- FOURTEEN -
RAEGAN -
After Kate and Braden had fallen asleep that night in the nursery, I confessed to Lane that I was having panic attacks regularly. Being the great guy that he was, he felt bad for not knowing and wanted to know where it had been happening. He said he had often gotten lost in playing with Kate and Braden, but he still thought he should have known if I was off in the apartment somewhere falling apart.
I hated that he felt guilty and tried to reassure him that I never wanted to burden him with that. I told him it was just something I had to wait out, and usually it was more comfortable to do it alone. Not surprisingly, he didn’t agree with me.
One thing I couldn’t get around was that the city didn’t give me the same sense of home anymore. Every day we spent here pressed on me like a vice. I was always checking over my shoulder, and I would never be able to step foot in the local playground where I had first met Mrs. Flores—especially not after my ridiculous freak-out today.
When I opened up to him about my feelings, Lane said he knew exactly what I was talking about and that he felt the same way. The tall buildings he had once loved looking up to now casted ugly shadows on the streets. This place would always be where his child was kidnapped… where his marriage fell apart. Maybe one day we would heal and get past this, but we weren’t there yet.
Lane told me that every single day we came back to the apartment he wanted to grab all three of us and bolt. He said that he would never be able to live there again, no matter how much he appreciated his mom caring for it. He was even grateful for Ash’s parents who had generously paid the mortgage every month. I didn’t weigh in on that topic because it wasn’t my place to choose for him.
He confessed that this wasn’t where he wanted to raise Kate, and I couldn’t agree more in regards to Braden. When I moved to New York at eleven years old, I never traveled outside of it—not unless you counted New Jersey—since my aunt didn’t really have any extra money. Then when I had Braden, any plans on seeing more of the United States went out the window. So even though I basically had never been outside of New York, Lane’s house in Texas sounded amazing. He said it was little, but that it would fit us just fine.
I knew I should start thinking about getting a job and finding my own place for Braden and me to live. The idea of Lane and me living together after only really knowing each other a few weeks just seemed ludicrous. But for just a little while, I would stay. Separating Kate and Braden like that would have to be approached delicately.
Another reason it would be good to head to Dallas was that Lane really needed to get back to work. He said Jace would probably start threatening to replace him soon, although based on the way Lane talked about him, I had a feeling Jace would never do that.
So two days after my very public panic in the park, we found ourselves boarding Flight 65 from John F. Kennedy Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth. Thanks to Jace, and much to Lane’s discomfort, we boarded as first-class passengers. I was giddy. I hadn’t been on many airplanes and definitely nowhere near those first four rows. Kate and Braden sat in seats 3A and 3B, while Lane and I took our seats directly behind them.
The plush leather seats were comfortable and there was a console in between each seat, allowing everyone plenty of elbow room. There were TVs tucked into the arms of our seats, but I didn’t think Kate and Braden had realized that yet.
Lane had grumbled and groaned all morning after he finally got a look at our tickets. I could tell he didn’t like Jace buying them, let alone upgrading us. His large forearm moved over the middle console and he grunted as he leaned toward me dramatically.
“See, first class sucks already. I can’t lift this huge divider and now you might as well be sitting across the aisle from me,” he complained.
I rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness. Then to appease him, I leaned across the not-so-huge divider and kissed his delicious lips. I realized a few days ago it would be a long time before I would ever get tired of his lips. They were full and powerful, and I wanted them on me as often as I could have them.
“No, no, don’t start pushing that sexy bottom lip on me now,” he scolded sullenly.
I pulled back and giggled. I couldn’t help it with him. He knew how to push all my buttons just right, and it seemed that my favorite button was the way he sucked my bottom lip in between his teeth.
“Just enjoy this now. You can hash it out with Jace later.” I smiled up at him. “Besides, I’ve never heard of anyone complaining about extra leg room, especially someone of your size.” I reached to pinch his side, but snatched up my fingers before they could make contact, which only made me break out into uproarious laughter.
His body instantly moved closer to mine, console be damned. “God, babe…” he murmured, his voice husky. “I love that sound.”
In front of us, Kate started laughing and we both peeked through the small space between the seats to see her and Braden playing a made-up game together. “Love that sound-from both my girls,” he added.
