Leo nodded, despite knowing King couldn’t see him. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing.
“Baby, I’m outside. I thought you might need me.”
“Yes,” Leo murmured. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up, and Clara came to stand next to him. She rubbed circles on his back.
“What happened, sweetie?”
Leo told her what happened, and she gasped. “Oh, goodness! That’s terrible! Those poor boys. I’m so sorry. I’m so happy they’re safe now. Listen, you’ve already set up everything, and it’s good to go. Christopher and I will double-check to make sure it’s perfect for tomorrow night. You go home and be with your family.”
“Thank you.” Leo hugged her and Santa, who smiled warmly at him. “Thank you so much for everything.”
“You’re welcome. We’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
Leo nodded, then hurried outside. King stood on the sidewalk. He’d come knowing Leo would need him. Feeling emotional, Leo didn’t say anything. He just walked up to King and threw his arms around him, burying his face against King’s chest.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” King wrapped his arms around Leo, his cheek against Leo’s hair as he held him tight. “They’re okay.”
“What if they hadn’t been?” Leo said with a sniff, his eyes shut tight in the hopes he wouldn’t cry. He was just tired and anxious, that was all. A thought occurred to him, and he started shaking. “What ifyouhad fallen in while pulling them out?”
“Hey, look at me.” King gently moved Leo away. “Open your eyes, sweetheart. Look at me.”
Leo did, his bottom lip trembling.
“I’m here. Right here. There’s no sense in thinking about what could have happened because it didn’t happen, and I’m proof. Right?” King motioned down to himself. “I’m standing right here in front of you. The past is gone. It can’t be changed.”
Logically, Leo knew that, but his heart was in charge right now, and it was all over the place. King cupped Leo’s face and smiled warmly.
“I can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on.”
Leo blinked up at him. “What?”
“Your surprise. I’m looking forward to it. I bet it’s great.”
King was right. The past was gone, it had already happened, and it couldn’t be changed, so he had to think of the future. Tomorrow was the future, their future. Leo smiled. “I think so.”
“Do you need to go back in?” King asked.
Leo shook his head. “Nope. Not tonight. Can we go back to the cabin?” Now more than ever, he was determined to pull off his surprise. First, he wanted to check in on his family and make sure they were okay. “Oh! Poor Ace, he must have been so scared.”
“Something tells me that come tomorrow, when Lucky wakes up, Lucky’s going to be the one who’s scared,” King said, taking Leo’s hand and walking with him to the SUV parked a few feet away.
Leo snickered. Forget the Boyfriend Collective. Ace was about to channel his mother. “Oh no. What are they going to tell their moms?”
“Something tells me they’re either not going to, or they’re going to majorly play down the incident.”
Leo didn’t blame them. Lucky’s and Ace’s moms worried about them enough as it was.
When they got home, Lucky and Mason were in their room, sleeping. Ace lay on the couch with his head in Colton’s lap, asleep as well. The whole ordeal must have really taken it out of him.
By the next morning, everything was back to normal in their family, with the exception of Ace literally hanging onto his cousin in an attempt to take care of him. Leo did his best to act normal.
Tonight was the night.
Oh, sweet Spock. He was getting married.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Leo was nervous. So very, very nervous.
