AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My grand parental delusions are slipping away. I don’t think I’m qualified for this. Not when I want to cry at how sad our little boy is. “I think it would be okay for you to focus on yourself and how you feel about going. Your mom loves you and wants what’s best for you. Reid and I do too.”
“And what is that?” he asks skeptically.
“To have lots of people love and support you. And for you to be able to relax and enjoy things instead of always worrying about how you can protect everyone else,” I say, hoping I’m not totally fucking this up.
He mulls that over, staring at the dusky sky. “How can I have fun and pretend he didn’t leave us?”
He’s asking me how to pretend, but I’m literally the worst person at that. Ever. A tear slips free, though I know this isn’t about me. It makes me mad at myself that I can’t hold it in for this little dude.
I bat at my eye. “Sorry, bud, but I don’t want to pretend. My feelings are big and loud. I cry when I hear how much your heart hurts. I don’t want that for you.”
He looks at me with a world-weariness a ten-year-old shouldn’t possess, and another of my tears slips free.
I take a deep breath and wing it. “I think it would be okay to go with openness, and if you absolutely don’t want to go, it would be okay to tell your mom too. I don’t think we would ask you to pretend, but we also don’t want you to fight a battle for her. Not this time. This time, it’s about you.”
He dives for me, and I catch him, but it’s a close call. I shift my weight, keeping us steady, and let him hug my neck. He doesn’t cry, but I can’t keep my tears at bay. I hug him until the mosquitos nip and the night insects come out.
“I’m gonna go. But I don’t know that I’m gonna have fun,” he says, pulling back. His face is a stubborn wall, daring me to contradict him.
“That’s the spirit!” I say, clapping his back. “You’ll be a teenager in no time.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “Yeah. Okay.” Looking at the ground, his eyes widen. “How do we get down?”
“Have a firefighter in the pack,” I tease.
I was joking, but Reid brings out a ladder and a big old lamp, as if he already knew and he was biding his time. We make it down without needing his ladder, but the lamp probably saved us from a violent death.
Ben walks right into Cammie’s arms. She mouths “thank you” over his shoulder.
“How did it go?” Reid asks.
“Well, I cried and he didn’t, so I’m getting ready to accept my new parent of the year award,” I say sarcastically.
My softie smiles at me, leaning in to steal a kiss. “I bet you did just fine, love.” He puts his arm around me, and we follow the others back into the house.
Maybe. I probably said all the wrong shit. But I spoke from my heart. I’m gonna trust that even if I get it wrong, eventually, if I keep trying and showing up, I’ll get it right more often than not.
Chapter 26
Finton
The weight shifts on the bed, and the scent of raspberry tart distracts me from my design. I’ve been tossing around ideas for a pack gift for the kids at the bonding ceremony, but nothing I’ve done has felt right.
Cammie leans over, peeking at my notebook. “What’s that? I like the?—”
“Don’t say it, sweetheart,” Reid cuts her off, his voice full of humor.
Cammie looks at him curiously then back at me, her full lips parting on a smile. I let out a long-suffering sigh. That makes Reid close the thriller he was reading.
He points the book at my notebook. “Finnism #1.”
“It’s a numbered list? How many Finnisms are there?” Cammie plops down, resting her hand on her chin as though she’s settling in for story time.
That’s when I realize she’s only wearing one of my old T-shirts and a pair of very sexy, very lacy red underwear. I toss my notebook, crawl to her, and brush the hair off her shoulder to kiss along her neck, where her scent is sweetest. “I’m less interested in Finnisms and more interested in seeing that red lace you’ve got on up close.”
“No distractions,” she says, pointing at me and narrowing her eyes.
I brush a chuckle-filled kiss along her shoulder. “No promises.”