I grabbed his bicep and hugged it tightly. I didn’t release it when I was done, deciding to keep my fingers wrapped securely around him and laying my head against his muscles. When the flight attendants came down the aisle offering pre-flight drinks, he didn’t move his arm, instead grabbing both of our cups with his opposite hand.
“Hey, Kit Kat,” Lane called quietly to the seats in front of us. Both she and Braden turned to look at us. “Make sure your seat belts are snug, please.”
“Braden snapped mine for me, daddy,” she said back.
“Good job looking out for your sister, B,” Lane said to my little boy. The moment they turned back around, I instantly buried my face into his arm and sniffled.
“What’s up, Rae?” he asked.
I rubbed the side of my face against his arm as if I were a cat vying for attention and whispered, “I’ve never heard you say that before.”
“Well, we haven’t been in any cars, so why would I tell them to buckle up?”
“No, not that. You said she was his sister.” I squeezed him tighter, and he responded by kissing my forehead. All of this was a learning curve for him. What Kate, Braden, and I had felt for years, he was just now absorbing. I understood that it must be tough. He had expected to get his daughter back… not a whole crew. I just hoped that he was fully aware of what that entailed before we traveled down this dangerous path.
About halfway through our flight, Lane dozed off with his head thrown back against the chair and his mouth gaped open. It wasn’t often that he looked vulnerable, and I enjoyed the rare moments that I could see him like this.
His strong jaw flexed gently with each breath in and out. His sandy blond hair had grown a little bit longer these past few weeks. His legs were parted and one was stretched out in front of me. While we had extra room in first class, it still wasn’t a good fit for someone his size. His arm was extended over the console, gripping my thigh with his large hand. I had tried to move it at one point, but he’d held on tightly, not willing to let me go, even in sleep.
The flight attendant started making another trip down our aisle with her beverage cart. When she stomped on the brake pedal to keep it from rolling away from her, the noise shook Lane awake. I cringed as he startled. I tried to rub his arm soothingly, hoping he could fall back asleep.
The flight attendant began asking Kate and Braden what they would like, and they each politely responded that they’d like some water. She told them how well-behaved they were, and she appeared to be genuinely impressed with their manners. I watched as she poured their waters and began putting together their lunches.
Lane’s face began to nuzzle into the side of my neck and every part of me lit up at the low hum he produced with the movement.
“You did that,” he whispered into my ear. I didn’t process his words right away, because I was too busy trying to tamper down my heightened sex drive that he seemed to be igniting so much lately. I closed my eyes and enjoyed feeling the scruff from his face rub gently across my skin. “Thankful for you, babe…” His voice faded into my muddled brain.
“Huh?” I asked stupidly.
“You. You’re amazing. Look how good they are.” His head nodded to the two seats in front of us. I could see the flight attendant smiling down at Kate and Braden as she handed them the on-board first-class meal, which was stuffed pasta with roasted sundried tomatoes. Seemed kind of silly for two four-year-olds. “You did that, Rae. You raised them into two of the most perfect children.” He kissed my temple, right over my scar, and sat up straight to speak with the approaching flight attendant.
I watched the kids through the seats as they quietly spoke to one another. When Braden needed a napkin, Kate unfolded one for him. When she almost spilled her water, Braden caught it and she thanked him kindly.
I absently noticed that my own food and drink had been placed in front of me. Lane had ordered a cranberry juice for me, which happened to be my favorite beverage at the moment. I watched his arm cross over in front of me as he reached for our silverware and napkins. My thoughts were in the row in front of us as Lane kissed my temple again and thanked the flight attendant.
“You guys are just the sweetest family,” she told us. Then she popped the brake and moved back to the front of the airplane. I wanted to respond before she left, but I was still looking at the two ‘most perfect children.’
“What’s going on in there, babe?” Lane whispered.
“In where?”
“In that head of yours. I can see the wheels spinning.”
“I worry about them,” I whispered, so quietly I wondered if he would even be able to hear me over the hum of the plane’s engines.
“I just told you that they were perfect and that made you worry?” he asked, completely puzzled.
