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The butterflies in my stomach were going to be exhausted if they didn’t settle down soon. I stared down at my hands and then forced myself to look at them. “Did you really not find a note?”
Ben’s voice was stern when he answered. “No. We would’ve called, Violet. We would’ve driven to find you as soon as we saw the note.”
CHAPTER 10
Violet
I was dragged out of my hopeful feelings by Joanie calling my name. I jumped and turned to see her at the counter, a concerned look on her face. I hurried over to her. “Hey! Sorry. I was just sitting with them for a moment. Did I miss someone?”
She shook her hand. “You’re fine, Violet. Forrest’s school just called. Jenny couldn’t reach you on your cell so she had the secretary call here. They need to see you right away.”
My stomach dropped. “Did something happen? Is he okay?”
She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “It sounded more like a disciplinary thing.”
I winced and looked around the diner. “I’m so sorry to have to run out. I’ll work an extra shift this weekend to make up for it. I’ll come back as soon as I’m finished at the school, too.”
“Just go. Don’t worry about the diner. I’ve got this.” She looked at Jacob and scowled. “Let’s see how he likes my style of waitressing. I charge an extra dollar every time a man looks at my tits.”
I hurried around to get my purse and was intercepted by the guys before I could make it out of the diner. I searched my purse for my car keys and tried to stay calm. “Sorry. I have to run to Forrest’s school. Joanie can take care of you, though.”
Justin held the door open for me and Mason pointed a key fob across the street to start a giant truck. “We’ll drive.”
I still couldn’t find my keys so I just walked across the street with them. “You don’t have to do this. If I can find my keys—”
Ben stopped me next to the back door of the truck. “You’re not alone anymore. You don’t have to do stuff like this by yourself now. You have us.”
Before I could figure out how to climb into my seat, he picked me up and sat me down in the truck. I gasped and had to forced my hands off of his arms once I was settled.
Mason glanced back at me. “Seatbelt.”
I fastened the seatbelt in robotic movements as I tried to process what was happening. I was overwhelmed and everything was happening too fast. “You can’t tell him that you’re his dads, yet.”
The three of them remained silent as Mason pulled away from the curb and drove towards Lily Elementary. My panic grew as the silence stretched on. Finally, Ben spoke from his seat in front of me. “We’ll follow your lead, Violet, but I’m not sure I understand why we can’t tell him. Obviously, we wouldn’t do it at school, but what exactly are we waiting on?”
I stammered for a moment and then stopped to take a deep breath and gather my thoughts. “I probably know it doesn’t make any sense to you guys, but I need to see you with him. You’re his fathers, either way, but this whole thing feels so out of control that I need this one thing. I need to feel like I’m making a healthy choice for him. It’s just been the two of us against the world for so long… I’m scared.”
Justin reached over and took my hand. “We won’t push it right now. None of us can imagine what you’re feeling. Just remember we’ve missed out on so much of his life already and we don’t want to miss a moment more. We’re going to cherish that little boy, Vi. I promise you, it’s a healthy choice.”
I swallowed down a ball of emotions. “I don’t want you guys to miss anything else, either. He deserves everything he wants in life and I know he wants a dad. Just give me a little time to adjust. You can still be in his life in the meantime.”
“As what?” Ben didn’t sound happy, but he seemed to accept what I was saying.
“He knows you own the house. We can introduce you as my friends right now. I know it’s not perfect, but… Please?” I watched as they each nodded. “Thank you. He’s your son and nothing can change that. I just need a little time to adjust.”
Mason parked in front of the school and I watched as they opened their doors and got out. Ben opened my door and reached in to unbuckle my seatbelt and pick me up. I squeaked as he did and swatted his arm once I was on the ground. “Stop that. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
He raised his eyebrows at me. “We’re clearly going to need to work on how you see yourself if you think my picking you up is going to end with me hurt.”
Ignoring that, I started towards the school and stopped when I realized they were following me. Turning towards them, I held up my hands and frowned. “What are you doing?”
Mason pointed at the school. “Going to find out what happened with our son.”
My face heated and for some reason, my body responded to that statement. I cleared my throat and wrapped my arms around myself. It was chilly in just my uniform, but I barely noticed while standing at the center of their focus. “But we’re not telling him, yet.”
“That’s fine, for now, but you aren’t alone in this anymore. He might not know we’re his dads, but you do know and we’re going to help out in every way we can. Including going in and seeing what’s going on.” Ben gripped the back of my neck and growled when I shuddered and swayed into him. “If you keep reacting to me touching you like that, we’re never going to make it in because I’m going to drag you back to the truck and fuck you senseless. Understand?”
I forced myself away from them and took a deep, shaky breath. “You can’t say things like that. We haven’t seen each other in almost seven years. It’s not like you can just pick up where you left off.”
