he’s trying to block me. Or protect me. Most might not see in him what I do, but I can see his shoulders are slightly tensed, the way his arms are stiff at his sides. I don’t know what the big guy thinks his parents are going to do to me, but I can’t help being touched by his misguided attempt at guarding me from the Big Bad Jerry and Alice. Jesus, I am getting soft.
His mother reaches him first and reaches up, wrapping her arms around his neck. He bends stiffly down, his arms staying at his sides. What the hell is he doing? God, can he make it any more obvious? Alice notices something is off and glances at me over his shoulder, her eyes missing the gold but still familiar. She looks puzzled and asks me a question without speaking, but I school my face and don’t say anything.
“When did you get home?” she asks as she lets him go. His father reaches out to shake his hand. I think for a moment Otter will make it more awkward, but he reaches up and grabs his father’s hand, shaking it twice before dropping it back to his side. “Are you back in Seafare for good?”
“Creed didn’t say anything to you?” he asks her warily. Where the fuck did confident Otter go? I think back over the past couple of days, wanting to see if I’d missed something, maybe something he’d said, something he’d done to show me that he was as worried about tonight as I am. I realize a little too late how selfish I’d been, yet again. He hadn’t said a damn thing. He didn’t want to put any more stress on me. I don’t know how I know this, I just do. I really need to start working better at this whole relationship-witha-guy thing.
His dad shakes his head. “He said we’d need to wait and hear things from you.” Jerry turns to me and grins. “And how are you, Bear?” he asks, reaching out his hand. I shake it, like Otter had done.
“I’m fine,” I say, making my voice sound stronger than I feel. Otter needs to know I’m okay so I can make him okay. “It’s good to see you both.” I laugh quietly when Alice wraps her arms around me, like I knew she’d do. “How was… wherever you guys were?”
Alice pulls away from me, eyes shining. “Oh, Bear, it was absolutely magnificent! We have so many pictures to show you later. But that’s not important right now. Jerry and I simply need to hear about you and the Kid. What’s going on with the custody hearings? Is there anything we can do to help?”
I blush slightly at this, feeling that old rush of pride that does me no good. After the mess I’d made in August, I decided I needed to work out something to make sure nothing like my mother coming back and threatening to take Tyson could ever happen again. Mrs. Paquinn had offered to get us in touch with a lawyer who practiced family law, but it was Creed who’d e-mailed his parents to front the money. I’d written them an email to let them know how much it meant to me (probably sounding like a blubbering moron and only realizing later that I’d typed everything in all caps, like I was shrieking my gratitude), but I hadn’t actually gotten to thank them personally.
“You both know what you did for me and Ty,” I tell them quietly. “I don’t think anyone could have done more. Because of you guys, chances are good that Ty will belong to me.”
Alice hugs me again, tears in her eyes. Ah, dammit. This had so better not be one of those nights when everyone starts crying around me and we all have to talk about our feelings. I totally put an embargo on all of that for the rest of the year. I hope they got the memo.
“Anything you need,” she whispers fiercely. “We’ll do anything you need us to. I’m just surprised that this came up all of a sudden. What made you decide to get custody of Ty?”
God, she doesn’t know anything. I look over her shoulder at Otter helplessly, and he reaches up to gently extract his mother’s arms from around my neck. “That’s a long story,” he tells her. “One that I
His mother reaches him first and reaches up, wrapping her arms around his neck. He bends stiffly down, his arms staying at his sides. What the hell is he doing? God, can he make it any more obvious? Alice notices something is off and glances at me over his shoulder, her eyes missing the gold but still familiar. She looks puzzled and asks me a question without speaking, but I school my face and don’t say anything.
“When did you get home?” she asks as she lets him go. His father reaches out to shake his hand. I think for a moment Otter will make it more awkward, but he reaches up and grabs his father’s hand, shaking it twice before dropping it back to his side. “Are you back in Seafare for good?”
“Creed didn’t say anything to you?” he asks her warily. Where the fuck did confident Otter go? I think back over the past couple of days, wanting to see if I’d missed something, maybe something he’d said, something he’d done to show me that he was as worried about tonight as I am. I realize a little too late how selfish I’d been, yet again. He hadn’t said a damn thing. He didn’t want to put any more stress on me. I don’t know how I know this, I just do. I really need to start working better at this whole relationship-witha-guy thing.
His dad shakes his head. “He said we’d need to wait and hear things from you.” Jerry turns to me and grins. “And how are you, Bear?” he asks, reaching out his hand. I shake it, like Otter had done.
“I’m fine,” I say, making my voice sound stronger than I feel. Otter needs to know I’m okay so I can make him okay. “It’s good to see you both.” I laugh quietly when Alice wraps her arms around me, like I knew she’d do. “How was… wherever you guys were?”
Alice pulls away from me, eyes shining. “Oh, Bear, it was absolutely magnificent! We have so many pictures to show you later. But that’s not important right now. Jerry and I simply need to hear about you and the Kid. What’s going on with the custody hearings? Is there anything we can do to help?”
I blush slightly at this, feeling that old rush of pride that does me no good. After the mess I’d made in August, I decided I needed to work out something to make sure nothing like my mother coming back and threatening to take Tyson could ever happen again. Mrs. Paquinn had offered to get us in touch with a lawyer who practiced family law, but it was Creed who’d e-mailed his parents to front the money. I’d written them an email to let them know how much it meant to me (probably sounding like a blubbering moron and only realizing later that I’d typed everything in all caps, like I was shrieking my gratitude), but I hadn’t actually gotten to thank them personally.
“You both know what you did for me and Ty,” I tell them quietly. “I don’t think anyone could have done more. Because of you guys, chances are good that Ty will belong to me.”
Alice hugs me again, tears in her eyes. Ah, dammit. This had so better not be one of those nights when everyone starts crying around me and we all have to talk about our feelings. I totally put an embargo on all of that for the rest of the year. I hope they got the memo.
“Anything you need,” she whispers fiercely. “We’ll do anything you need us to. I’m just surprised that this came up all of a sudden. What made you decide to get custody of Ty?”
God, she doesn’t know anything. I look over her shoulder at Otter helplessly, and he reaches up to gently extract his mother’s arms from around my neck. “That’s a long story,” he tells her. “One that I
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