“He needs a father,” Heavenly added softly. “And you need him.”
They were right.
“Thank you. Both of you. I don’t know how long Hudson will be with us, but I’m damn grateful for your understanding. Especially since I struggled with having your brother here.” And didn’t that make Seth feel like shit now?
“Totally different situation. And Zach is happier alone. It’s all good. Your son is just a kid. He needs you now, but you’ve got us forever.”
Those words made Seth’s chest feel soft as a marshmallow. He brought Beck in for a shoulder-bump. “That’s pretty fucking eloquent for you, man. Thanks.”
“We’ll do our best to make Hudson comfortable and happy,” Heavenly assured, looking teary.
He pulled her close, closing his eyes and savoring her in his arms before he kissed her, sinking deep and savoring his sense of coming home. “God, I waited five long days to do that.”
“It felt like you were gone half of forever. Was your trip all right? How did things go in New York?”
His New York problems seemed like ancient history now, but those issues were still waiting, poised to fuck up his life if he didn’t handle them carefully. “On a clusterfuck scale of one to ten? About what you’d expect. I’ll fill you in later. I really wanted to spend today with you two. I missed you so much. But if I’m going to build any kind of bond with Hudson…”
“You need to start now. Go,” Heavenly insisted softly. “We understand.”
Beck grabbed her hand. “Do what you need to.”
Seth kissed her again, patted Beck’s shoulder, then dragged in a bracing breath before heading downstairs to find his son.
When he ducked into the game room, he found a freshly showered Hudson already sprawled on the sectional, controller in hand. The massive flat screen showed the Call of Duty loading screen.
“Hope you’re not shit at this,” Hudson said without looking up.
“Dude, I’ve been playing video games longer than you’ve been alive.” Seth settled beside him and picked up the second controller.
“Don’t ‘dude’ me.” Hudson glanced over, then did a double take. “Holy shit, is that—” Hudson pointed at Seth’s right shoulder, where a small crescent-shaped birthmark was visible above his tank top.
“What? My birthmark.”
“I have the exact same one. Same spot and everything.” Hudson pulled his shirt aside to flash his.
Seth looked at his son’s shoulder. Sure enough, he had an identical crescent mark. “I’ll be damned.”
“Guess you don’t need a DNA test now, right?” Hudson’s tone dropped and lost some of its edge.
“Never did. I knew at a glance.”
“So did Beck and Heavenly.”
That made Seth smile. “I’ll bet they did. You probably shocked the hell out of them.”
“Oh, yeah. That River guy, too. You should have seen their faces.”
“You’re lucky no one had a heart attack.” Seth selected his loadout. “Now…you ready to show me what you got?”
“Bring it, old man.”
“Watch that ‘old man’ shit. If we weren’t on the same team, I’d wipe the floor with your ass.”
They spawned into a team mission together, and Seth was immediately impressed by Hudson’s skill. His son was a natural—quick reflexes, good tactical thinking, and he actually communicated during firefights instead of going rogue.
“Nice shot,” Seth said as Hudson took out a sniper. “Cover me while I plant this charge.”
“Got your six,” Hudson promised, focused while he guarded the perimeter. “So, uh, Heavenly said I have a grandmother and four uncles?”
