“Yeah.” I grinned. “I’ll make sure the nurse gives you the good red Jell-O.”
“Nah, make it green. Hannah loves that stuff.”
Smiling, I walked out of that room feeling lighter than I had felt in years.
And it wasn’t because everything was finally perfect.
Travis was still in desperate need of a heart.
Brady was still being an ass.
Porter was surely going to push the issue of us moving in together.
But, for me, another day brought another sunrise.
And, for the first time in nearly a decade, I was excited for life on the other side of that horizon.
* * *
One week later…
“Hey,” I said, stepping out in the walkway.
Brady froze, one hand on his phone, the other leisurely tucked into the pocket of his khaki slacks. “Hey,” he replied, suspiciously flashing his eyes around the area.
I’d been standing outside the hospital entrance for the last half hour, waiting for just that moment. Brady usually arrived at least twenty minutes early to see his son. I’d been trying to catch him alone for the last three days, but I’d missed him every time. Today, it was now or never.
“Can we talk for a minute?” I asked.
His body tightened as he leveled me with a glare. “I’m not sure we have anything to talk about. Save whatever you have to say for the judge.”
I stopped in front of him and tilted my head to the side. “See, that’s the thing. The judge and I don’t have any issues at the moment. Everything I have to say is for you.”
“Okay, let me rephrase. I’m not interested in anything you have to say. I’m just trying to see my son. So, if you’ll excuse me—”
I shifted my weight between my feet and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m withdrawing my petition for partial custody.”
His eyebrows shot up, and his chin jerked to the side. “I’m sorry. Come again?”
Yeah. That was basically my family’s reaction when I’d told them earlier that morning. They’d all been certain I was losing my mind. Deep down, I knew I was doing the right thing.
“Travis was four when I first met him,” I announced. “I was on this new health kick and decided I was going to eat all organic and local produce.” I chuckled.
Brady glared at me impatiently.
“I’ll never forget. I was picking out tomatoes when I caught him staring at me. He had these big, brown eyes, but his face was completely blank.” I smiled and cut my gaze down to the ground. “Now, knowing Charlotte, it makes a lot more sense.”
“Can you get to the point?” he grumbled.
I took another step toward him. “The point is I had to build a relationship with him too. What Travis and I have was not a natural thing in the beginning. I had to work for it. Day in and day out, I put in the time to grow something with him. Yeah, he was younger then, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have to earn his trust. I started from scratch, Brady. Just like you. So I know it’s possible. But you’ve lost your fucking mind if you don’t think he feels the tension between us.”
His jaw ticked as he stared at me with an interesting mixture of frustration and rapt interest. “The tension between us wouldn’t exist if you weren’t always in the room…even when you’re not.”
“Yeah, Charlotte mentioned that he’s been throwing my name around with you a lot. And I’m going to talk to him about that. But, Brady, you have to recognize that’s his defense mechanism. He knows you and I don’t get along and he feels like he has to pick sides.”
“And that’s what pisses me off the most. I have to fucking compete with you for even the smallest morsel of his affection.” He pointed at the hospital entrance behind me. “That is my son.”
I threw my hands out to my sides and slapped them against my thighs as they fell. “Then don’t make it a competition.”
He scoffed. “Right. ’Cause it’s just that easy.”
“Yes,” I implored. “It is that easy.”
“Bullshit.”
“Charlotte’s moving in with me,” I announced.
His eyes grew wide and murderous. “What?”
“She’s going to tell you today. And I swear to God, Brady. You give her a single syllable of shit about it, I have no problem going back to jail.”
His eyes narrowed. “So, you two are just going to set up shop, play house, and act like one big, happy fucking family?”
“No. We aren’t going to act like anything. We’re going to be one big, happy family. And this is me asking you to be a part of that family with us.”
“Oh, you got a spare bedroom for me and Steph?” he asked, his voice thick with sarcasm.
I glowered. “Don’t be a dick right now. I’m extending an olive branch here.”
“Well, keep your fucking olive branch. You and Charlotte can do whatever the fuck you want, because when this shit is done, my son is coming home with me.”
I caught his arm when he tried to walk away. “Why won’t you let her be happy?”
“This has nothing to do with Charlotte,” he snapped, yanking his arm from my grasp.
“It has everything to do with her. You’ve spent ten years blaming her for Catherine kidnapping Lucas. She’s paid the price. But I swear to you, Brady, you push this custody issue, you’re going to be the one to pay the price next.”
He tipped his chin up and did his best to get in my face. “Don’t fucking threaten me.”
“I’m not threatening you. I’m stating facts.” I lifted a single finger in the air. “One, the judge is never going to award you full custody. Charlotte’s a damn good mother. And you know it.” I flipped another digit up. “And two, you are going to ruin any possible relationship you have with Travis if you try to push this.”
“You move in with Charlotte and I’m already ruined!” he yelled. “Fuck! You think he’s going to be real eager to come to my house when he has his perfect little family at home?”
“Brady, I’m going to say this one more time. I’m not your competition. You got a wife. You got another son. Make him a happy little family at your house too. People do blended families all the time.”
“But I’m the stepdad in this equation. He looks at me and Stephanie like we’re strangers.”
“Because you are strangers to him. For now. But you have all the tools to make that change. Look, I’m willing to take the first step to make this work for everyone involved. If Charlotte and I are together, there is no reason for us to have to split custody three ways. I’ll bow out in court. But only in court. We have to find a way to make this work because I’m going to be a part of your son’s life from now until the day I die. I’m going to marry Charlotte, Brady. Maybe not today, and if she has any say in it, maybe not even six months from now. But I’m going to do it. And, right now, I’m giving you the opportunity to be a part of that family too.”
He stared at me, his lips tight and thin, his hands fisted on his hips. “What are you asking me to do right now?”
I breathed in deep and held his stare. “Drop your petition for full custody. Let’s show Travis that we’re on the same damn team. You, Stephanie, me, Charlotte, and Travis sit down and figure out an arrangement that works for all of us.” I hooked my thumb at the entrance. “We still have a long road to go in this place. But I think it would do a lot for his mental health to at least know what was going to happen when he does get to come home.”
“The same team?” he scoffed.
“Yeah, Brady. The same team. His team. You don’t have to like me. But let our son see that we aren’t enemies. He trusts me. Make it so he doesn’t feel like he’s caught in the middle of us. Only then will you have any hopes of building the relationship you want with him. Stop making this about you and me. Or you and Charlotte. We’re all just here for Travis.”
He swallowed hard and raked a hand through the top of his hair. “I don’t know how to do this. No matter what I do, you’re always going to be his dad.”