Page 39 of Boxer Next Door

Lydia

After we dried off we went to bed, exhausted. Ken was good at pushing my limits, but I knew I wouldn’t be up for more. He didn’t look like he would ask for more, but he still wrapped his arms around me to hug me close and hold me to his chest. We’d cuddled before, but I found it especially soothing this time, especially after the encounter with Mike.

I sighed as I thought to myself, remembering his last words to me. I’d known Mike for years, and I knew he wasn’t the kind of guy to say things he didn’t mean. He’d probably just come back to talk and mention the law again if I continued refusing him.

The last thing I needed was the law getting involved. He’d left us, true, but I didn’t know why or where he went, and he was still Bryson’s father. More than anything, I felt insecure. I knew my boy would still want his dad, and it would be cruel of me to try and get in between them.

But he didn’t deserve to walk back into our lives and take my son from me! My mind cried out against the very idea of it.

Sadly, I was a lawyer myself, and I knew all the things that would be taken into consideration. There was plenty for me to worry over. I was on my own and struggling, and life was only just settling to where I could spend time with my son without worrying about our financial situation. If Mike could provide better, he could be considered the better choice.

No fucking way would I just let him have my son.

“What exactly did that man say to you?”

“Hmm?” I looked up, resting my chin on Ken’s chest, to find him looking down at me.

“Your ex-husband,” he emphasized with a sour look.

It would have been funny if I wasn’t so shaken up. “He wants Bryson. I didn’t let him explain things, so I’m not too sure exactly what he wants, but he at least wants to see Bryson.”

Ken frowned. “Don’t take this as me taking his side, but would that be so bad? He may not have been the best dad around, but he’s still the boy’s father.”

I sighed. That was exactly what had me so worried!

“You don’t understand because you weren’t here when he first left. Bryson was so distraught when his dad just disappeared without a word. It was a chore getting him to eat every night, and he suddenly got quiet and withdrawn at school. His grades didn’t suffer too much, but they still dropped. I was worried, his teachers were worried…”

“He doesn’t look that bad now.”

“Of course not, because he adjusted. But what happens when he sees Mike now, and Mike decides he needs to leave again? I don’t know how it’ll affect him. And what if Mike tries to take him from me altogether?”

Just the thought had me shivering, but this time with anger. I couldn’t just bury my head and pretend the possibility wasn’t there, not this time.

“Do you think he wants to take Bryson from you?”

I focused on Ken’s face. “What?”

“He hasn’t told you specifically what he wanted right? Maybe he just wants to stick around and be a good dad for his son. He might not want to take him away from you. Besides, is there any judge in this town that would just hand your son over to his dad after years of zero contact?”

“You can never know for sure,” I muttered under my breath. “Stranger things have certainly happened. And I don’t think Bryson would hate his dad, no matter how long he’s been gone. He still insists on making him a card on Father’s Day even when the man himself isn’t there to receive it.”

Mother’s Day had warmed my heart, but that? That had frozen it. It meant my little boy was still waiting for his father to come back. He’d probably be ecstatic that his father was back. If I were a good mother, I would have told him already and helped them meet. But it was because I was a good mother that I hadn't done it yet because I didn't know Mike’s plans. Hopefully, he wouldn’t just go looking for Bryson himself, before I could talk to him. Though the idea was slim, it was possible Mike could have changed in the time since he’d left.

“And you have no idea where he went the whole time he was away?”

I shrugged again. “Absolutely no fucking idea. It’s not like he even told me he was leaving. The divorce was done with, so I didn’t think too much about it until I needed him to help me at least talk to Bryson, only his number wouldn’t go through. He could have been anywhere…”

I wondered what he’d been doing when his son and I struggled back home. Had he been on vacation? Did he get a job out of town that kept him away? Or had he been busy exploring the entire time?

Whatever it was, it had taken its toll on him. I thought back to when I saw him on my doorstep, remembering details I’d put out of my mind before. He’d looked worn. Though it had only been a few years that he’d been gone, his appearance had made it seem like he’d aged about ten years. He must have just arrived in town and shown up, because he had a trace of beard on his chin and jaw, and unless the years had changed him a lot, he normally liked to be cleanly shaven.

Then, there was Ken. Kenji. He’d told me about the stigma behind his name, and while I understood that part, I didn’t know why he hated his name instead of being proud of it, and damn whatever anybody else said. I’d become a little interested in it after his story, and I’d searched online to try and figure out why his parents would have named him that way.

When I did find out, I thought there couldn’t be a better fit for Ken’s warrior spirit. I remembered him punching Mike out, and while I probably shouldn’t have encouraged it, the fact he did it in my defense had brought me out of the funk Mike appearing so suddenly had nearly sent me into.

I couldn’t afford to start panicking right now, I reminded myself. I had my son to think about. And Kenji, too.

“There is one thing I wanted to talk about,” Ken said suddenly.