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“And, North?”
“Yeah?”
“Sometimes you’ve got to take a leap of faith and trust that the universe knows what it’s doing, brother. Just because the time’s never been right before doesn’t mean it’s never going to be right.” He winks. “Keep doing your thing, yeah?”
He sends Jesse a warm smile as I mull over his uncharacteristically deep words.
“It’s been crazy and wonderful to meet you, Jesse. Welcome to the family.”
Henry walks over to his waiting wife, pressing a kiss to her brow before plucking his son from her hold.
Who the fuck are you, and what happened to Henry DeMarco?
My face must be a picture as I hear my phone chime with a text from Ford, alerting me to his arrival.
“Come on, kid. Let’s blow this popsicle stand!”
I sling my arm over Jesse’s shoulder, tugging him in against my side playfully as we step onto the elevator.
“You are way more cringe than I’d thought you would be, Dad.”
Did he just say…
A frog appears in my throat, taking up residence for the entire trip to the ground floor. Jesse stands at my side the entire time, his arm wrapped around my waist as I hold him close to me.
When the elevator opens, he steps out of my hold and is halfway across the lobby before I can move after him.
The biggest, most shit-eating smile I’ve ever smiled splits my face clean in half as I jog after my boy, catching up to him before he reaches Ford’s waiting vehicle.
He shoots me a shit-eating smile of his own when he spots mine. “But I have to admit, I like your cringe better than Mom’s.”
I open the door, ushering Jesse inside first while I chuckle at his statement and then follow after him.
“Evening, Ford.”
Ford tips his head in that strong silent way of his before pulling out into London city traffic. “Heading back home, Cade?”
I nod once as I buckle in, spinning slightly in my seat to face Jesse.
“You’re going to have to elaborate on that one, kid. Just how cringeisyour mom?”
His face shines with adoration at the mention of his mother, and I can see as clear as day that she never had a thing to worry about when it came to telling our son the truth of his parentage. He’s a mama’s boy through and through.
Being one myself, I can easily spot the signs.
“Okay, so the most recent one I can think of was when I aced my Geometry test last month. She picked me up early from school just as Mr Wiseman was passing out the grades, and when she saw mine…” he trails off to eye roll dramatically. “Shedancedout the door, down the hallway, and into the street singing ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’!”
I can’t stop myself from smiling. I can clearly see the memory in my mind's eye despite not being present to witness it.
It’s such a typical Summer thing to do.
“She took cringe to a whole new level when she used her cell phone as her mic and held it out for me to sing the harmony!”
I can’t stop myself from sniggering at that. She’s long been a sucker for a duet.
“Come on, tell me more.”
Jesse’s face lights up, and I feel lighter in myself than I have all week.