“They’re too good, Lane. They never misbehave. They never act like normal children. Normal children disobey at least occasionally, they throw fits to show what they feel, they act out and they scream. I worry that they were too sheltered in that room for so long, kept away from other people.”
“Okay…” He paused, obviously unsure how to respond.
“You think I’m crazy?”
He quirked his lip and I shoved at his shoulder playfully. “I’m just saying, you’re upset that they are too good. It’s a little… crazy,” he laughed. “And they do show their feelings. Kate shouts them to the rooftops. I don’t think there is any problem there.” He smiled fondly. “And Braden always tells me when he likes something.”
“What do you mean? I’ve never heard him say anything like that. He’s so quiet.”
“That’s just it. He doesn’t need to say it. He bumps my fist.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“We fist bump, babe.” When I continued to look at him, he said, “It’s a guy thing. Watch.” He moved forward and said, “Hey Braden, this pasta rocks, yeah?”
I laughed when a little fist appeared between the seats and touched Lane’s firmly, and then I heard his tiny voice say, “Rocks.” So the boys already had a secret language, did they? Why did I find that insanely adorable? Lane had already deduced Braden’s quiet personality and yet still found a way to communicate with him.
“It’s so good!” Kate spoke with enthusiasm through the seats.
“Listen, babe, I think we need to enjoy this now,” he repeated my earlier words back to me. “They’re good kids; I’m not going to complain. I’m sure we’ll pay our dues when they’re teens. Lord knows I’m going to be meeting Kate’s dates at our front door with a shotgun. And Braden will probably break curfew or sneak out of the house just like I did when I was in high school.” He sighed dramatically. “Shit… I bet they’ll really make us pay.”
“A shotgun?” I giggled.
“It’s Texas, that’s what they do.” He winked and then reached for his fork so he could actually try this pasta that apparently rocked.
It would take me a few more minutes until I replayed all of his words in my head. There he went again using words like ‘we’ and ‘our’ and ‘us.’ Future talk.
LANE –
I was nervous as hell. Jace met us at the airport and was now taking us all over to his house so we could pick up my car, which meant I was finally going to introduce my daughter to Audrey. It wasn’t just my daughter though, but also the woman my daughter believes to be her mom and the boy she believes to be her brother. It was like she was about to meet my… family.
Nervous as f*cking hell.
I looked in the back at their anxious, smiling faces. Braden and Kate were sitting in little booster-type seats. I hadn’t even thought about that.
“Good call on those kids’ seats. I didn’t know they needed that shit,” I said to Jace as he flipped his blinker on.
“Don’t thank me, I thought they would be too old. Audrey insisted they needed them though,” he replied, eyes on the road.
Every now and then I noticed Jace glanced at the rearview mirror, and I assumed it wasn’t to see out his back window. The trip from the airport to where we all lived was about an hour with traffic. Halfway there, Jace flipped down a little TV from the ceiling and played a movie for the kids. When they began laughing hysterically, Raegan put on a set of headphones too.
“She’s a knockout, dude,” Jace said lightly. I didn’t think that Rae could hear us up here with her headphones, but he still tried to speak only to me.
“Kate? She’s beautiful, huh? A little spitfire, too. I can’t believe how much life and energy she has thrumming through that little body.”
“I’m happy for you, man.”
I nodded my head but kept quiet. For some reason, I felt my hackles rise, and I had a feeling it was because Jace was gearing up to talk about something I wasn’t going to like.
“So…” Here we go, I thought. “I heard you call Raegan ‘babe.’ Is that like how you call Audrey ‘doll’ or is it… something more?”
“Something more,” I muttered to the window.
With a deep sigh, he continued, “You really think that’s smart? With the kids and all?”
“No.” It was the truth, but there was also the fact that I physically wouldn’t be able to stop what we had going.
“Just make sure you’re smart, man. Take care of your daughter first,” Jace whispered.
“What the hell? What do you think I’ve been doing for four damn years, Jace?” My voice began to rise and I caught Raegan’s movement behind me. I turned and saw her pulling her headphones off, her eyes growing wide. I turned, lay back against the headrest, and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down. Jace didn’t respond and thank God he kept his mouth shut the entire rest of the drive.
