“Maddox,” she whispered reverently, her eyes moving over Mad though I could tell her thoughts were elsewhere. “He would have loved to meet this baby,” she sighed.
“I know,” Axel agreed.
We stayed until Maddox made it known that he was done. It always amazed me how quickly his good mood could take a turn toward a full-blown meltdown.
“We’ll come back soon,” Axel assured her as we gathered our things.
“Good,” she clapped her hands together in glee as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “You too, Sophie, or come back without these boys so I can get the full story,” she winked.
I blushed. “Okay.”
“Love you, boy,” she told Axel.
“Me, too,” he returned, hoisting Maddox up into his arms and leading us out of the room.
Maddox fell asleep in the truck on the drive back to Axel’s. I knew I shouldn’t bombard him with questions so I cut my thousand questions down to a few.
“Why is she in a home?” I asked, looking over at him as he watched the road ahead.
He sighed. “She started forgetting things, leaving the stove on, shit like that. It just wasn’t safe. Ry and I felt like shit putting her in a home but she actually seems to like it. She has friends, so when she’s having a good day, she plays cards with them. The nurses love her,” he smiled.
“I bet,” I was already in love with her myself. “So that was a good day I take it?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, sounding relieved. “Even on bad days she still knows who I am, but she doesn’t always remember the year or that my granddad’s gone. She gets confused and agitated. It’s not easy.”
“I’m sure it’s not,” I agreed as we began ascending the mountain.
“How often do you visit her?”
He shrugged. “Ry and I trade off weeks, but when I have time, I go every week.” His jaw ticked and I could tell the conversation was making him agitated. “When we get back, I’ll help you unload all this shit and then I gotta make some calls,” he added, indicating the subject was closed. For now.
******
Later that day, Axel dropped me and Mad off at Scarlet and Cole’s so he could take care of some ‘club shit’ as he called it.
“So how’s it going with Axel?” Scarlet asked as we sipped beers in her living room, watching Mad and Gracie get acquainted. So far, that acquaintance had consisted of Gracie toddling over and snatching any toy Maddox seemed interested in.
I wrinkled my nose and she laughed, her green eyes shining. “I don’t know, good I guess?”
“Why is that a question?” she laughed.
“He’s been amazing with Mad. He’s such a natural dad.” I looked over at Maddox and smiled, so grateful every day that my son would have a father who loved him in his life. “Living together has been okay. It’s just a little awkward sometimes,” I admitted.
“Awkward how?” she asked, rising to let their giant bullmastiff, Chief, in from outside.
“Well, he’s made it clear he wants to give things a shot. He speaks about it like it’s a forgone conclusion,” I grumbled. “He even took Maddox and me to meet his gran today. But I don’t know if I’m ready for all of this! It’s all been so sudden and he certainly didn’t seem to want me when I came to town before. I still don’t quite believe the intense change of direction, how sure he is about us. So for now, we spend a bunch of time together but we’re also kind of skirting around each other,” I tried to explain.
“Sometimes it takes something really big for our pig-headed men to understand how they feel about things.” She rolled her eyes. “It was that way for Sal, you know? He had to leave to gain perspective. For Axel, it was your leaving that did it. And, honey, trust me, it did it. That man was not the same when you left.” She shook her head.
“Really?” I gasped with surprise. I’d heard this in so many words from him, but somehow, hearing it from her made it really sink in.
“Really. You want my advice? Give it a shot, Soph. You guys have a baby together. I think you owe it to yourselves and that little man over there.” She cocked her head toward Mad.
“I hear you,” I agreed taking a sip of my drink.
“I’m so glad you’re here. We all missed you,” she added quietly.
“Me, too. I’m just hoping that giant shoe I feel every day doesn’t actually drop.” I winced, sharing the fear that kept me up every night.
