They hadn’t left their spot. Darius was hugging Willow tightly, his lips pressed to her hair, and it didn’t take a genius to understand that she was finally letting go. She’d been waiting for her brother to come home before allowing herself to relax.
It was over. They’d made it.
Gray wasn’t sure he had landed yet either, but if one thing could make him believe it, it was one of those long, hard hugs from Darius. They felt like…being put back together.
To distract himself, Gray sat down on the armrest of the couch, closest to where Jayden was sitting and playing on his phone, and asked him if he had another fun story to share about his stay in Vegas. While they’d eaten earlier, all they’d heard was Ace this, Ace that. He’d definitely found a friend in Casey and Boone’s daughter.
Jayden squinted in thought. “Did I tell you about when Ace and I did backflips into the pool and scared Erin?”
Gray grinned. “You did. You would’ve scared me too.”
Justin scrunched his nose. “But you can do backflips on the lawn outside. You showed us this summer!”
Gray chuckled and combed his fingers through Jayden’s hair. “It’s always scarier when it’s your kids.”
He’d learned that firsthand when the boys had become bolder over the summer. They weren’t as intimidated by the stream anymore, and Justin threw himself into the water as long as he had his floaties on and Gray or Darius was nearby. Jayden too, sans floaties. He was tall enough to stand steady on the sandy bottom, whereas Justin easily got swept away by the current. They found that bit hilarious. It was nature’s own waterpark right there in their backyard.
Gray went back upstairs a while later to finish unpacking, and he was returning Justin’s stuffies to his bed when he heard Darius come back inside.
“Knucklehead?” he called.
“Upstairs!” Gray hollered back.
Finally, he was getting his super-hard, super-long hug. With so much going on around them, the reunion Gray’s soul needed ended up last in line when they could get a moment alone. He left Justin’s room and reached the stairs just as Darius limped up the last few steps, and Gray didn’t waste a second. He locked his arms around Darius’s neck.
Darius sighed contentedly and hugged Gray tightly.
“Let’s never leave the cabin again,” Gray murmured.
Darius tightened his hold.
He smelled so damn good. Even after spending some twenty hours on the road, getting no sleep at all, eating at roadside diners, treating his leg horribly, he smelled good and came off so strong and solid.
“You’re gonna go lie down,” Gray ordered quietly. “And tomorrow, you’re gonna see a doctor.”
“I’m not winning that fight, am I?”
“Not even a little bit.” Gray inched back and cupped Darius’s scruffy cheek. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Darius smiled tiredly and leaned in for a kiss. “Me too.” He rested their foreheads together and closed his eyes.
It felt so good. At long last, they were all home and together again.
Gray took his job as Darius’s nurse seriously. With the boys thoroughly distracted by America’s number one babysitter, the TV, Gray ordered Darius into the shower and took care of his man every step of the way. He washed every inch he could reach, he sucked him off good and proper, he redressed the wounds, and he ushered him up to their bedroom afterward, where Darius reluctantly swallowed two painkillers and agreed to sleep “for a little while.”
Gray lied and promised he’d wake Darius in three hours.
That didn’t happen.
After preparing some lighter meals they could haul out of the freezer whenever they didn’t feel like cooking, Gray sensed that the boys were getting restless. So he brought them outside along with Darius’s Big List, which was essentially an ever-growing to-do list combined with plans for kid-friendly additions. A swing was at the top of the list. They’d discussed swing sets already but had landed on a tire swing after testing the strength of the tree next to the barbecue area.
Niko came out from the guest cabin, looking like he’d had a good nap, and offered his assistance.
It ended up being a pretty amazing afternoon in the backyard. The sun appeared here and there too, and in a forest of evergreens and conifers, the trees on their property that shed their leaves burned an intense orange in the light. Which meant picture time for Gray. In between greasing the hinges on the front door and googling rope knots that would hold a tire swing, Gray took every opportunity to get some photos of the boys running around in the fall sun. Noses red, beanies askew, smiles wide.
The boys were not helpful when Gray suggested they help rake leaves. They just ended up jumping in the pile.
At the end of the day, they’d checked off four items on the Big List. The front door didn’t squeak and creak anymore, the potted herbs on the porch had been moved into the greenhouse for the winter, a rusty nail on the porch steps had been replaced, and they had a tire swing Justin was already nuts about.