voice. And that made me more sad than even thinking about her all the time.”

“Then…” Annalee sniffed again and sat up straighter. “What did you do?”

“I decided to stop running from it.” He smiled back at her. “I decided to cherish her. And love her. And remember her whatever way I could. And sometimes, I can’t remember her. And that makes me sad but-” He reached over to the end table and grabbed his wallet. Annalee scooted up his leg to see the picture he took out of his mother. “This is my mother.” A lanky woman, with blonde hair, smiled up at them. “Whenever I can’t remember, I look at her picture. And then I don’t feel so bad.” He pulled out the picture and let Annalee hold it.

“Do you know what happens when people die, Annalee?”

“Papa says they go to heaven.”

“That’s right.” Erin nodded. “And when people go to heaven, they look down on us and make sure we’re happy. So, you see. Your Mommy is watching you right now.”

“But Papa says I was only a baby when mommy died. What if my mommy doesn’t remember me?” Annalee whimpered. “What if she doesn’t know who I am.”

“Trust me. She knows, baby girl. She knew you before you were even born. She knew what you looked like. And what you sounded like. And she knew how that beautiful smile would look.” He pinched her cheek and Annalee giggled.

“But most importantly,” he held his hand against Annalee’s chest. “Your Mama knows your heart... because you’re her heart, Annalee.”

THE next day Erin sent Annalee off to school with a heavy heart. She clung to him for a good two minutes before he could calm her down enough to bribe her. In the end, she did get on the bus, but Erin still felt like there was something missing.

“Hey, Mr. Henry!” Erin spotted the bellmen as he was coming down from a house call. Henry was tall but aged, with a white heavy mustache, and gray thinning hair.

“Hello, Mr. Erin.” He nodded to Erin as he shuffled to his post outside. “How are you this morning?”

“I’d be better if you didn’t call me Mr. Erin.” Erin scrunched his nose as they walked toward the front door. “Erin will do just fine.”

“Sorry, Erin. It’s a habit.”

“I’ll forgive you.” Erin chuckled. “But only if you can do me a favor.”

“A trade is it?” The man laughed. He opened the door for Erin and said, “All right then. What can I do for you.”

“Well,” Erin started apprehensively. “I was wondering if you could give me the key for Remy’s storage.”

“The storage? There’s nothing but dust, dirt, and cobwebs down there. And it’s dark as the dickens.” Henry frowned and shook his head. “You tell me what you need, and I’ll grab it for you.”

“Well you see, that’s the thing. I’m not really sure what I’m looking for,” Erin explained to Henry. “I’m working on a little surprise”

“What kind of surprise?” He arched his brow.

“Just a little something for Annalee. She had a rough day yesterday at school, and I’m hoping I can cheer her up.” He’d scoured the condo for pictures of Annalee’s mother last night, but he couldn’t find a single one. Just when he was about to give up, he remembered Remy mentioning the storage unit on the ground floor.

“For Annalee, huh…” Henry sighed and rubbed his mustache. “You know, it’s really not safe for an Omega to be down there.”

Erin rolled his eyes and laughed. “I lived on my own for a year in Harlem. I think I can manage a storage unit.” Henry studied him for a while, but when he couldn’t come up with a counter-argument he finally resigned.

“Well…” Henry said grudgingly. “I guess you’ll be okay.” He walked over to the key lock box. “But you promise me you’ll be careful. Take a flashlight.”

“I promise.” Erin held his hand over his heart. “I’ll be fine.”