What hadn’t? Taking the teenage boy shopping the next day for a suit to wear to Mom’s wedding.
“Shopping?” Hudson reared back. “I’d rather shave an angry lion’s ass with a rusty razor.”
Seth had tried not to laugh as he’d shoved his son into a dressing room. Despite the kid’s sighing and grumbling, they’d outfitted him for the wedding and the cooler weather ahead.
Getting Hudson a haircut hadn’t been much easier. He’d labeled the salon where Seth had his hair cut “bougie.” But…by the time the stylist had finished, Hudson was checking himself out in every passing mirror, all grins.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Seth had asked on their way home.
“Getting out of the house for a while didn’t suck.”
Not exactly a five-star review, but they’d checked everything off their to-do list.
As the memories melted away, Seth glanced between the airplane seats at Beck and Heavenly behind him. The surgeon’s hand covered hers on the armrest, their heads bent close in quiet conversation. She smiled softly at something Beck said.
Watching them, Seth’s heart swelled.
Some part of him wanted to fuck this whole charade. He wasn’t a little boy, and he’d chosen the people he intended to spend his life with. His family needed to accept that.
But he couldn’t rob his mom of her well-deserved wedded bliss.
But after the wedding… Seth wasn’t sure exactly when or how, but he wasn’t going home without telling her the truth.
Behind him, Beck laughed. Seth glanced back at them again, his gaze lingering on the tender intimacy.
He’d never had any doubts that Heavenly would be an amazing mom. But in the past ten days, Beck had proven he’d be a firm yet fair father. That should have allayed some of his fears of fatherhood. But whenever he pictured the three of them with an infant? He couldn’t fucking breathe.
How could he be afraid of getting Heavenly pregnant when the idea turned him on so much?
Seth didn’t have an answer. Even more baffling, despite being conflicted, he’d enthusiastically joined Beck in taking Heavenly unprotected every night since her period had ended. And he loved every minute of it.
Would he regret that if she missed her next period?
Suddenly, the speakers in the cabin crackled. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re beginning our descent into LaGuardia Airport. Please return your seats to their upright position and…”
Beside Seth, Hudson stirred, blinking groggily as he straightened in his seat. “We there yet?”
“In about fifteen minutes. Good nap?”
“Yeah. I was fucking tired.”
Seth felt that down to his bones, but they still had an eventful evening ahead of them. Hell, an eventful weekend.
Besides showing off Heavenly to his family and announcing their engagement while also introducing Hudson and Beck to everyone, he’d be meeting Laura and her new husband to finalize Hudson’s custody arrangement.
He was definitely going to need extra coffee. And his wits.
“You know you’ll have to watch your mouth in front of Grandma Grace,” he told his son.
Hudson gave a typical teenage roll of his eyes. “I figured.” Then he peered out the window at the sprawling cityscape below. “Holy shit, this place is massive.”
Seth followed his gaze, feeling mixed emotions tighten his chest. He loved the city, but returning always brought back a mixed bag of memories. “You’ve never been to New York before?”
“No. Mom always said it was too expensive and too dangerous.”
“Only if you don’t know where to go and how to act. We’ll visit a lot, and I’ll show you.”
A surprising hint of a smile played at Hudson’s lips. “Cool.”
