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“I’ll see you for Thanksgiving,si?”
“Si,Papi.”
“Jackson,” Alvaro had taken to calling him by his full name. “Welcome to thefamily.”
He reached in and hugged Jax, who wrapped his arm around him fora moment.
“Thankyou, sir.”
Then Alvaro pierced them both with his fatherly gaze. “Take care of each other. I will see you in two months.”
After he left, Noah took the keys next door to Carrie, whom Alvaro paid to handle the housekeeping when he was away. They left after that, stopping in to visit Annie and Jim. He held his new godchild in his arms with a kind of awe. After a month, she was a robust and gorgeous infant, with rosy lips and cheeks.
“You’re a sweet pea, aren’t you, baby girl?” he cooed at her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead as he swayed with her against hisshoulder.
Jim smirked at him as he danced with her and when he glanced over at Annie, her eyes were warm with amusement and affection.
“What?” he asked, not pausing in his baby dance.
“Nothing,” Jim said. “You look good. It’s been eight years since we’ve had this visual, that’s all.”
He pulled out his cellphone and snapped a couple of pictures before Jax could protest, ignoring Jax’s glare.
“I’ll make sure your mom and your man get these,” he promisedgleefully.
“Why are we best friends again?” Jax asked, but he wasn’t really mad.
Having the baby in his arms was doing all sorts of things to his heart. What would it be like to have his own child to dance with, to swoon over, to care for and love? And to have that with Noah … he couldn’t imagine a better gift.
Noah’s eyes widened when Jax handed over the baby. It was clear he didn’t have any experience holding infants, and he sat down and held her in the crook of his arms, looking down at her with such tenderness and awe that Jax couldn’t stop himself from recording it for posterity. Jim winked at him as he put his cellphone away. Noah hadn’t even noticed Jax taking his picture.
“We’d better get a move on. Now that I live closer, we’ll definitely see each other more often,” hepromised.
After hugging Annie and admonishing the boys to be good, they made the three-hour journey home. Home … that sense of belonging with the man who parked his truck to one side of the garage so Jax could pull in beside him. He let the feeling wrap around him as he exited his car and went around to Noah to help him with his luggage. They met at the tailgate and kissed as if by mutual prior agreement, exchanging breaths and tastes, their moans growing louder as the kiss grew inintensity.
Jax pulled away reluctantly. “Let’s go in, babe.”
They made it all the way into his bedroom before he turned, dropping the bags he held, and reached for Noah again.
“Welcome home, Noah,” he said, then kissedhim again.
Epilogue
Noah
Only one thing remained …
to make Jax his permanently.
“Hey, calm down, Santiago. Everything’s gonnabe fine.”
Noah looked over at his new friend. Stuart McKoy had been one of the first members of Jax’s new department to recognize him at the Halloween party that the music department put on for its students every year at the college. It was the first time he’d been formally introduced to Jax’s colleagues as his partner, and the thrill of that moment still lived like a flame inhis soul.
“I know he was wondering why I needed to go back down in the week before Christmas, and I’m not exactly the world’s best liar.”
“Well, he bought your story about needing to check on the house because the last tenant left unexpectedly. Anyway, everything’s in order. Dave and I will be out of your hair in ten, and he’ll be home in thirty. Stop wringing your hands and finish getting dressed. Do you have everythingyou need?”
“Yeah. The ring is in my pocket.” He patted the side pockets of his dress pants. “The flowers will be here in the next ten minutes. His family, the Bells, and my dad are settling into the guest rooms, and they’ll be down before he gets here.”
