“Daddy?” I said tentatively, pulling out the word in the quiet darkness.
“Yeah, bud?”
“I’m glad it’s you.”
His arms tightened around me. “Me too, sweet boy. Me too.”
Wrapped in the arms of a man who saw all of me—the strong parts and the broken parts and the little parts—and wanted to take care of them all was euphoric.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Simon
I woke up before dawn with a plan forming in my mind.
Tanner was still asleep beside me, his face soft in the early morning darkness. His hair was mussed from sleep, and one hand was curled against my chest like he’d been holding onto me even in his dreams.
I took in the way his thumb sat between his plush lips and smiled. It was a small habit I’d noticed growing more and more frequent as he settled into things.
Carefully, so as not to wake him, I slipped out of bed and dressed quietly. I had something I needed to do before he woke up, and I wanted it to be a surprise.
Downstairs, I found Atticus already in the kitchen, coffee in hand as he stared out the window.
“Morning,” I said softly, not wanting to startle him.
He turned, a knowing smile already on his face. “Morning. You’re up early.”
“Got something I need to take care of.” I poured myself a cup of coffee and joined him at the window. “Need to borrow your truck.”
“For Tanner?” It wasn’t really a question.
“Yeah.” I took a sip of coffee, considering how much to share. But this was Atticus. He’d been nothing but supportive since I’d arrived at the ranch. “I want to grab some things from his place. Personal items. Things that will make him feel more at home here.”
Atticus’s expression softened. “That’s good thinking. Boy’s probably starting to feel disconnected from himself without his usual things.”
“Exactly.” I’d noticed the way Tanner kept gravitating toward my clothes, kept wrapping himself in things that smelled like me even though he had a host of new stuff. It warmed something in my chest, but I also knew he needed his own comfort items. “I was thinking I could set up a space for him. Nothing too elaborate, just… somewhere that’s his.”
“The room he’s been staying in?” Atticus asked.
I nodded. “If that’s alright. I know it’s a guest room, but?—”
“Simon.” Atticus set his coffee down and turned to face me fully. “That room’s been his since the day he got here. If you and Tanner want to make it a proper space for him, for both of you, then that’s exactly what you should do.”
Relief flooded through me. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You’re family.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Keys are on the hook. And Simon? Take your time. Make it good for him.”
I finished my coffee quickly and grabbed the keys. Before I left, I wrote a quick note for Tanner and left it on his nightstand where he’d see it when he woke up.
Out running errands. Stay put and eat breakfast. I’ll be back soon. Love, Daddy
It was the first time I’d signed anything that way, and my hand had hesitated over the word. But it felt right. It felt true.
The drive into town was quiet, the roads still mostly empty at this hour. Tanner had already texted me his address and door code from before when I went to buy him clothing as ajust in caseif I couldn’t locate anything for him. It was all there, right at my fingertips.
His apartment was in a newer complex on the east side of town, the kind of place that was clean and functional but utterly impersonal. I let myself in and stood in the doorway for a moment, taking it all in.
