That explained a lot. He could guess how a new baby made Hudson feel.
Where did that leave the kid? Where did he feel safe? Where did he belong?
Silence descended as Seth’s head spun possibilities and scenarios—all of which meant change.
“You must be in shock,” she finally offered.
“I’m…processing.” Seth pinched the bridge of his nose. “Laura, do you know why he’s here? What he wants?”
“Not exactly. He hopped on a plane without my permission. Since he finally called to tell me where he’d gone, I’ve been asking myself that. All he told me is that he wanted to meet you.”
Seth hadn’t talked to Hudson much, but his gut told him he wasn’t here merely to satisfy his curiosity.
“What do you want me to do? Keep him for the weekend and send him home? He must have school…”
“When he actually decides to go. He’s gotten so big and so rebellious, I can’t make him do anything anymore. He’s taller than my husband, and Ted doesn’t want to get in the middle.” Laura’s heavy sigh carried across three thousand miles. “I’ve tried to be both mother and father, but I’m at the end of my rope. He’s become impossible, Seth. So angry all the time. I’m hoping meeting you will give him some answers. Some closure…”
“He’s more than angry.” That was obvious. “I’m late in being his dad, but what can I do? What does he need?”
“Honestly? Structure and discipline. I keep trying but?—”
“What if…he stayed with me for a while?” Seth blurted the question. He had no idea how he’d handle having the kid around, or if he was even ready for that. And how would Beck and Heavenly feel? But he couldn’t let his own flesh and blood flounder or feel insecure. “I could get him in school and straighten him out.” I think.
“What do you know about raising teenage boys, Seth?”
“The summer after we met, my dad was killed in the line of duty. Over the next decade, I raised my four younger brothers. They’re all productive members of society now. Well, mostly. The verdict is out on my youngest two, the twins. They’re seniors in college, and they’re crazy…” He was rambling, and he made himself stop. “But if there’s one thing I know well, it’s teenage boys.”
“You just met Hudson, and you would do that?” Her voice was thick with unshed tears.
“He’s my son. That was obvious at a glance.”
“No denying he looks exactly like you.” There was almost a smile in her voice. “He’s not a bad kid, but he’s mouthy.”
“He’s sixteen. He’s a normal teenage boy.” But Hudson had other reasons to be angry and off-balance. Since Seth had failed Tristan in every way, he didn’t want to compound that by letting Hudson down.
“Hormones, right?” she tried to joke.
“Yeah.”
“You have room for him?”
“Plenty. I’m in a big house. Hudson could have his own bedroom and bathroom.”
Laura let out a sigh of relief. “He needs privacy. Our place is only two bedrooms. Now that the baby is sleeping through the night, she really needs a room of her own…”
And what teenage boy wanted to share a room with his baby sister? “He’ll have plenty of space and privacy here.”
“Heavenly won’t mind if Hudson stays? She seems very sweet, by the way.”
Laura was fishing, and Seth didn’t blame her. If his kid was staying with a relative stranger, he’d want to know who else would be hanging around. “Probably sweeter than I deserve. And she won’t mind. We also live with a doctor friend. A vascular surgeon. He’s good with it, too.”
And Seth wasn’t divulging more about his relationship than that right now.
“Wow, that’s…amazing. You’re truly willing to keep him for a bit?”
Everything felt so sudden, but what other decision could he make? “Yeah. But we’ll need to call our lawyers. If my name isn’t on Hudson’s birth certificate, I need to be legally named as his father.”
“It’s not.”
