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“You are going to make a great dad someday,” I chuckle.
“Not cool, Dad. Not cool,” he says as he calls up an Uber. “See you in a couple of hours.”
Ty is on a playmat, and he’s playing with those dangly toys. “Hello, Tyson Duke,” I say, picking him up and kissing his cheek. “What say you move in with me?”
He giggles, and I realize that I love the sound, the same way I loved hearing Justin laugh when he was that age. I pick my son up from the mat, place him in the rocker.
My eyes move to the bar, and I sigh. “Not today,” I say out loud, carrying my son up the stairs. I place him on Justin’s bed as I move his crib and changing table into the guestroom. I make sure to remove every baby item from Justin’s room.
When I’m done, Ty starts to fuss, so I take him downstairs and sit, feeding him on the couch, putting on a cartoon about a dog who adopts a kid. It’s funny as hell. Ty falls asleep sometime during the movie, so I place him in his rocker, smiling down at him.
Justin arrives just as the movie is about to end.
“Whoa, Dad, you’re taking this too far,” he teases.
“Shh, this is like the most important part,” I wave him off. He plops down onto the couch next to me, and we watch in silence until the end credits come up.
“Are you crying?” He sounds incredulous.
My head snaps to him. “Of course not,” I say, wiping away the tears. That has the boy in stitches.
“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go to your grandparents for a few weeks this summer. I have enough leave. It could be fun.”
“Really? You’d come with us?” His eyes light up.
“There isn’t any other place I’d rather be. And, if they agree and you promise not to uhm get into any trouble, maybe they’d let you bring Katelyn along.” I say maybe because after what happened with Savanna and me, I doubt they’d agree.
“That would be so cool. But you may be pushing it by inviting a girl. Besides, there are some hot chicks in Florida.”
“I thought you werein love?” I cock a brow.
“I’m fifteen. I have fallen in love a couple hundred times. And, I’m not dating Katelyn anymore. I went out with Alison tonight.” He guffaws.
I shake my head.
“Oh, like you didn’t mess around back in the day.”
I smirk. “My lips are sealed.”
“See, there’s my answer.” He grins. “Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“It was messed up what you did with Brianna on the day of the funeral,” he says seriously. “Like seriously sick and messed up.”
My eyes widen. “You know about that.”
“You guys weren’t exactly quiet.” he shrugs.
“That was pretty reckless of me. Not to mention disrespectful. I’m sorry, kid. I’m sorry about a lot of things, like you taking care of Ty. I meant what I said earlier, that’s my responsibility. I should have been better at it.”
“I know, Dad. But I also know that people deal with loss in different ways. I guess what matters is that you’re back now, right?”
I don’t know when, but between losing his mom and dealing with his messed up father, my son grew up. “I sure am, son. I’ll make it up to the both of you.”
He seems to sink into thought for a bit. “And Dad, I just want you to know that I’d be okay with it if you know, you two got together. Bre’s a good person.”
“That ship might have sailed,” I tell him.
