“Congratulations,” he said in shock, after a few minutes. “Is that what’s bothering you?”
Tucker chuckled. “Thanks, and no, that’s not what’s bothering me.” Erich leaned back, steepled his fingers together and waited for Tucker to explain. “He already has a little girl, the cutest most charming thing you’ve ever met. Sometimes I find myself watching her and wondering if Laura had lived how different would things have been. She’s only two, but she reminds me so much of her at that age. I want to be a good dad to her, but I can’t keep wondering if I’m going to fail her the same way I did Laura.”
“How?”
“How what?”
“How are you going to fail her? How did you fail Laura?”
“I wasn’t there when she died. I wasn’t there to take . . .”
“You can’t keep beating yourself up about not being there for them, Tuck. It’s going to keep eating you alive, man.” Erich stood and walked over to him. “What happened to your family was terrible, and I’m not going to tell you to get over it. Because truthfully, no one can forget something like that. But one thing you need to do is stop blaming yourself. I know you’ve heard it and even said it to yourself a lot, but you need to believe it.”
“Easier said than done.”
Erich didn’t say anything to him for a few minutes, and Tucker appreciated it. It was true he’d said it to himself countless times, but it was hard for him to believe it.
“So, married and a kid, well kids. Who’s the dude that got saddled with your grumpy ass? I can’t wait to meet him.”
“Not going to comment on it being a guy?” Tucker asked with a raised eyebrow.
Erich shrugged. “Who cares. So who’s the unlucky guy?’
“Lucas Hamilton,” Tucker told him.
He surprised Erich for the second time. Everyone knew the Hamilton name, only Tucker and a few close people knew that they were a part of the Seeker organization. He’d only found out about the Hamilton affiliation with the Seekers by chance a few years ago when they were looking for the same unsub for different reasons.
“Lucas Hamilton, the playboy, once married, and broke the hearts of half of the women in New York when he got married the first time?”
“Yup, that’s the one,” Tucker said proudly.
“How much life insurance do you have?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Like I said he’s a heartbreaker and the women of New York will be gunning for you,” Erich chuckled.
“Well, they can’t have him,” Tucker snapped but not in anger.
“And he’s pregnant?”
“Yup, and yes, we really are married, did it last week.”
“You don’t play around, do you?” Tucker smiled, goading his friend. “So, how do you feel about it all?”
“Other than what we talked about a few seconds ago, I’m good. I can see myself falling in love with him. He’s smart, impulsive, pushes me to do things outside of my normal humdrum life, and gods, he's so caring. You should see him with his daughter, they are so good together.” He could feel the smile on his lips and did not feel the need to hide it. “And he’s so fucking bossy.”
“Are you sure you’re not already in love with him?”
He didn’t respond, actually he didn’t get a chance to because his cell phone rang. He smiled brightly seeing that it was Lucas.
“Is that your man?”
“Mister Hamilton-Stevens, how can I help you?”
Lucas chuckled on the other end of the phone. “Want to meet for lunch?”
“Mind if I bring a friend?” he asked looking at Erich.
