Tears stung my eyes and all I could do was nod.
He had every right to be disappointed in me and yell at me. Hell, he even had ever right to hate me.
But what did he do the moment he saw me? Held me and made me laugh.
I gripped his hips tightly, afraid that if I didn’t hold him, I’d fall apart.
I’d been such a fucking fool trying to do this on my own. I only wanted to keep him away from this because I didn’t want to dark parts of my life to touch us. But as he held me tight like he was never going to let me go, I realized that Ford would always be the light shining on the dark. He’d keep me safe without letting it tarnish what we had.
“I’m okay now that you’re here,” I said in a raspy whisper.
“Next time, let me be there for you, please? Promise me, Austin.”
“I promise,” I said before breathing his scent in deeply.
“We’re in this together, honey. You never have to do anything alone ever again.”
“How did I get so lucky?” Not a single thing about my tone was teasing.
“I ask the same thing every day,” he responded, making my heart melt and my knees a little weak.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said, standing tall and taking his hand.
I walked out of there with my head held high, and made a promise to myself that I was done giving my father the power to drag me down and hold me back.
Ford
“Mine,” Austin said as he plucked Anna out of my arms.
I blinked at him as half the room erupted in laughter.
“You can’t just steal a kid out of someone’s arms,” I said.
He stuck his tongue out and twirled around, causing Anna to squeal with delight and declare that “Uncle Awtin” was her “fay-ret.” So adorable.
It melted my damn heart seeing him with her.
Salsa music played from the living room. Reed’s condo in Atlanta was big, but it was starting to get crowded with everyone here. I stood on the edge of the kitchen, staring into the living room as Carver attempted to show Austin some easy salsa moves, which only made Anna clap her hands frantically with excitement in his arms.
I never saw myself with kids before, but the image in front of me definitely had my heart warming in a way that said things had changed.
Austin would make an amazing dad. It was hard not to think that as I watched him attempt to twirl Silvie, Theon’s little sister that he and Cade had custody of, with his free hand.
If it wasn’t something he wanted, I was good with that too. We sometimes took Anna for the night to give Reed, Tony, and Keith a night to themselves. So, I got my fill of seeing how amazing Austin truly was with kids. I was happy being Uncle Ford, or “Fward” in Anna’s case. With how big our family was, I had a feeling that there would never be a shortage of little ones to love and spoil.
Reed clapped me on the shoulder as he came to stand behind me.
“I feel like everyone’s meshing pretty well,” he said.
I nodded. It had been nine months since I quit the FBI and had taken a few members of my team with me. That hadn’t beenplanned, but I was happy with how things were going. It was a better fit for all of us.
“We got a good thing,” I agreed. “I don’t know if I’ve ever properly thanked you.”
Reed shook his head. “It’s what family does.”
I hadn’t planned on getting choked up today, but it seemed as if I was riding an emotional roller coaster. I think it had taken a while for everything to fully sink in. I was finally ready to move past the shit that had happened to me, and accept the good that had been given to me after.
Reed pulled me in for a firm but quick hug.
