“Yeah.” Seth lobbed a grenade around a corner. “I’m the oldest, then there’s Matt—he runs the New York branch of Cooper Investigations.”
“So when I called over there last week and talked to Matt, that was my uncle?”
Seth nodded. “Danny is a couple of years younger than Matt. He’s married and has a baby girl. Jack and Connor, the twins, are finishing their senior year of college.”
“They’re not that much older than me, huh?”
“They’re not.” And that was a terrifying realization.
“Hey!” Hudson warned. “Watch that doorway. Hostiles incoming.”
“Got it.” They coordinated their attack seamlessly.
Once they’d defeated the squad, Seth grabbed a soda from the fridge and offered his son one.
“How do you think your family will react? You know, to me.”
“Our family will love you. Fair warning though, the Cooper clan is loud and crazy when we get together. And your Grandma Grace will lose her mind. She’s going to be so excited to meet you.”
Hudson actually smiled at that. “Sounds better than spending time at my mom’s place. There it’s all awkward silence. Well, unless Ted is sneering at me about something or the baby’s crying.”
Seth hated the thought of his son feeling like he didn’t have anyone on his side. “We’re busy here, but when we’re all home, there aren’t many awkward silences.”
“And no babies!” Hudson sounded thrilled.
Well, not yet…
The next mission loaded, and they jumped in, covering ground and taking defensive positions.
“What was it like growing up with all those brothers?” Hudson asked. “Being an only child sucked. Well, I thought it did until Emma was born. She’s loud.”
“It was chaotic and fun…and way louder than one baby. Trust me.”
“Yeah? Did you share a room? Fight a lot? Play sports together?”
“Sometimes, yeah. When we were teenagers, we all had our own rooms, and we played on teams together…but none of that stopped the fighting.” He chuckled. “Drove Grandma Grace nuts.”
“Did you all compete with each other, too?”
“Constantly.” Seth switched weapons as they moved to the next objective. “We were always trying to one-up each other. Once, I convinced Matt to jump off our garage roof with a bedsheet as a parachute.”
Hudson looked shocked. “Oh, shit. Did it work?”
“Define ‘work’? After a broken arm and a very pissed-off mother, I’ll say no. We were reckless as hell.” Seth paused the game and looked at Hudson seriously. “But even though I was a teenage jackass, I always loved and respected my mom. You running out on yours without a word? That’s not cool, and that shit won’t be tolerated here.”
Hudson’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. “Yeah. I get it.”
“She was worried about you. You know that, right?” Seth picked off an enemy trying to sneak up on Hudson’s flank.
“I know. Thanks for saving my ass.”
“Happy to.”
“It kinda blows that Mom never told you about me. We could have…I don’t know, talked sooner and stuff.”
“No kinda about it. It totally sucks, but it’s not all her fault.” Seth took advantage of the slight lull in the game. “Your mom tried to contact me once, but when she looked me up, she didn’t say anything because I was married with a baby on the way.”
Hudson frowned. “Where are they now? You divorced?”
