Seth and I both sat up to see Jamie standing in the doorway, Bullet by his side and his Spiderman doll dangling from his hand. We hadn’t managed to get any of the kids’ stuff from Alana and Gene because we needed to wait for the custody case to be finalized so I was glad Matty had given him the doll, because it had clearly become a safety blanket to him in a way that none of the new toys we’d bought him could.
The pending custody fight was still a glaring concern, but Zane and Declan had both assured us the kids were ours. Gene was being charged with assault and the incident when Willow had called the cops to seek help for Gene’s abuse was being re-opened. And even if Alana hadn’t actually abused the kids herself, the fact that she’dstood by and let it happen left her without a leg to stand on. Even if she claimed the man was abusing her as well, she was in no position to regain custody.
“Jamie, is everything okay?” Seth asked, but before he could get out of bed, Jamie was walking towards us.
He stopped by Seth’s side of the bed. “Willow’s snoring,” he muttered drowsily.
“She is?” Seth said with a chuckle as he glanced at me.
We had enough bedrooms for all three kids, but so far they’d all been sharing the room we’d set aside for Nicole.
Jamie nodded and then he was trying to climb up on the bed. Seth lifted him up and we both watched in shock as he crawled between us. He dropped his head on Seth’s pillow and clutched the doll to his chest and closed his eyes. Bullet jumped on the bed and pressed between us so he could curl himself over Jamie’s legs.
Seth and I smiled at each other and then rearranged ourselves until we were all comfortable. Seth wrapped his arm around Jamie’s waist and I settled my hand on his arm. We didn’t speak again.
We didn’t need to.
“How are you holding up?”I asked Hawke as I entered the guest bedroom where he was getting ready.
He was sitting on the bay window still dressed in his street clothes. His hands were pressed together and his elbows were resting on his knees. Matty’s puppy, Storm, was lying at his feet, but as soon as she saw me she came loping over to greet me. I hadn’t changed into my tux yet so I let her jump on me as I scratched her floppy ears.
“Good,” he said, though his voice was shaky. “Is he here yet?”
I hid the smile at how nervous my friend sounded and said, “He got here a few minutes ago.”
The whoosh of air that left Hawke’s body was a surprise. Did the man even think for a second that Tate would get cold feet?
I knew the couple had decided to honor tradition and spend theevening before their wedding apart. Tate and Matty had gone to stay with Tate’s mom and her family at a bed and breakfast a few miles away and Hawke had gone to dinner with Magnus, Zane and Connor before returning to his home to spend the night by himself with just Storm to keep him company.
I went to sit on the bed across from Hawke and said, “Hey, I’m sorry Seth and I haven’t been there for you guys-”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Hawke interrupted. He motioned around him. “All of this…the fact that we’re even here today is because of you and Seth.” He clutched his hands together again before saying, “If you hadn’t brought him back to me…”
Hawke’s voice dropped off, but I knew he was thinking about the day Seth and I had taken Matty and Tate to Hawke’s house in Wyoming a month after they’d ended their tenuous relationship.
“How are the kids doing?” Hawke asked.
“Good,” I said. “Better than expected, actually,” and I couldn’t help the grin that split my lips.
Before I could say anything else, I heard a quiet knock on the door. “I got it,” I said to Hawke and then I went to answer it. Matty entered followed by Jamie and Leo. Matty was holding one of Jamie’s hands and Leo was holding the other. Matty was wearing the tux that matched his fathers’ so I grabbed Storm by the collar when she made a beeline for him and held her back.
“Hi, Papa,” Matty said as he hurried to Hawke and he dropped Jamie’s hand so he could wrap his arms around his father.
“Hi, buddy,” Hawke said with a sigh and he scooped the little boy up and held him in what I knew had to be a pretty tight embrace.
“Papa, Daddy said to tell you something.”
“Okay, what is it?” Hawke asked as he pulled back a little from Matty.
“He said to tell you he missed you last night…” Matty paused as he seemed to need a minute to try to remember the rest of the message. “Oh yeah, and he never wants to do it again.”
“Do what again?” Hawke asked in confusion.
Matty seemed stricken and then he glanced over his shoulder atme and curled his finger to motion me over. I held onto Storm as I leaned down to Matty’s level and he reached into the small pocket on his vest and pulled out a scrap of paper. I read the note and smiled as I realized Tate had suspected his son might have trouble remembering the whole message.
I put my mouth against Matty’s ear and whispered the rest of the message. Matty nodded and then turned back to Hawke.
“He doesn’t want to spend a night apart from you ever again,” Matty said proudly. “And he’ll see you soon.”
