“Yeah. But so are you. We have a lot more in common than you think, Brady. There’s room for both of us in his life.” I grinned. “I’ll even let you be the cool dad who takes him fun places and allows him to stay up until midnight eating chocolate and drinking Mountain Dew.” I lifted a finger in the air, walked back to the corner where I’d been waiting, and retrieved my bag. “Here.”
He dipped his gaze to the bag but didn’t take it. “What’s that?”
“That, my friend, is a special-edition Minecraft Diamond Ore nightlight. Six months ago, they were forty-nine ninety-nine online. Today, they are two hundred and fifty dollars on eBay.”
“Jesus,” Brady mumbled.
“My thoughts exactly. But he’s been asking for it since the day it came out. And, by the time I broke down and agreed to buy it, you couldn’t find the damn things anywhere.” I shook the bag at him. “Take it.”
He glanced down and shook his head. “I don’t want to buy his affections.”
“You’re not. You’re going to use this to buy mine.”
His head snapped up. “What?”
“Travis isn’t stupid. We go up there and pretend everything is hunky-dory, he’s not going to believe it. If you take this up there, he’s going to know it’s a gift and he’s going to want it real bad, but since it’s coming from you, he’s going to be hesitant. But I won’t be. I’ll go on and on about how much it cost and how they are impossible to find and how cool it is when it lights up for all of ten minutes, whatever. You’re going to go on and on about how you found it on eBay and got into a bidding war with Dan TDM over it.” I paused to repeat myself slowly. “Dan T-D-M. He’s some YouTube personality. Write it down. That’s the part that will win you some cool points.”
He blinked and then slipped a hand into his pocket before pulling a pen out.
“I’m going to thank you. You and I are going to shake hands. And then Travis and I are going to sit on the bed and play with it.”
His head shot back again. “Shouldn’t it be Travis and I sitting on the bed playing with it?”
“No. Because, while I’m sitting there with him, he’s going to be watching you. Everything that comes out of his mouth over the next hour will be a test. He’s going to push your buttons—hard and repeatedly. He’s going to call me dad more than you can count. He’s going to tell all of his favorite stories about growing up. If Charlotte steps out, he might even bring Catherine into it. All just waiting for you to show any sign of anger or frustration.” I leaned in close and lowered my voice. “Show him nothing and I guarantee you the payoff will be huge.”
Our eyes locked in a standoff. I could almost see the gears turning in his head. I had to give him credit. He desperately wanted that relationship with our son. He just couldn’t figure out how to put all the bullshit aside long enough to make it happen.
He sighed but finally took the bag. “I don’t know that I can drop the issue of custody.”
“That’s fine. Just think about it. Play this my way today and I’ll prove to you how good it could be if he felt safe to love all of us.”
He cut his gaze over my shoulder and scratched the back of his head. “I’m not the fucking bad guy here. I want what’s best for my son.”
“We all do. And I can assure you, if we all work together, that best will be better.”
Brady stared at me for several seconds before nodding. “Let’s give this toy business a shot. I’m willing to do anything at this point.”
I smiled.
He glared.
But, in the end, we shared an elevator up to the fourth floor.
* * *
Two weeks later…
“What did you do?” I accused into Porter’s mouth as I slipped the bra straps down my arms.
“Nothing,” he mumbled, trailing openmouthed kisses up and down my neck.
My bra hadn’t even hit the floor before he took my nipples between his fingers, plucking and rolling.
Gripping his shoulders for balance, I threw my head back and opened my legs.
His hand slipped down and popped the button on my jeans open. Then he scooped my panties out of the way before his fingers dipped inside.
“Yesss,” I hissed, teetering on the edge of my desk.
It was after hours and we were there to clean my office out, but the moment the door shut and we had the barest hint of privacy, that notion had quickly dissolved.
After much debate, Greg and I had decided that it would be best to take on another doctor at North Point Pulmonology. Travis was still in the hospital, waiting for a heart, and while I definitely needed more time off to take care of him, the fact of the matter was that I was never going back to work.
At least, not in the same way I’d been working over the last few years.
I had a family now. People who needed and depended on me. People who weren’t my patients. I would never give medicine up. I loved it and it was the only thing that had kept me sane for all those years when Lucas had been missing. But it was time for a change.
My job was never going to be nine to five. People didn’t look at the clock before they got sick. But there was such a thing as balancing my professional life and my home life. I’d decided to cut back on my patient load, and if I wanted to cut back on my on-call hours too, we’d need more help.
Dr. Franklin was an amazing addition to our team, but until we could find a new building for our growing practice, she needed an office. And, because I was extending my leave of absence, I’d offered her mine.
Though, given the clench I was currently in with Porter, I was probably going to need to sanitize the desk for her before I left. But I couldn’t bring myself to care. After weeks of passing like two ships in the night, I wasn’t about to delay that moment in search of a bed.
“Fuck, you’re ready for me,” he breathed, gliding his fingers inside me.
I moaned and pressed my lips to his mouth. “So, let me get this straight,” I whispered, sliding my hand down to his zipper and then over his hard length. “Brady just happened to change his motion from full custody to joint custody one day before we’re slated to go to court?”
“Dear God, are you seriously talking about Brady right now?” he rumbled, stilling his hand.
I moved my assault to his neck, kissing my way up before nipping at his ear. “Admit you had something to do with this.”
“I had something to do with this,” he replied immediately. Then he removed his fingers and snatched my pants down my legs.
“I knew it. Have you been talking to Travis about him too? He’s been so much more open to Brady recently.”
Porter groaned. “Woman, I have not been inside you in five days. For the love of all that’s holy, stop talking about Brady and the kids.”
I giggled, but it morphed into a moan as he freed himself from his jeans and guided himself into my opening.
Reclining across the desk, I arched my back and circled my hips as he planted himself deep. And then there were no more words as our bodies took over and relished in the connection we both so desperately needed.
Over the last few weeks, we’d had our ups and downs. Travis was sick of living at the hospital, but his body was too weak to go home. His frustration was palpable, and he’d started taking it out on all of us. We’d been doing our best to keep him comfortable, but come on…hospitals suck.
Hannah was also having a hard time adapting to the disruption in her family. She missed Porter and Travis more than her young mind could express, and it wasn’t long before she, too, started acting out. I felt so bad for Porter. He had two children who desperately needed him, but there was only one of him. And, regardless of how hard he tried, he couldn’t be everywhere. I pitched in as much as I could, but there was no substitute for their dad.
And the kids weren’t alone in their struggles to adapt. Porter and I had both taken turns falling into the lows of fear and worry. But, through it all, we’d leaned on each other.
When I broke, Porter was there to pick up the pieces.
And, when Porter lost sight of the light, I was there to hold him in the darkness.