Darius woke up on August 12th knowing today was the day.
His mother was coming home.
He'd been waiting since he watched her win bronze on TV three days ago during the women's 10,000m final on August 9th. He'd sat on the couch with Tobias, watching with his analytical eye and seeing her not just as "mom" but as a runner for the first time.
She'd gotten bronze in third place after twenty-five laps around the track. He could see in her face when the cameras zoomed in that she'd wanted gold based on the way her jaw was set and the way her eyes looked past the celebration, but she'd still smiled and hugged the other medalists and stood on that podium with pride.
A bronze medal at the Olympics meant world-class performance. His mother was an elite distance runner, and he was going to grow up learning from her. The system really had picked optimal circumstances.
Downstairs, he could hear Tobias moving around with more noise than usual as cabinets opened and closed and the vacuum ran. His father was cleaning.
Darius climbed out of his toddler bed and padded downstairs in his pajamas.
Tobias was in the living room with the vacuum and saw Darius, then turned it off. "Morning, buddy. Big day."
"Mama home?"
"Soon. She lands at 2 PM. Few more hours." Tobias checked his phone for what was probably the twentieth time that morning. "Flight's on time."
Darius wanted to help but his body wouldn't cooperate properly. He tried to straighten the magazines on the coffee table and ended up knocking them on the floor, then tried to fluff the couch pillows and just made them lopsided.
Tobias smiled and gently redirected him. "Why don't you draw Mommy a picture? She'd love that."
Darius sat at his little table with crayons and paper and tried to draw a runner. It came out as stick figure with scribbles, but he knew what it was supposed to be: his mother running and winning.
Tobias was making a welcome home sign on big poster board with "WELCOME HOME ELENA!" written in colorful letters. He'd drawn a bronze medal next to her name.
"Want to help?" Tobias asked.
Darius took the marker Tobias handed him even though it was bigger than his hand. He added more scribbles to the sign that might have been flowers or might have been explosions, hard to tell.
"Perfect," Tobias said and meant it.
The morning crawled by while Darius kept looking at the clock even though he couldn't really tell time yet. He just knew the numbers changed and his mother wasn't home yet.
Tobias made lunch with sandwiches that they ate quickly, then he was checking his phone again. "Alright, let's go get her."
The drive to the airport took forever while Darius was strapped into his car seat, rear-facing, so he could barely see out the window except for glimpses of sky and the tops of buildings. Tobias was humming and playing music Elena liked, some indie folk singer with a gentle voice.
"She's gonna be tired," Tobias said while talking to Darius through the rearview mirror. "But she'll be happy to see you."
Darius had never been to an airport before, not in this life anyway. In his old life, he couldn't remember anything from before the accident happened when he was too young. Everything was new and familiar at once, which created a strange feeling.
The airport was busy and crowded when they arrived. Tobias carried Darius because it was easier than making a toddler walk through all this chaos. International arrivals. People everywhere with signs and flowers and excitement.
They had a sign too, the one they'd made that morning with the bronze medal drawn next to her name. Darius had insisted on that detail even with his limited toddler vocabulary, somehow getting the point across to Tobias.
They stood with a crowd of other families waiting at the arrivals area. Darius couldn't see over anyone, so Tobias lifted him up to sit on his shoulders where he now had a good view of the arrivals door.
"You'll see her first, buddy. Let me know."
Darius watched the automatic doors and felt nervous, which was strange. Why was he nervous? She was his mother and he'd known her for three years, but this was the first time really seeing her with full awareness. Olympic athlete. Distance runner. His mother. A strange combination of familiar and unknown.
The automatic doors opened and a crowd of travelers came through. Then he saw her.
Elena.
She was tall, though all adults were tall to him, but she was actually tall even by adult standards. Lean in that way distance runners are with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wore her Team USA jacket and rolled a suitcase while carrying a backpack with a medal case visible in her hand. Her face looked tired but alert as she scanned the crowd, and then she saw them.
Her face lit up completely as the fatigue disappeared. She walked faster, almost jogging. "There's my boys!"
She dropped her bag and Tobias put Darius down as Elena knelt fast and opened her arms. Darius ran with his wobbling toddler gait and she caught him, lifting him up and hugging him tight.
"I missed you so much, baby." Her voice was thick with emotion.
Darius experienced the hug with all its details. Her arms were strong in that runner way and she smelled like airplane and coffee and something floral. Warm and safe and real. This was his mother, Olympic bronze medalist, hugging him like he was the medal.
Elena stood with Darius on her hip and kissed Tobias. "Missed you too."
"Missed you more," he replied.
"Not possible." They were both smiling.
They walked to the car with Elena refusing to put Darius down. She carried him on one hip while pulling her suitcase with her other hand as Tobias took her backpack. She was talking and animated now with her exhaustion forgotten as she asked about everything.
"How's he been? What did I miss? Did you watch the races?"
"Oh, you have no idea," Tobias said while grinning. "Wait till you hear about the 400m final."
Elena looked curious. "What happened?"
Darius just watched her and took in all the details. The way she moved with efficient, no wasted energy. The way she talked with warmth and engagement. The bronze medal case was in her backpack now. She got third place, but looking at her with her family, she seemed like she'd won gold.
They reached the car and got Darius strapped into his rear-facing car seat. Elena sat in the passenger seat and turned around to see him because she couldn't stop looking at him. She reached her hand back and held his little hand while Tobias drove and started telling stories.
