That night, I lay on a bamboo mat, and Grandma fanned me while I drifted off. Every now and then, Grandpa would look over at me, then let out a long, heavy sigh.
Tears slid from the corners of my eyes into the mat.
I swore to myself: this time, I would repay every ounce of their love. This time, I would never let them die like that again.
Just like before, my parents didn't come for me until over a year had passed.
The difference was that this time, they came in person.
Lucius lay in my mother's arms, round and milky-white. She nursed him while asking me a few offhand questions about whether I'd been good for Grandpa and Grandma.
Uncle and Aunt Galloway couldn't stop beaming the moment they spotted the gifts my father had brought. They heaped praise on me, saying how well-behaved and hardworking I was, bragging that even though I hadn't started school yet, I could already read dozens of words.
My mother seized on that instantly, her smile bright. "He gets it from me. I was class monitor back in school!"
My father looked pleased too. He bent down and tickled the nursing baby's chin. "Big brother's so smart. Little brother won't be far behind."