We drove down their long, gravel drive, passing Jace and Jaxon’s mom’s beautiful house with its quintessential wrap-around porch. Audrey loved that porch so much that it was the only thing she asked for when she and Jace built their house further down the road.
Jace and Jaxon had been given all of their father’s land after he passed away. They each built houses out here, along with their best friend, Cole, and his wife, Quinn. This has become my family. Even Jace’s mom has taken me in as her own. I loved it out here. I loved the pond behind Jaxon and Emerson’s house. I loved the quiet and the tranquility of the country.
But right now I was feeling anything but tranquil—I was pissed. And I hated being mad at the people I loved. I was pissed at Jace for thinking that I would put anyone before Kate. He acted like I was a fifteen-year-old who was only thinking with my dick. I clenched my fists and tried to force myself to release the anger. I hated to argue with my family and tried to avoid it at all costs.
So when Jace pulled the SUV to a stop, my hand was already on the door handle. I pushed out before he had the gear in park and leaned up against my closed door. Raegan rounded the back of the car with determination and put her hands gently against my stomach.
“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t seem like nothing to me.” She pressed her body against mine and I looked away. “Okay…” She must have deciphered my cold mood because she pushed back, but still kept her hands on me. “I’ll let this slide right now because I think that beautiful girl barreling down the stairs is for you.”
Her last words struck me because she sounded almost uncomfortable. And when I saw Audrey sprint around the car and crash her body squarely into mine, I swore a grimace rocked Raegan’s face. But she hid it well, because in the blink of an eye, she turned and began to help Kate and Braden out of the backseat.
“You’re here!” Audrey cried into my chest. She was significantly taller than Raegan, so I didn’t have to bend over to pick her up into a bear hug.
“Hey, doll,” I said. “Missed ya.”
“I’m still so mad at you, but I missed you like crazy!” I had a feeling she would never let me live down that I hadn’t told her about Kate. We told each other everything; at least, that’s what she thought.
“I’m sorry, but we’re here now,” I consoled.
Rae shut the door and held each of the kids’ hands. I looked over Audrey’s shoulder to see that Rae had her head fully turned away from Audrey in my arms. Kate and Braden, on the other hand, were staring at us with questions in their eyes.
“Hey, guys,” I said, releasing Audrey. “This is my best friend. She’s like my sister.” I tried to over-enunciate the last word for Raegan’s sake.
“I have a sister.” Braden surprised me by being the first to speak up.
“I know! I also hear you’re an amazing brother.” Audrey took his comment in stride and I smiled. “Braden, right?” He nodded his head and smiled wide.
“And you!” Audrey gasped dramatically at Kate. “You are about the prettiest little girl I have ever seen in my life.”
Kate jumped up and down, while still clutching Raegan’s hand. “I am? Thank you!” she exclaimed loudly.
“Most definitely. You look just like your daddy.”
Kate smiled proudly up at Audrey and then turned to look at me. I opened my arms wide so she bounded forward and leapt into my hold. Audrey quickly wiped at her eyes and smiled adoringly at the both of us.
“Oh, I just love this!” she cried. Then she turned her attention to Raegan. “You must be Raegan that I’ve been hearing oh-so-much about.” I was going to kill her.
“Really?” Raegan smiled shyly.
“Oh yes! He gushes about you. I’ve been so excited to meet you,” she said, walking forward to pull Raegan in for a hug.
Raegan hesitated at first, but then I watched as she finally let the hug happen. She’d better get used to this touchy-feely bunch. “I guess I could say the same about you,” Rae replied.
“Okay!” I decided to interrupt this uncomfortable conversation. “We’ve all met now. Let’s just get the keys so we can head back to my place.”
“He’s embarrassed now,” Audrey laughed, giving Rae a wink. I groaned and attempted to pull Rae toward the car. “Oh no you don’t,” Audrey continued. “You’ve been gone for weeks, I finally get to meet your daughter and you think you’re just going to run off again?”
“I’m hardly running anywhere. I live five minutes away, doll,” I chuckled.
She gave me the look, the one that told me I wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. I sighed in defeat and pulled Raegan into my chest, because if I was going to endure an Audrey interrogation, I should at least be allowed to hold Rae in the process.