“Do you want me to go and grab Cooper from school so you can just power through?”
“You’d do that?” she asks softly.
“Of course, I would. Your work is important, and if you’re having a breakthrough, you should focus on that. I can get him, we’ll go to my mom’s house and steal some cookies, then I’ll drop him off around four so I have time to get ready for work.”
Pushing back from her desk, Tori closes the short distance between us and flings her arms around my waist, hugging me so tightly its almost hard to breathe. “Thank you,” she mumbles into my chest and I grin as I kiss her head.
“No problem. Doing my boyfriend duty.”
She tilts her head up. “You’re doing it really, really well today.”
I kiss her again, even as I mentally high-five myself. “I aim to please. Now get to work, woman. I’m going to steal a quick shower, then head out.” I slap her ass and push her back toward her desk, letting myself linger to watch her settle in for a minute.
Yeah, this whole boyfriend thing?I got this.
Chapter twenty-six
Tori
June starts off with days full of sunshine, making it clear summer is right around the corner. The last couple of weeks have been better than I could have hoped for. Sawyer’s attentive, affectionate, and still as much fun as always. Cooper’s been thrilled with how much time Sawyer has been spending at the house. Any worry I had about my son feeling like he was coming in second to my relationship has been proven pointless. Not only because of me, but because of Sawyer. He makes Coop a priority all the time, whether it’s playing in the backyard with Chloe, tossing a baseball around, or building their LEGO sets.
We’re still careful with how affectionate we are around him, and I haven’t figured out a good way to tell Cooper that Sawyer and I are more than friends. I keep waiting for Sawyer to push me on that, but he hasn’t yet, and I’m thankful. I know I need to tell Coop, but I need to do it the right way. I just haven’t figured out how.
It all seems so easy, Sawyer fitting into our lives, like he was meant to be here all along. And I finally feel a balance between work, being a mom, and being a woman.
But that old saying about something being too good to be true keeps lingering in the back of my mind, casting an unwelcome shadow over my happiness.
Sawyer’s at work for the next couple of days, and the house is unnaturally quiet without his bright energy filling it. Cooper’s in the backyard with Chloe, trying to teach her to roll over, when the phone rings. It’s Tim’s mom, so I answer.
“Hi, Racquel.”
“Hello Tori, how are you and my grandson doing?” Her warm voice makes me smile, even as the familiar pain hits me. How Cooper’s father can come from someone so wonderful but be so heartless himself, I will never understand.
“We’re great. Did you get my email with the photos of our new addition?” I ask, stirring the pasta sauce I’ve got bubbling away on the stove for dinner.
“I did. She looks adorable and Cooper seems thrilled.”
We make small talk for a few more minutes. But with every second that passes without her either asking to speak to Cooper or getting to the point of her call, my stomach twists into more of a knot. Racquel might be a lovely woman, but she doesn’t call me just to chat about the spring weather.
“Listen Tori, I want you to know I don’t think I should be the one telling you this, but I’m very aware my son won’t. And Cooper has a right to know.”
Here it comes.
“Okay,” I say, suddenly wishing Sawyer was here.
“Tim and Bonnie are having a baby.”
I huff out my exhale. The news isn’t such a surprise, but more of a disappointment. While I certainly hope he doesn’t abandon this child like he did his first one, I’m also acutely aware that my son will soon have siblings in the world that he might never meet. “Right. Well, I guess that’s what newlyweds do,” I reply, but the words sound hollow, even to my own ears.
Racquel makes a sound, part derision, part sympathy. “I don’t agree with how he handled things by taking off when Cooper was born. And I’m forever grateful you didn’t cut us off from our grandson, even though you had every right to when Tim signed over his rights. Obviously it’s not my decision, it’s yours, but I believe despite my son’s actions, Cooper deserves to know he’s going to have a little brother or sister. And I hope when the time is right, you’ll let me introduce the two of them.”
I’m silent for a minute, trying to figure out an appropriate response. Tim’s mother doesn’t deserve my anger. She’s only doing what she feels is best, and she’s been nothing but understanding and accepting of every decision I make.
“Has Tim mentioned Cooper even once since the wedding?” I ask, not bothering to hide the harshness from my voice.
Her silence is all the answer I need. I exhale on a pained laugh. “Right. Why would he? In his mind, he doesn’t have a son. He stopped having one the day he signed those papers when I was still in the hospital. Maybe it’s time I stop hoping he’ll be a decent human being and remember he already has a kid. Hopefully, he treats this new one better, because no child deserves to know their own father abandoned them.”
The slamming of a door has me whirling around in panic to see Cooper racing through the backyard to his tree house, Chloe trying to keep up behind him. She plops down on her butt when he clambers up the ladder and she can’t follow.
