Charlie only woke up once, and that was when they were shuffling him out to Nan’s Volkswagen beetle. When he saw Mina, he immediately closed his eyes and started crying. He was mentally exhausted, and she felt terrible about it. She stopped in the middle of the yard and wrapped her arms around him. “Listen up, bud. Nan is going to take care of you. You’re going off on an adventure together. You like adventures, don’t you?” Charlie’s head bobbed yes. “Well, she’s got the best one planned, and when you get back, we will have this all figured out. Okay? Can you do this for me? Can you listen to Nan and be a good kid?” Charlie sniffed and looked over to Nan, who sat back watching them. Hands shoved in her coat pockets, her head dipping down. Nan was crying as well. Charlie let go of Mina and walked over to Nan, sliding his smaller hand into hers. He smiled wanly up at her and said. “I’ll protect Nan.” Nan looked at their clasped hands, and the tears flowed freely. “Ah, little buddy.”
