I looked down and realized I had some of the nastiness on my shirt, too. “I’ll watch him while you grab another shirt.”
Braxton settled down as soon as Kellan appeared in the bathroom. I quickly washed him off and got him out of the tub and into pajamas. He managed to take his medicine, followed by a few sips of apple juice and keep it down.
“Mommy, can I sleep with Nana and Papa?” Riley asked from the door.
“Did you already ask Nana and Papa?”
“Yes, and they said it was okay.”
“As long as it’s okay with them, it’s okay with me.”
“Thank you,” she beamed. “Goodnight, Mommy, Kellan, and sick brother. I’m blowing kisses because I don’t want germs,” she announced and kissed her palm three times before turning it to the side and blowing. “Love you.” She disappeared down the hall before any of us could respond.
“All right, little man, let’s get you into bed,” I said and scooped my sick baby into my arms.
“I wanna sleep in your room,” Braxton said quietly.
“I think that can be arranged,” I said and headed to my bedroom.
Placing him in the center of my bed, I crawled in beside him thinking he would roll toward me to cuddle while he fell asleep. Instead, he slapped his palm down on the other side of the bed and said, “Kellan can sleep here.”
Kellan’s eyes widened. “Oh, um, I, uh…”
“It’s okay,” I mouthed.
“You sure?” he mouthed back.
I nodded at the same time Braxton patted the bed again. Kellan scooted in behind Braxton, who immediately fisted my shirt as well as Kellan’s and pulled. We scooted closer and he kept pulling until we were essentially cocooning him between us. Braxton yawned and closed his eyes. “Night night, Mommy and Daddy.”
Kellan’s mouth dropped open in shock while I burst into tears.
45
Savior
Iplaced my hand on Avery’s upper arm. “It’s okay. He’s tired and sick. It was just a little slip.”
She shook her head. “He doesn’t even remember Ian. Riley barely does,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry,” I replied softly. There wasn’t anything I could say or do to make things better, not immediately anyway. I waited a few minutes to be sure Braxton was asleep before carefully sliding out of the bed. “I’m going to go,” I said, unsure if I meant downstairs or back to the home I shared with Coal. At her nod, I placed a kiss on her forehead and closed the door behind me.
The silence downstairs let me know that Frank, Claire, and Riley had already gone to bed. Feeling like an intruder, I grabbed my keys and locked the front door on my way out.
I couldn’t imagine what she was going through, but she knew I loved her kids like they were my own. I knew they weren’t mine biologically, and like I’d already told her, I would never try to replace their father; but, that didn’t mean I couldn’t fill that role in their lives.
When I walked through the front door, I was met with the barrel of a gun. “The fuck?” I asked.
Coal shrugged and put the gun on the coffee table. “Didn’t know it was you. You haven’t been here in weeks.”
“Sorry, man. I guess I should’ve called.”
“What’re you doing here? I figured you’d be with Avery after what went down this morning.”
I dropped into the recliner and sighed. “So did I. She’s not handling things well. Then, Braxton got sick and insisted I climb into bed with him and Avery.” I paused and pinched the bridge of my nose. “He called me Daddy as he was falling asleep.”
“Oh, shit. What did Avery say?”
“Nothing. She burst into tears. Again.”
