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Kayla walked over to greet the woman while I wandered over to where the grandson was bouncing on his grandfather’s lap. Beau and Kayla had also made headway in their relationship, and not only did she finally tell him of her son’s existence, but she had also invited him to see Hunter. The old man had fallen in love instantly.
“Careful,” I cautioned Beau as Hunter continued to bounce on his lap. “You wouldn’t want to pop a knee.”
Beau rolled his eyes at me. “Just ‘cause I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t make me a damn weakling. I can bounce my grandson all I want.”
I held up my hands defensively. “If you say so, old man.”
“Who are you calling old man?” Beau retorted with a smirk. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt myself. Now that I’ve gotten a second chance with my daughter, I plan to live long enough to stay in her life.” He gestured toward Kayla, who was now standing with another pretty curvy woman. Paige, I think her name was. The two were having an animated conversation, but then again, I didn’t think I had ever seen Paige with her mouth not moving. The woman could talk your ear off, a stark contrast from my therapist. A sadistic part of me wanted to go and introduce her to the good doctor, but I resisted the urge. I doubted the man would ever speak to me again if I did.
Instead, I walked over to Vinny and Santiago, and they both looked up as I did.
“This is nice, old man,” Vinny said as I approached.
“Who you calling old?” I shot back, parroting Beau’s words. “Last I checked, you had a couple of years on me.”
“We’re all old men,” Santiago said. “No more running around in jungles and jumping over piranha-infested swamps.”
“Yeah.” I took a few moments to think about it, smiling. “Remember when we thought that would last forever?”
“A part of me wanted it to last forever,” Santiago admitted. “I used to think civilian life would be so dull in comparison. With a lot more paperwork.”
“It is,” Vinny agreed, nodding. “And a whole lot of diplomatic schmoozing.”
“Tell me about it,” Santiago said. “Being Mayor is a bitch.”
And then, we all turned in unison and watched our respective women as they stood around, talking.
Kayla turned to me, and our eyes met. The entire room seemed to fade into the background, and the moment was so perfect and beautiful that I didn’t know what to say.
“But this part isn’t so bad,” Santiago commented, smiling.
“No, it isn’t bad at all,” I said, leaving them to go give my woman the kiss I wanted to all night.
The End.
