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And it reminded me of how easy being with him was beginning to feel.
Gasps echoed around us, breaking our connection, and I immediately scanned the field. The sight of Miles with the ball sent my heart racing. He was running toward the goal with pure animosity in his every move.
“Go, Miles!” Liam and I shouted in sync. A couple in front turned, lips snarling and eyes rolling like we were being obnoxious. It just made me cheer louder.
When he was close enough to kick the ball to his teammate—Tyler, I was pretty sure—Miles went for it. Only he didn’t see the boy from the opposing team coming up behind him. A swift kick between his legs, and the ball was out of Miles’s reach. He chased it feverishly, slipping on a wet patch of grass just as Tyler pulled his right foot back and let it go. In that instant, as Tyler’s foot sped toward the ball with incredible speed and Miles was going down, my stomach dropped.
Eyes squeezed shut, I grasped Liam’s forearm. Without hesitation, he pried my fingers from his skin and wrapped a hand around mine, clutching it tight, like he was wincing. Echoes of Ooh surrounded us, confirming just how badly my heart would hurt when I opened my eyes.
When I forced myself to look, I sought out Miles. He was hunched over, gripping his chin and crying out. I couldn’t hear him, but his pain radiated through me. Just like it had when he was learning to walk and hit his head on our coffee table. And when he and Dallas were chasing each other and he fell on rough concrete, scraping up his entire leg. Or the time he jumped out of the swing at its highest peak and twisted his ankle on the landing.
As it had in every one of those instances, my body was urging me to go to him. My reactions in the last ten years were always the same: hold them, tell them everything is all right.
Liam stood, still holding my hand tight. “Let’s go check on him.”
He was doing that thing where he tried to convince me he wasn’t freaking out. Keeping his movements calm and collected, his words steady. But the underlying tone in his voice, the deep rattle, clenched jaw, and wild eyes, said more than enough. Panic was rising in him, just as it was in me.
I nodded, unable to find my words. Together, we raced to the field, Liam’s fingers never leaving mine.
Their coach was sitting beside him on the bench, tipping his chin up gingerly and assessing his face as the rest of the team huddled together a few feet away. Dallas stood at the front, staring at Miles, eyes round and glassy.
Liam waved his free hand at the guy monitoring the gate. With a dip of his head, he opened it and waved us through.
We hustled past the other team and headed straight for our boy. As we got close, Miles’s shuddering cries were audible, and they cracked my heart right in two. He was sniffling, trying to hold back the tears, but his chin was scraped up, and already, a bruise was forming.
My chest shook, racked with sympathetic pain. “My baby.” I sniffled, fully prepared to scoop him into my arms, whisk him off this field, and spoil him with all the Legos and ice cream he wanted.
Liam came to a stop, and since we were still connected, he forced me to stop with him. With his free hand, he squeezed my shoulder. “Let me try something real quick, yeah?” He dipped his chin and met my gaze, looking for approval.
Our sons were just as much his as they were mine, but that didn’t make letting go of control any easier. Had this been a few months ago, I probably would have told him to screw off and raced to steal Miles for myself, but now? It felt like my eyes were finally open. Like I could relax, because I wasn’t the only one tasked with their care and safety. Their lives rested in my hands, but Liam held them too. He loved them as much as I did, and if he wanted to take point on this one, then who was I to stop him?
I nodded, pressing my teeth into my lower lip to stop it from trembling. He looked down at my lips and back up, shaking his head. Then, with a soft smile, he turned and jogged toward Miles.
Following behind him, I kept my focus on my sweet boy, clutching my sprained wrist with my good hand.
Liam dropped to a knee, no doubt sliding through the mud and working in a grass stain that would be a pain to get out of those glorious gray joggers. He never took his eyes off Miles, though, as if he couldn’t feel the cold water soaking through the fabric.
“Hey, man. What happened?” Liam asked, lowering his head so he could catch Miles’s attention. He’d always talked to them like they were grown. He treated them like they were adults. Even on the days I disliked him the most, I could never find fault in it. It showed them that their father respected them and that their words held value. It was something I should probably try to do more.
Miles sniffled through his words, the shuddering in his voice almost enough to break me. “I—” Sniffle. “Slipped—” Sniffle. “And Tyler’s foot—” Sniffle. “Hit my chin.”
My sweet baby.
Liam put two fingers to one side of Miles’s jaw and tilted it back carefully so he could assess the scraped and bruised skin. “Oh yeah, bud. You’re gonna have one heck of a bruise there tomorrow, huh?” He tilted his head to one side, then nodded with an impressed frown. “May get attention from the girls at school.” His eyes darted my way, and he tossed me a wink.
With a huff, I crossed my arms over my chest and shot him a glare. Absolutely not. I couldn’t handle the thought of my son getting hurt and getting a girlfriend in the same week.
Miles sniffed, though this time one side of his mouth tipped up in a way that was so Liam. “I don’t want to go back out there.”
Liam nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “I get that, man. I do. You took a real hit earlier. But I think you’re going to regret it if you don’t. This is your chance to get over a hurdle and come out stronger on the other side. I think you’ll feel better if you get out there and give it another shot.”
Miles lifted his head higher, and for the first time, I got a good look at him. His red-rimmed eyes and the mud across his cheek. The tears and the wobbly bottom lip. The sight of him like this broke my heart piece by piece. I wrapped my arms around my torso, forcing myself not to step in. To trust Liam and know he had our son’s best interest at heart.
He dropped his head and shook it. “I’m not like you, Dad. I’m not that tough.”
“Hey.” Liam’s tone darkened. There wasn’t a trace of a lie to boost Miles’s ego. This was pure, raw Liam. “You’re tougher than I’ll ever be. You’ve got your mom’s determination and her big heart.” He poked Miles’s chest. “And you’ve got my strength and more. You can do this.” He gave him a strong nod, sending a silent message to him.
It was the kind he’d give me all those years ago, when we were trying to decide what movie to watch and we’d have the same thought at the same time. Revenge of the Sith and chocolate-covered popcorn. It was the look Dallas gave me when we spotted a red punch buggy and he wanted to see which of us saw it first, thus determining the winner.
