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His life had changed irrevocably, and he was struggling to keep up with it. He’d always relied on his ability to compartmentalize things in order to keep pushing ahead. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible this time around. It was only because he’d cut off all contact with his family and Misha that he’d been able to do it at all.
But that was only temporary.
Even though he was focused on Peyton and the legal stuff, Misha was often on his mind. Her beautiful smile. The way her eyes lit up when she laughed. How her hand felt in his. How she felt in his arms. He missed it all so much.
But he didn’t hold out much hope that any of that would ever be his again.
In a few days, everything would be out in the open. All the walls between the different parts of his life would be down. His secrets out in the open.
The one thing through all of this that he was thankful for was that Casey hadn’t been the one to get pregnant. He might struggle to understand Amberlyn’s reasoning, but at least she was trying to do what she thought was right for her son. He didn’t think Casey would ever put a child’s needs before her own.
“Jay?” Will’s voice was followed by a knock on his door.
“Yep.”
The door cracked open, and Will poked his head in. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Just needed to have a moment to myself.”
Rather than retreat, Will pushed the door open further, then leaned against the doorjamb with his arms crossed. “Did you get everything done today?”
“Yep. It’s all official and legal now.”
“When are we heading back to Serenity?”
“Peyton has one more session with the therapist tomorrow morning, then we can leave.” It was going to be an eight plus hour drive back to Serenity from Idaho Falls, which was where Amberlyn lived. He just hoped that Peyton would be okay to make the trip.
During the day, the boy seemed to be okay, viewing his time with Jay and Will like it was some sort of adventure. However, nighttime was something different, and that was looming once again. Jay never really felt like he knew what he was doing as a parent to Peyton, but that was never more evident than when bedtime came.
“Pizza will be here in a few minutes,” Will said. “Peyton’s watching TV while he waits.”
“Thanks for helping me out these past couple of weeks,” Jay said as he got to his feet. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Oh, but you could have.” Will gave him a frown. “All you needed to do was… Tell. Your. Family.”
Jay sighed as he followed Will back to the open living room/kitchen area. Peyton was sitting on the overstuffed couch with his legs drawn up, watching some animated kids’ show.
Jay went to join him, feeling the need to be available to the boy after being gone for most of the afternoon. Peyton glanced at him, then looked back at the television.
When the doorbell rang, Peyton turned on the couch to kneel and hook his arms over the back of it, watching as Will answered the door. After tipping the delivery person, he carried the two large boxes over to the coffee table.
Jay went to the kitchen to grab them some drinks and plates. He’d discovered that Peyton loved apple juice, so he’d bought some little drink boxes for him, along with soda for Will. He grabbed one of each for them, then a bottle of water for himself.
His eating hadn’t been great during his time there, and he’d had little time to exercise. He’d never realized how much he relied on his workouts to help with his mental state until he didn’t have the opportunity to do them.
“That’s the one with the pineapple?” Peyton asked, pointing to the box that now sat open in front of Will.
“Yep. Have you ever had pineapple before?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Here, try this.” Will plucked a piece off the pizza and held it out to him.
Peyton hadn’t proven to be a super fussy eater, but cooked pineapple was an acquired taste. He took the pineapple from Will and gave it a sniff before popping it into his mouth.
His brow furrowed as he chewed, then he said, “It’s sweet.”
“Yes, it is,” Will said. “Sweet and yummy.”
