Worth the Risk (Carolina Rebels 5)

“No,” I cut him off. “He’s going home with us.” I touch Raelynn’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take Jackson and Bree and go ahead to the car?” She nods and takes the keys from me. “Jackson, tell your dad bye.”

Raelynn almost doesn’t let go of his hand for him to hug him bye. That’s right; Jackson has starting hugging Henry. And calling him Dad, apparently. Raelynn glares at Henry. “Expect a call from me later.”

“I don’t understand what just happened,” he says to me once they’re out of earshot.

“I’m not here to argue on behalf of Raelynn, but are you really that much of a fucking idiot that you didn’t think you should ask Raelynn if you could pick him up first?”

“I did ask.”

“And she answered?” I ask. “Because she says you never asked her.”

“I did,” he insists. He pulls out his phone. “Jesus,” he mutters. “There’s over a hundred missed calls and a shit ton of voicemails from her.”

“Because you took her son without asking and she didn’t know where he was or if you even planned to bring him back.”

His face had already paled a bit, but he looks as white as a sheet when he turns his phone to me. “My text never went through to her.”

There is a text to her, asking if he could pick Jackson up and take him to the movies, but it failed to send.

“I fucked up, didn’t I?”

“Big time.” I hand his phone back to him.

“Do you think she’ll keep him from me now?”

“I want to say no, but she was scared. Listen to those voicemails. You’ll hear how completely and utterly terrified she was.” The look in her eyes and the sound of her voice will haunt me for weeks, if not longer. “I need his bag.”

Henry nods. Once I get into the car, Raelynn looks at me expectantly, but I shake my head. We’ll talk about it once Jackson is asleep. He hears everything and this isn’t something he needs to hear. While it’s good that Henry did ask, he didn’t think he needed an answer, which is just as bad as not asking. And really, the text he would’ve sent wasn’t phrased as a question. It said, If you don’t mind, I would like to pick Jackson up from school today. We’ll go to the movies, maybe out to ice cream, and then I’ll bring him straight home.

There’s a tension in the air back home as I cook dinner for us, giving Raelynn time to snuggle with Jackson. Bree is on my hip. She’s talking her little heart out and trying to rip my necklace off.

“When is my princess walking for me? Hmm?” I ask her. She’s close; I can feel it. I just hope it doesn’t happen while I’m not here. Dinner is ready, so over Bree’s ramblings, I call for Raelynn and Jackson. Bree wiggles against me, wanting to get down and go to Jackson if her shout of Ja-Ja means anything.

“Help her walk to me, Mr. EJ.”

I set her down on her feet, hold her hands, and help her walk to Jackson.

“Good job, Bree!” he congratulates her. I let go of her hands since she can stand fairly well on her own and I swear to you, they awkwardly fist bump. That’s something Jackson has surely taught her. Bree claps as Jackson praises her some more. It’s not only sweet to see him with her, but it’s great to see her interact with another kid, even if he is older than her.

With Raelynn right next to Jackson, I take a step away to grab my bottle of water from next to the stove. “Try walking over here now, Bree,” I hear Jackson say.

I glance down to see that Raelynn now crouches behind Bree and Jackson stands next to me. Bree looks between us and then back at Raelynn.

“Come on, Bree. Walk to DaDa and Ja-Ja,” Jackson encourages her.

I crouch down and hold my arms out to her. “Come here, princess.”

Are we really doing this? Trying to get her to walk on her own, especially after the day we’ve had? My heart pounds in my chest like this is an important game and my ass is on the line. Bree takes one step forward. Holy shit. She takes another, giggles, and then with Raelynn on her heels, she wobbles with heavy steps right into my arms.

“You did it!” Jackson shouts, his voice bubbly with excitement. “You did it, Bree! Good job!”

I pick her up and hug her. “Good job indeed, princess.” I kiss her forehead. This is overwhelming. My little girl just walked! My gaze shifts to Raelynn who, I swear to it, looks just as much like a proud mom as I feel like a proud dad. Before she can protest and before I can change my mind, I pull her into my arms and hug her with Bree between us.

“Elias,” she whispers after a few moments.

I release her and bend to scoop up Jackson in my other arm. He hugs Bree and me both, but my eyes are on Raelynn. She’s uneasy in this moment. I can tell. She may think it’s because this is another milestone of Bree’s I’m sharing with them, but I disagree. Raelynn still isn’t used to her world expanding and every big moment she spends with Bree and me solidifies her place in our world. That is what makes her uneasy.

What I want is to figure out her deal with Christmas, place myself in her and Jackson’s world as much as they’re in ours, and live happily ever after. Sounds simple to me. Well, maybe not simple, but completely possible. I don’t want to be a single dad forever. I want Bree to have a good female role model in her life as she grows up. I want someone who’ll watch movies with me and when they’re having a bad day, I want to be the one who cheers them up.