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When Jace started to get up, Seamus stopped him. “I’ll go.”
Jackson continued to stare at Jace without blinking. “Where have you been?”
“I was in prison.”
Jackson blinked, his eyes going wide with shock. “Why?”
“I got involved in some bad stuff and was there when someone else robbed a store with a gun. I got caught and was sent to jail.” He didn’t think the child needed to hear he’d also lost an uncle in that robbery.
“Why did you do that?”
“Because I was hooked on drugs then and needed money for more. I made the biggest mistake of my life. I lost your mom and you boys, which absolutely broke my heart.”
“Are you… Are you going to take us away from here?”
“No, I’m not. Seamus and Carolina are your family now, and this is where you belong.”
“Why did you lie when we first met you?”
“We thought it was too soon after you lost your mom to tell you the truth about me. We were going to wait until you were a little older.”
Jackson looked at Carolina. “Can I go outside now?”
“Sure.”
Without looking at Jace again, he got up and went out the door.
Jace dropped his head into his hands, gutted by the exchange with his son.
“I know it might seem awful right now, but it won’t always be,” Carolina said. “This is new information that they need time to process. We just need to be patient with them.”
“What if they don’t want to see me again after this?”
“I don’t think that’ll happen.”
“What if it does?”
“My son, Joe, was very young when we lost his father in an accident.”
Surprised by the change in direction, Jace said, “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. It was a very difficult time for both of us. We had a lot of bad days and a few good days, but over time, the good days started to outnumber the bad as we both recovered from our loss. This isn’t the same thing, but they’re around the age Joe was then. It’ll take time for them to process and decide how they want to go forward from here.”
“What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”
“Keep showing up for them and prove to them that you’re someone they can count on.”
“I love them so much.”
“Tell them that every chance you get. Kids can never have too many people who love them.”
He recalled Ned saying the same thing. “Thank you for this and all you’ve done for my family.”
“We love them very much, too. It’s a pleasure to have them in our lives.”
Seamus came in a minute later, carrying Kyle, who’d obviously been crying.
Jace held his breath as he waited to hear what his son might have to say.
