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“Guess we’ll find out.” Sitting there with his boyfriend and lover across from him buoyed his courage a bit. Might as well rip the damned bandage off and see how bad things bled. “It’s Wyatt.”
“What’s Wyatt? Did he hurt himself again?”
“No, shockingly no. Wyatt came to me today and told me something he’s been keeping from me, keeping from all of us really, since the day I hired him.” When Hugo simply stared at him with raised eyebrows, Brand added, “Ginny had red hair and green eyes just like his.”
“Okay.” Hugo’s gaze went briefly distant and Brand saw the moment his partner understood. He made the most peculiar “What the actual fuck?” face Brand had ever seen in his life, complete with bugging eyes and a wide-open mouth. “You are fucking with me.”
“No. He came here specifically to get to know me, because his grandparents told him stories all his life about what a horrible, selfish person I am, and I guess he needed to see if that was true before he told me anything. We talked about it a bit and then went to the hospital to have DNA tests done. I need to see it in black and white before I can truly believe it.”
“Jesus, Brand, that’s huge. I can’t believe your long-lost kid is back.”
“Maybeback, if it’s true.” But something deep inside of Brand believed it was. He’d instantly liked Wyatt from their first interview, had seen something special in the kid, and now he better understood why.
“But why say anything now? After all this time?”
“Because Jackson knew Wyatt was out here searching for his bio dad but not who Wyatt suspected of being him. And when you told Jackson about my kid, he put it together and confronted Wyatt.”
“Oh shit, my bad.”
“It’s fine. You needed to vent and, to be honest, this secret needed to come out. We have to deal with it. If the DNA says he’s my son, then my family is gonna have a lot to process in the next coming weeks.” He waited until Hugo made eye contact. “How do you feel about being a stepfather?”
Hugo made a noise, half laugh and half choke. “A little weird considering he’s only eight years younger than me, but if he’s your kid, Brand...we’ll figure this out. Sure, I was mad last night that you never told me you had a child out in the world, but it was your secret to tell in your time. I get that now. And thank you for telling me about Wyatt right away.”
“I owed you this truth. But I don’t wanna tell the rest of my family yet, not until I know for sure. If Wyatt’s wrong, they never have to know. If he’s right, then they deserve a chance to get to know him as part of the family.”
“How do you think your parents will react if Wyatt is yours?”
“Mom will be over the moon. My parents were furious with Ginny’s when they threatened me with rape charges. Furious that they forced me out of any of the decision-making process. When they moved away, I could only imagine what happened. Had she carried to term and kept it? Given it up for adoption? Miscarried and never had the baby at all? I actually got really depressed for a while, and I finally had to make a clean break from it all in my mind. To imagine the best for her and our kid and to move on.”
“That sounds like the healthiest thing you could have done. You were a kid doing the best you could in an awful situation that was not helped by some of the adults involved. But I think you’ve shown Wyatt that you are a kind, fair person. He wouldn’t still be working here if he believed you were any sort of threat, to him or to others.”
“Thank you.” Brand reached out and clasped their hands together, grateful for Hugo’s unwavering love and support. “I’d never admit this to anyone else, but I’m kind of terrified right now.”
“Tell me why.”
“Because I don’t know how to be a parent. Sure, mine were loving and supportive, except for that thing with Colt. And Dad was pretty strict when we were growing up, but this is a working ranch and we were expected to complete our chores on time, or something could go wrong.”
“The good news is that Wyatt is an adult, not a child who needs raising. He needs love and support and probably advice from time to time, and he needs to know he has that love and support from you. We still need our parents no matter how old we get.”
Brand raised Hugo’s hand to his mouth and kissed the knuckles. Hugo still struggled with his estrangement from his mother. Less so with his stepfather, because they’d never been close, but Hugo missed his mom. But she had chosen her husband over her son, so Hugo had made his choice, too. No contact.
“You’ve got my parents,” Brand said, “and you know you’ve been family since you and Rem got to be best friends back in high school.”
“Thanks, and you know I adore your parents. But I want to ask you a question, and if you don’t know for sure right now then think about it and get back to me.”
“Okay.”
“If Wyatt is your son, do you want him tobeyour son?”
Brand stared, not understanding. “What? If he’s my son, he’s my son.”
“Biologically, yes. I’m talking about emotionally and, I guess, how you’ll treat him. Think about him. Knowing he’s your son and changing how you think about him as your son and not just an employee is a big shift. Mentally and emotionally. You told me you never tried to find him because you wanted to shelve that part of your life and move on. Is that still true?”
“I don’t know. It was true as of a few hours ago.”
“That’s fair. You got hit over the head with a mallet today, Brand, you’re going to be spinning for a while. Like I said, if you don’t know, then think on it. Up until a few hours ago, your child was a distant memory. Now he’s possibly a living, breathing guy we’ve worked with for almost two months. Take your time with it.”
“Well, I’ve got at least two to three business days to try and figure this out.” Brand turned their hands so he could stroke Hugo’s palm with his thumb, a soothing gesture he often used when Hugo begged for a hand massage after a long day mucking stalls. “If it turns out Wyatt isn’t mine, would you be angry if I decided I did want to find my kid?”
