I lean in a little closer. “Don’t tell mommy I said ‘bitched.’ That’s a bad word. We’ll both be sleeping on the couch.” I shift him slightly, my back giving a familiar, dull ache. “Who knew back pain was a thing? Don’t tell your mother, but I kind of missthe healing powers. A couch is not as forgiving as a cursed pit, apparently.”
Outside, a distant siren wails, a lonely sound in the quiet night.
“Maybe someday someone will figure out how to close the pits for good. For now... we just keep a bigger fence around them.”
I tap his nose lightly. “And you, little man, are absolutely never going anywhere near them. Understood?”
His bottle slips from his mouth as sleep finally wins.
“Good.”
I lower him gently into the crib. His eyes blink once more, just for a second,and a faint flicker of red flashes across his pupils. I notice it. We all noticed the day he was born.
The room is smaller now, crammed with a changing table and a mountain of toys. There’s barely a path to the door. I have to sidestep Scotch, who’s already curled up on the rug right beside the crib.
I switch off the lamp and ease the door open.
Sisk waits in the hallway.
“Is he out?” she whispers.
“Yeah,” I whisper back.
“Were you telling him one of your pit stories again?”
“Well,” I shrug, “I couldn’t leave him with a cliffhanger.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re going to give him nightmares.”
“He’s tough,” I say, slapping her ass. “Like his mom.”
“Jax, your dad,” she whispers, making a face.
I look past her. My father is already making himself comfortable in the middle of the packed mess of boxes, settling into the one good armchair with a worn book and a glass of scotch. He looks up. “You two go have fun,” he says, already opening the book. “I got him.”
I nod. “Thanks, Daniel.”
Sisk’s eyes widen slightly as we turn to head downstairs. She leans in close. “I think you can start calling him Dad, you know?”
I snort. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m already agreeing to live with the guy. That’s enough progress for one decade.”
She rolls her eyes then says, “Did you notice how O can already play peek-a-boo? You pull the blanket over his face and he yanks it off himself, grinning like he just invented the game.”
“That I gotta see tomorrow.”
“Are you gonna be home tomorrow?” she asks, and I pull her into a tight kiss, remembering we haven’t had a second alone in a while.
“Damn sure I’m gonna wake up hungover, so yeah. Get ready for a lazy family day. Just us, the couch, and whatever cartoons O decides are worth watching.”
She grins, her whole face lighting up. “I’ll hold you to that. Pancakes and bad TV?”
“You got it.”
The noise from the bar grows as we head down the stairs. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until right now. With everything else—the move, Orion, trying to keep my grandfather from bleeding the city dry—I barely make it down here anymore.
Matt has it running like a well-oiled machine though. I watch him for a while, leaning against the bar, seeing how smoothly everything is being handled. He’s even got a new guy working, I watch Lou try to show him how to do a proper throw, and Andy nearly sends a bottle of top-shelf whiskey flying. I have to laugh. I’d forgotten we hired him.Lou’s boyfriend.The man is a disaster, but he makes Lou happy, and that makes Sisk happy, and that’s all that matters.
“Is little Orion sleeping?” Viper calls from her usual stool.
