“I hope you're comfortable. You’re gonna be waiting a while,” I say softly. I’m not trying to hurt him, but I refuse to lead him on.
“Sweetheart, there’s nothing comfortable about being this close to you.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve always got a semi when I look at you. It’s really uncomfortable with all this gear on.”
“Lun-a-tic,” I reply before shifting the balloons until they block him from view.
Sawyer whines, stealing my attention from the ridiculous man next to me. Mia picks him up and walks in circles aroundthe waiting room. He lays his head on her shoulder, and within a couple of minutes, he’s out for the count.
“Sorry about that. He’s exhausted after his big day with the horses,” she whispers.
“No need to explain,” Mom comforts her.
She continues to walk back and forth, gently bouncing him. “He’s not as light as he used to be.”
“I can take him,” Knox offers tentatively.
“You sure?”
Standing, he holds his hands out in answer. They transfer the sleeping toddler, and Knox starts his own laps around the room, only he holds the back of Sawyer’s head as though he’s an infant.
It’s adorable.
Once he’s convinced Sawyer won’t wake up, he sits back down in the seat to my left, being ever so careful not to wake his boy.
My heart splinters watching them together.
Did I mention my best friend and my brother, Angus, have apparently been in love forever and are now an item?
The kicker... her son’s father is my oldest brother Knox.
Yes, you heard me right. After a ninety-second hookup in a bathroom with Knox, she ended up pregnant with Sawyer. She refused to tell anyone who the father was. If she and Angus hadn’t gotten together, the truth might never have come out.
Knox lost the first two and a half years of his child's life. He’ll never get that back. Mia is my sister from another mister. I love her like family, but I’ve had a hard time getting over what she did not just to Knox, but to all of us. Yes, Mia and Sawyer are always around, but my mom was a grandmother and didn’t know it. We didn’t get to call him our own. It’s taken some time, but we’re good again.
From the outside looking in, Mia falling in love and living with one brother but having a child with another seems insane,but Sawyer’s a pretty lucky kid to have both Knox and Angus as his dads.
From the looks of it, Knox is going to take Sawyer home with him and his girlfriend, Ryan. This will be his first sleepover with his son. The room has fallen silent as we all watch the touching moment. Once Angus, Knox, Ryan, and Sawyer leave, Mia falls into an empty chair, instantly covering her face with her hands, her body shaking with sobs.
In unison, Mom and I rise from our chairs and take a seat on either side of her. Mom rubs circles on her back, and I take her hand in mine.
“It’s gonna be okay. Ryan will be there to supervise,” I say, trying to reassure her.
She shakes her head back and forth. Finally uncovering her face, she looks at me. “It’s not that. I’m such a horrible person. How could I have kept the two of them apart? What was I thinking?”
It’s Mom who answers her. “Us mamas will do anything to protect our babies. We may get it wrong from time to time, but it is always with the best of intentions.”
“You give me too much grace, Sharon. What I did was wrong.”
“It was. But you’ve made amends, and you can’t let guilt take over your life. All that matters is the here and now and how you all move forward to take care of my grandbaby.”
“Mom's right,” I chime in. “What’s done is done. We all deserve to be happy, including you.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, the reality of what I said hits me square in the chest, and my gaze wanders toward the beautiful man in uniform surrounded by pink staring right back at me.
It’s clear he heard what I said, because the lift of his eyebrow says I need to take my own advice.
