Page 156 of Halo

“But I’m here,” I say quietly, letting every ounce of sincerity fill my voice. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Chapter 39

Nick

Four days after the accident, I finally get to bring Grady home.

The court signed a temporary order allowing him to stay with me while CPS and our lawyers sort through the clusterfuck Tiffany left behind. His caseworker Shantae went to bat for us, which helped, but nothing about this is settled. There are home visits coming, another hearing, and an insurmountable amount of paperwork.

The drugs in Grady's system were only present in trace amounts—thank God—but they warned me he might be irritable and restless while his system clears.

They contacted Matt, too.

Apparently, my son's biological father has no interest in being his actual father.

Fuck him.

I can't think about it for too long without getting angry. Grady isn't some mistake to sweep under the rug when he becomes inconvenient. He's not an obligation or an option.

He's my first choice.

Tonight, he's also stalling bedtime.

“One more page.” He folds his hands together. “Please?”

“You said that three pages ago.”

“But this one has the Stegosaurus, and they have really cool spikes on their tails”

I sigh. “You drive a hard bargain, kid.”

Angus is stretched out beside Grady, pressed protectively against his side while Grady absently strokes one of his ears. At my surrender, he lifts his head and gives me a satisfied huff like I finally made the right decision.

I finish the page before closing the book and setting it on his nightstand. “All right, partner. That's it. Time for bed.”

He wiggles beneath the blankets while I tuck them around him, but the smile slowly disappears from his face.

“When do I get to see Mommy?”

My hand stills. “I don't know.” I smooth his hair away from his forehead. “Probably not for a while.”

“Is it because she went with the policeman?”

“Yeah, she's with the police in a place called jail. But you don't have to tell anyone that. In fact, let's just keep that between us.”

“Is she in trouble?”

I sigh. “Yep. She made some bad choices.”

“Is jail timeout?”

“Kinda.”

A few quiet seconds pass before he looks at me again.

“Are you not my dad anymore?”

Jesus Christ. “Where did you hear that?”