He chuckles. “I like that.”
“You know what we should do? Only if you want to…”
“What?”
“I think you and I should go grab a pizza, then go see a movie. Just you and me.”
“I-I thought you and Mr. Seth had a date tonight.”
“There will be other dates.”
“Okay. Can we seePredator: Badlands?”
“I don’t see why not.”
I stand, wipe my ass of dirt, and reach for Braeden. He takes my hand, and I help him to stand. Suddenly, my eyes pop wide at him as he lunges at me and wraps those spindly arms around my waist. I hold him as tightly as I can without hurting him. We stand like that for a while. I hope that things will start to look up for him. He deserves it.
“Can we go shopping for stuff for my room this weekend?”
Okay, now I’m the one who’s going to cry, dammit. “Sure, kiddo. Anything you want. That doesn’t get you out of trouble with school, though. We need to get that sorted out.”
“Yeah, okay. Can you spray those boys again? They haven’t stopped picking on me.”
I snort a laugh. “Not this time. Perhaps I should do it the right way and talk to their parents. I swear to god, if anyone picks on you again, they’re going to have me to contend with, one way or another. That’s a promise.”
As soon as we get to my car, the skies open up on us. We get a little wet, but we miss the worst of it. Then I carefully drive us home.
When we get there, we quickly dry off, and I direct him to the box sitting in my office. I think now’s a good time to give this to him.
“I don’t know if you like this sort of thing, but I brought them back from Houston for you. You don’t have to keep them. I’ll give them to Seth’s kids, if not.”
Braeden looks at me before opening the bin. He pulls out a bubble-wrapped car and gently pulls it away, exposing a 1996Z28 Camaroin teal blue. He holds it up and turns it around to inspect all sides. “You made this?”
“Yeah, when I was a kid, I used to love making them. Eventually, I gravitated toward drawing, but I did these cars from when I was about Harrison’s age until about your age.”
Braeden unwraps another, revealing a 1990Porsche 911in lime green. “This one’s so cool. They’re all good.”
“So, you want to keep them, or should we hand them off to the kids next door?”
He clutches the Porsche against his chest and shakes his head. “No way. I’ll definitely keep them. Can we get some shelves for them?”
I ruffle his hair, smiling, and feeling the first tingles of love for a kid who’s now mine. “Sure, kiddo.”
I pull out the new sheets and comforter from the dryer and haul them upstairs to Braeden’s room. We spent the past week putting together furniture and painting his room, giving my wrists and arms a fucking workout. Today we’ve been spending the day putting his room together.
I step into his room, watching Braeden put one of my model cars on the wooden floating shelves I hung up. What is it about this moment that gets my eyes all misty? It’s like a sign that he’s settling in and he’s now mine. Yes, on paper he is, but symbolically? It’s this moment.
I cough away my emotions and put on a big smile. “It looks amazing in here.”
He and I designed it together. I let Braeden pick out the colors on his walls, the bedding, and such. I picked out the furniture, which is mid-century inspired. The walls are a rich forest green with white trim. There are framed posters of his favorite bands, a section where his instruments are displayed, and I’ve set up a gaming computer for him.
I set the bedding on his bed and stand back to watch him as he makes it. In the short time that Braeden has lived here, he’s always been neat and organized, so watching him make his bed perfectly and tossing on throw pillows doesn’t surprise me.
“Your room looks amazing, kiddo.”
He comes and stands next to me to check it out. “I love it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And, ah, I’m glad you decided to make this your home. I hope we have some good years here.”
