Page 144 of Anything But Lonely

Every step of the way.

Crew turns to me and Emerson, and we both kneel to his level.

“Have the best first day of school, buddy,” I say, mirroring his mom’s words as I wrap my arms around him.

“I will,” he says before he leans back. I hold out my fist, and he pounds his against it.

“I love you, Crew.” There’s a crack in my voice, but we all pretend not to hear it.

“I love you, Daddy.” He pulls me in for one more quick hug before he turns to Emerson.

He looks at her, a wide grin on his face.

She grabs his face in her hands, squishing his cheeks as she presses a kiss to his forehead. “Knock ‘em dead.” She stands up, holding her hands up, just high enough for him to need to jump to give her a double high-five. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Crew nods, taking a few steps back. The four of us wave at him, but his eyes are still on Emerson as he turns around and heads to his teacher.

He makes it one more step before he’s turning around, running straight towards Emerson and throwing his hands around her legs.

Emerson places her hands on his back, trying her best to hug him back from where she’s standing.

“Love you, Ems,” he says.

I hear Emerson’s sharp intake, her breath catching in her throat.

It’s like time stands still, the entire world pausing around the two of them.

Crew looks up, his arms still around her. She grabs his face in her hands again, bending down to press their noses together. “I love you more, champ.”

CHAPTER 47

EMERSON

We watch as Crew runs over to his teacher, joining the line of kids forming behind her.

There’s yelling. There are tears. There’s chaos.

But I only see him.

I didn’t expect him to turn around.

I didn’t expect him to run back.

And I definitely didn’t expect him to wrap his arms around my legs and change something inside of me with three simple words.

Love you, Ems.

I’ve heard people say “I love you” before. They’re words people use so easily. So freely. But they’ve always been so hard for me to say.

But something about hearing it from Crew—this little boy who had no reason to give me a piece of his heart and somehow did anyway—made the entire world stop.

For a second, I forgot about the families around us. Forgot about the noise. Forgot about the fact that we were standing in the middle of a crowded parking lot on the first day of school.

There is only Crew.

And the way he looked up at me like loving me was the easiest thing in the world.

Like I was someone worth loving.