[Jay's POV]
The room had fallen into a heavy, stagnant silence after Keifer and I had exhausted ourselves with tears. He was still sitting on the edge of the bed, his hand locked onto mine as if he were afraid the "Constant" would vanish if he let go.
Then, the door creaked open. Mamma Serina walked in, carrying a small tray of homemade broth—the kind she always made when the Watson boys were sick. She was trying so hard to be the "Architect," her face composed, but her eyes were red-rimmed and her hands were trembling, making the ceramic bowl rattle against the tray.
"Jay, my darling," she said, her voice soft and fragile. "You need to eat. The system needs strength to heal. Please, just a few sips for Mamma."
I looked at her—at the woman who had been so excited to be a grandmother, who had already started knitting tiny sweaters in the library. As soon as our eyes met, the reality hit me all over again.
"Mamma..." I whispered, my lip trembling. "He's gone. My baby... your grandson... he's really gone."
The tray in her hands tilted dangerously. I reached out a shaking hand toward her. "I couldn't keep him safe, Mamma! The software crashed... I failed him!"
[Author's POV]
Mamma Serina didn't even try to put the tray down properly. She set it haphazardly on the nightstand and rushed to the side of the bed, pulling Jay into her arms with a maternal ferocity that only a mother knows.
"Oh, my sweet girl," Mamma sobbed, her composure finally shattering. "No, no... you didn't fail. You are the strongest Empress this family has ever seen."
The two women clung to each other—the one who had just lost a child and the one whose heart was breaking for her daughter-in-law. Keifer stood up, moving to the window to give them space, his back to the room, his shoulders shaking in silent resonance with their grief.
"I had so many plans, Mamma," Jay wailed into Serina's shoulder. "I wanted to show him the gardens... I wanted him to hear Keifer's voice every day... Why did he have to leave before he even arrived?"
Mamma Serina just rocked her, stroking Jay's hair just like she used to do for Keifer when he was a boy. "He's with the angels now, Jay. He's in a place where there is no falling, no pain. But he was here. He was loved for every second of those five months. That was his legacy."
[Keifer's POV]
I stood by the window, staring out at the hospital gardens, but all I saw was the reflection of the two women in the glass. Hearing Jay's voice break as she confessed her guilt to my mother was like having my soul flayed open.
I wanted to tell her it was my fault. I wanted to take all the blame so she wouldn't have to carry a single ounce of it.
"Pappa is outside," I said, my voice thick. "And the boys. They want to see you, Jay. But only when you're ready. The perimeter is yours to define."
Jay pulled back from Mamma, her face blotchy and wet, looking smaller than I had ever seen her. She looked at the door, then back at me.
"I want them to come in," she whispered. "I don't want to be alone with the silence anymore."