Page 49 of Deadly Secrets

She turns over onto her back and I watch the rise and fall of her breast as I prop an arm up on my head and turn on my side facing her. My other hand lays on her stomach and I run circles around her belly button.

“You’re not allowed to die,” I mumble.

“I would never do that to Ryder. Everything I’ve done has been to put his needs and well-being above anything else. I need to know that no matter what happens between us that you’ll do the same,” she voices in the dark.

A pang of jealousy comes to the forefront of my head. Why couldn’t my own mother care for me the way Remi does our son? Would things have turned out different for me if she had? I don’t know if Ryder knows it yet, but he’s won the lottery of having the best mom a kid could ask for. My dad was no better than my mom and I always said that if I ever had a kid that I’d do things completely different from what I grew up with.

“You and Ryder are all that matter to me now. Everything I do from this point on is about putting you first. In everything,” I vow, pulling her body over to mine and laying her across my chest.

There’s silence for several moments and I start to think she’s fallen asleep but I hear, “We’ll move to Texas with you.” My arms tighten around her frame and I close my eyes in relief. I truly thought it was gonna take the entire week to convince her to make this move, and I wasn’t ruling out bribing my kid to make it happen.

“I’ll take care of everything. I promise you won’t regret it,” I say.

It doesn’t take long after that for her to fall asleep. My phone on the nightstand buzzes and I reach over and grab it, careful not to jostle Remi with my movements.

HAWK

Got the info…

I click the first link he sent and read over Ryder’s medical records. My boy was born April fourth, weighing in at nine pounds one ounce. The rest of the chart talks about shots and tests and a bunch of other medical terminology that I have no idea what it means.

The next link is Ryder’s birth certificate.

Ryder Jaxson Miller is my son’s full name. We share our middle name and I feel like if I wasn’t laying down, I’d drop to the floor. Even after everything she experienced she made sure that my son had a piece of me.

The mother is listed as Remi Kate Miller.

Something settles in my chest reading her name. When she had her name changed to flee her grandparents, she chose mine, out of all the names in the world. She chose mine.

Rhett Jaxon Miller is listed as the father but what surprises the hell out of me is that on the paper Remi listed us as married. My heart races as I type out a text to Hawk.

REAPER

We are listed as married…

HAWK

Saw that.