"He went absolutely crazy during the 400m," Tobias said.
"Jumping on the couch yelling U-S-A."
"Then I asked which runner and he tried to say Quincy..."
Elena leaned forward. "And?"
"Called him Kinky."
Elena burst out laughing. "He what?"
"KINKY! KINKY! KINKY! Like that, jumping up and down."
She was laughing hard now. "That's adorable." She looked at Darius with pure love. "You like watching track, baby?"
Darius nodded enthusiastically.
"Like Mama?"
Another nod, bigger this time. She melted.
Tobias asked how she was feeling about everything.
"Tired. But good." She paused. "Bronze wasn't what I wanted, but standing on that podium and hearing the anthem made it worth it." She looked at Darius again. "And coming home to you two? Even better."
"He really loves watching races?" she asked.
"Obsessed," Tobias said. "Locked on the screen the whole time."
"Most three-year-olds can't sit still for a 400m."
"This one did."
Elena smiled. "Wonder where he gets that from." But there was something in her eyes, something curious, like she'd noticed something unusual.
Darius was fighting sleep because it had been an exciting day. Elena kept holding his hand and humming softly, some song he didn't recognize that was probably from one of her running playlists. His eyes were getting heavy.
They pulled into the driveway and Elena saw the welcome sign in the window. "You made that?"
"Darius helped," Tobias said.
"Helped" was generous but sweet, and Elena knew it.
Inside, Elena dropped her bags by the door and stretched. "It's good to be home."
The house smelled like Tobias had cooked something. "You made dinner?"
"Tried to. It's warming."
She kissed him again. "You're the best."
Elena opened her backpack and pulled out the medal case, the black case with the Team USA emblem on it. Darius's eyes locked on it immediately, and she noticed.
"Want to see it?"
She knelt down to his level and opened the case. The bronze medal sat inside with the Olympic rings visible and "Paris 2024" engraved along with "Women's 10,000m" and her placement. It was heavy and substantial.
"This is a bronze medal, baby. Third place out of the whole world." There was pride in her voice but also that undercurrent where he could tell she'd wanted gold, but this still mattered.
Darius reached for it carefully and she let him hold it under supervision. It was heavy in his small hands. An Olympic medal. His mother's Olympic medal. He was holding Olympic hardware at three years old, and surreal didn't begin to cover it.
Elena took the medal and put the ribbon around his neck. It was too big and hung past his waist. "There. Now you're an Olympian too."
Darius looked down at it and waddled to the mirror in the hallway. He stared at himself, a tiny kid with a giant bronze medal, while Elena and Tobias watched and smiled.
"Someday you'll have your own, maybe," she said lightly without pushing, just musing. "If you want to run like Mama."
Darius nodded seriously, more seriously than a three-year-old should. Elena noticed and exchanged a glance with Tobias, but she didn't push it.
Darius looked at his reflection in the mirror with the medal around his neck. Not bronze though. When he got his, it would be gold. But that was years away. For now, this was enough. His mother's medal. His mother was home. His family was together.
They had dinner at the table where Tobias had cooked pasta, simple but good. Elena was hungry because airplane food had been insufficient, and Darius sat in his high chair with cut-up pasta for toddler eating.
Elena told stories about the Olympic village and other athletes and training in Paris before the Games. She talked about the race itself briefly without dwelling on the bronze, then mentioned post-race media and how she'd missed home the whole time.
Darius absorbed every word about how she prepared and her training block and her race strategy. A professional athlete was talking shop even though it was simplified for family dinner, and he was learning.
Elena paused mid-story and looked at Darius. He was staring at her with complete focus, not fidgeting like a normal three-year-old would. Just listening. Really listening.
"You okay, baby?"
He nodded. "Tell more."
The words were simple but his intent was clear.
"Told you," Tobias said. "He's obsessed."
"I can see that." Elena looked at her son differently now. "You want to be a runner when you grow up?"
"Yes!" Darius's response was enthusiastic and immediate.
She smiled. "Then we'll run together. When you're bigger."
After dinner, Darius was getting sleepy from the long exciting day. Elena insisted on putting him to bed because she'd missed the bedtime routine. She took him upstairs.
The bath was gentle with Elena helping and talking softly. Then pajamas with race car patterns. Teeth brushing. Into bed.
Elena sat on the edge of the bed and brushed hair from his forehead. "I'm sorry I was gone so long."
Darius shook his head. "You won medal."
The words were simple but sincere, and her eyes got a little wet. "Yeah. I did. But I missed you every day." She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Bronze medal is great, but you're my gold medal."
It was cheesy but she meant it.
"When you're bigger, I'll teach you," she said. "How to run properly. How to train. How to race. Would you like that?"
Darius nodded with his eyes already closing. "Like that a lot."
She watched him drift off and noticed something in his eyes, an intensity that shouldn't be there in a three-year-old. A focus beyond his years. She noticed but didn't understand and chalked it up to wanting to be like Mom, but somewhere deep down, she knew there was something different about him.
She turned off the light and left the door cracked, then stood in the hallway for a moment looking back at him. A small boy in race car pajamas. Her son. Future runner. She could feel it.
Downstairs, Elena and Tobias talked softly. Darius could hear their voices through the floor, warm and happy sounds. His mother was home. His family was complete.
His eyes closed and sleep came easy.
And in his dreams, he ran.