Jett’s hesitation made my stomach sink, not because I thought he was upset at hearing Griffin call him that. No, that was pure shock. But because I had a bad feeling he was putting off making plans to come home soon.
Or maybe at all.
Call it a feeling.
Areallyhorrible one at that.
After a few seconds, Jett regained control, but his words still caught in his throat, showing how emotional he was when he answered, “I’m not sure, Champ. I have stuff I have to take care of here.”
He hadn’t lied. Lyric had explained a bit about what Jett had to go through when they had flown him from Germany to Texas. He had to go through a whole reintegration process after being taken as a POW then rescued, as well as many evaluations. It was extensive and took longer than I’d thought.
It had been twelve weeks since Jett was found. Two he had spent in Germany in the hospital, and the other ten in Texas. While Ruby wanted to rush to Texas when he arrived, her brother had talked her out of it. He explained he had a lot to take care of and was not in the right frame of mind.
Ruby wasn’t happy. She hated, as did the rest of us, that he would be alone for Christmas and not here with us. Therewas also the fact she wanted to lay her eyes on him in the flesh for confirmation he was okay. As did I.
Seeing him over FaceTime for the first time had taken a month. And when we did, I believed he’d held off so we hadn’t seen more of what the evil men did to him. His face may have been healing, but his cuts and bruises were still visible.
After Ruby noticed that, it had been even harder for her to abide by his wishes, and she almost jumped on a plane anyway, but Lyric and Gramps had talked her out of it.
As for me, well, my best friend seemed to struggle even talking to me on the phone, so it was clear he hadn’t wanted to see me. My heart felt as if it were shredded into a million pieces. I had wanted more with Jett, but now I would be happy with just one thing:
Having my best friend back.
I knew it was possible he’d never be the same person. Physically he might be okay, but I’d been reading about PTSD and knew that mentally was a totally different story.
To me, though, he’d always be my person. And I’dnevergive up on him.
A tear slipped down my cheek, and words finally worked their way through the lump in my throat to answer my son. “Yeah, baby. I miss Jett so much.”
Griffin leaned in and kissed my salty, tear-streaked cheek. “I miss him too, but he’ll be back.”
If only I believed that.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed another figure moving in next to Ruby at the door; I turned my head to find Gramps there, taking in the scene.
“Hey, Champ…” Clearly the nickname Jett gave Griffin had caught on like wildfire since Gramps and everyone else were using it. “What do you say we head down to the kitchen with Lyric, Autumn, and Tristan to help mix up some pancakes?”
My son’s hands dropped from my face, and he jumped to his feet on the bed, bouncing on the mattress as if it were his personal trampoline. “I say yes!”
The innocent elation over pancakes warmed my heart and had the corners of my mouth tipping up in a small smile. Griffin dropped to his butt and bounced to the floor onto his feet, sticking the landing as if he was an Olympic gymnast.
He started to run toward Gramps, but then stopped in his tracks and turned back around, rushing back to the bed. “Are you okay, Mommy?”
Gah. How the hell did I get so damn lucky? Being pregnant at seventeen was not on my list of life choices. Having sex with the biggest douche in school—a one-time thing and not enjoyable at all—because I craved acceptance was also not on that list. Having a baby while still in high school? Nope, it wasn't there either.
But I’d do it all over again because it meant I had my son.
And with him, Jett came into my life.
“Yeah, sweetheart, I’ll be okay.”
Taking my word for it, he gave me a radiant smile and made a mad dash for the door. “Let’s go, Gramps. I’m starving.”
As they headed down the hall, I could hear my guy chattering, letting Gramps know they needed to make enough for everyone, but that I really needed some the most because I was sad. My heart flipped over in my chest.
Griffin was a blessing. As were Jett, Gramps, Ruby, Lyric, Autumn, Tristan, and all the others I gained along with them. Thinking of all the wonderful things that came into my life the day Jett crouched in front of me outside the pizza place, when I thought my world was falling apart, sent more tears trickling down my cheeks.
I brushed at the liquid rapidly falling as the mattress dipped next to me. Ruby leaned in and pulled me into a hug, her warmth surrounding me like a blanket.
