Page 87 of Together Is Where We Belong

“I’ll remember. Are you ready for dinner?” Ainsleigh asked.

He nodded repeatedly as he stared back at her.

“Then let’s eat,” she said as she started to walk over to the buffet.

“What about us? Are we chopped liver?” Holden asked as he picked up Luke and tickled him.

His laughter filled my ears and made me smile at the bond they’d all formed with my son in such a short amount of time.

Leo stood behind me as we waited our turn in line. His breath on my neck caused me to shiver.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he whispered into my ear.

I smiled and turned my head to hide the blush I felt creep up my cheeks.

I fixed mine and Luke’s plates, and we all walked over to the table to sit and mingle with the other guests.

Leo and I enjoyed talking to a family that sat across from us that were from South Carolina.

“You have a beautiful family,” the woman said across from me.

I didn’t correct her, but instead thanked her as I pushed my plate away full from the pot roast I’d just eaten.

“Can we go play, Mom?” Luke asked from beside me talking about the little boy of the couple across from us.

“As long as his mom’s okay with it, that’s fine, but don’t leave the clubhouse,” I told him.

“Okay, Mom,” he said as he and the little boy pushed away from the table and ran down the aisle laughing.

I followed Luke as he ran around the room, and I listened to the conversation across from me, but not fully paying attention. I nodded when I thought I should, but when Luke stopped in front of a man standing in a shadowed area, who I thought looked vaguely familiar, but he was too far away for me to tell, the hairs on my arms rose. I pushed back from my seat as the unexplained need to protect my son coursed through me. I rushed across the room, excusing myself each time I bumped into someone.

A few people that I knew from high school tried to stop me along the way, but I politely excused myself as I kept walking toward Luke.

I finally made it down the aisle where Luke stood facing the opposite direction a few feet away from me, the man nowhere in sight.

“Luke,” I yelled as I rushed toward him.

He turned around, and I instantly knew something was wrong.

His lips were swollen, and hives began to cover his face and neck.

I looked down to find a half-eaten cookie in his hand.

As I reached him, his hand relaxed, and the cookie fell to the ground and crumbled.

His small hands reached for his throat as his chest heavily rose and fell as he gasped for air.

“Leo,” I turned and yelled as I dropped to the floor in front of Luke.

“You’re going to be okay, baby,” I whispered words of calming reassurance as I grabbed his hands, my fingers on his pulse point as I focused on counting the beats.

His heartrate climbed as I moved my hand and put my arms under his legs and guided him to lay on the floor to improve his blood pressure.

“Leo, I need Luke’s bag right now,” I yelled in a high-pitched scream and the sound of people talking around me ceased.

“Breathe for me, baby. I’ll make it all better in just a second,” I told him as I rubbed my hands up and down his little arms.

I felt Leo kneel beside me and turned to grab the case that held Luke’s EpiPen.