Pretend You're Mine (The Protectors 12.50)

Sebastian had been racked with guilt about Darren. He’d gone back and forth on what to do because he’d always genuinely liked the older man. Eventually, he’d settled on writing the man an apology letter. It had taken a while, but Darren had reached out and the two men had slowly opened the lines of communication over the months that had followed. When Sebastian had decided to teach the class at the local dance school, he’d invited Darren to bring his oldest niece, who happened to be a fan of ballet.

I watched Sebastian talk to Darren for a minute, then kneel down and speak to Darren’s niece. She took Sebastian’s hand and followed him across the room to join the rest of the class. My eyes caught Darren’s and the man quickly waved, though his hands were full of a fussy infant. From what he’d told Sebastian, Rick hadn’t had any interest in raising their child after Darren had left him. Biologically, the child was Rick’s, but the man had signed away his legal rights to the little boy, so Darren was his only parent. As hard as being a single parent probably was, I knew Darren loved the baby with all his heart.

Darren went to join the other parents and I wasn’t surprised when Ethan introduced himself and our sister to the older man. Within a minute, Eden and Darren were happily talking. I smiled when Ethan headed my way.

“Are you going to come join us?” he asked.

“In a minute,” I said. If anyone understood that I liked having these private moments where I just got to reflect on my new life, it was Ethan. I’d seen him with a similar far-off look often enough in the past couple of years as he’d looked at his husband or, later on, his children, but I hadn’t really understood it until recently.

We watched Sebastian work with the class for several minutes before I said Ethan’s name.

“Yeah?” he asked as he turned his attention to me.

“Can we get the name of the guy who’s helping you with the adoption?” I asked.

I didn’t need to be looking at my brother to see the wide smile I knew he had on his face.

“Of course,” he said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him reaching for his phone, presumably so he could text me the guy’s name and number. “It’s that time, huh?” he asked. His words were said with lightness, but I knew what he meant. He’d been through the same journey with Cain where they’d had to figure out what future they wanted and when to expand their family.

I heard my phone ding but didn’t reach for it. Instead, I kept my eyes on the man who’d changed my entire world in the span of one day. Sebastian must have sensed my gaze on him because he turned in the middle of the move he was showing the kids and sent me a quick wink.

A wink I felt in my bones.

“It is,” I said to my brother. “It definitely is.”

I watched my man for another few seconds, then reached out to put my arm around my brother to give him a squeeze before following him to join the rest of our family.

Our ever-growing, ever-changing family that, if I had my way, would soon get even bigger.