Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Fuck, Mitch was glad to be home. When they pulled into the yard, he thought he might just break down and cry.
He wasn’t going to because he was with the girls and Cam, and they needed to see him being functional and strong.
He wasn’t hurting or anything. His back felt great considering the drive, but he was so relieved.
Mark pulled in behind him, and he knew his buddy was glad to be done with driving that trailer.
It was one thing to drive a trailer full of crap, like a U-Haul or something, but it was another to be carrying live cargo.
Being responsible for two lives that were hanging out back there in a metal cage had made Mark nuts.
Mitch stretched his back for a minute before he woke up the girls, and Cam chuckled, reaching up to touch his neck from the rear seat. Bekka had ended up sitting next to him, and then they’d put both smaller girls in the third row, so Cam could stretch out.
“You doing okay, baby?” Cam asked.
“Yeah, I’m all right. Look at this, we’re home.”
“Fuckin’ A.” Cam peered out the window. “I guess Wilder still has Rosie.”
“He said to call as soon as we got home, and he’d bring her over.”
“I’ll text him now, then. The girls won’t be happy until he’s home.
” It said a lot about Cam’s dexterity as a roper that he was able to text one-handed, typing with his thumb.
The man was kind of a wonder that way. Of course, Mitch knew how talented Cam’s hands were, and the thought made his cheeks flush a little.
Injured or no, he was looking forward to being back in his bed with Cam too. He was sick of sleeping by himself.
Okay, he was sick of sleeping with Rachel. She kicked.
Bekka stirred, blinking her eyes open. “Are we home, Daddy?”
“We are so home, baby girl. Are you happy?”
“I made it in time for all the Girl Scout parties.” She unbuckled herself and reached for the car door handle.
“Let me get out first, just in case.” He knew the house hadn’t been completely deserted. They’d been coming and feeding and everything. But he didn’t like the idea of Bekka running out into the drive when Mark was still parking in the trailer, and the house was unlocked and all that stuff.
She stopped, dutifully waiting for him to get out and go unlock the front door. He checked all around real quick and then came back out to get the girls and Cam.
He laughed because Cam had them singing a Christmas song. He thought it was “Deck the Halls,” but he wasn’t sure because Rachel didn’t really know it that well, so she was sort of la-la-ing the whole song.
“Come on, guys, help me get Daddy Cam into the house.”
Cam grunted as he eased out of the backseat. They’d put his bad side in toward the middle of the car so he could use his good arm to lever himself out. “I would tell you I could carry some bags or something, but I don’t think I can,” Cam grumbled.
“It’s okay, babe. You don’t have to worry about it. I didn’t want you to get hurt, you know that, but it’s tit for tat. You took care of me, now we’re going to take care of you.”
Mark hopped out of the truck and looked around, smiling. “Home, home, home, huh?”
“You know it. I’ll get Cam in the house, then I’ll start unloading the horses.”
“Make sure you keep them separated.”
“I know, Cam.”
“And I want her in the big stall. That way she can see Fire, but still be on her own.”
He was going to poke his lover in the butt. “Will do, Cam.”
“And call the vet first thing in the morning. I want her checked over.”
“Okay, Cam.”
Cam grinned at him as he settled on the couch. “Yeah, yeah. I can call the vet as long as no one gives me a pain pill tonight. They make it hard to wake up in the morning.”
“Mmhmm.” Mitch was totally giving Cam a pain pill. He’d need it. “Your folks will be here soon. Mark and the girls are going to unload. I’ll be back.”
He figured he’d unload the horses, get them fed and settled, then figure out what the hell happened next.
“Baby?”
Mitch glanced back at Cam. “Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming to get me. I’m not trying to be an ass.”
“I know, honey. I’m just trying to juggle a little bit right this second.” And he had to work out getting those horses settled by himself.
Mark took the girls in with all the bags, but was back out in minutes. “The ladies are keeping Cam company.” He looked down. “What can I do?”
“Help me unload these guys? Fire first, I think.”
“Sure. I watched them load, so I know we have to release the trailer ties. So we’ll do Fire and leave her tied until we get him settled.”
“Cool.” He could do that. Most trailer ties took a sharp tug to release.
Then they opened the gate and secured it open before he opened the first partition and grabbed Fire’s lead rope.
“Okay, buddy. Be nice to me, huh. Back it up.” He kept his voice calm and firm like Cam always did, and Fire danced a moment, but then backed his ass up right out onto the ground.
“Come on, good boy. There’s water and sweet feed and a warm barn.” He led Fire in, and the big gelding knew right where to go, what to do, and he was happy to be home. “I hear you. Me too. I’ll be right back.”
He repeated the whole process, getting Copper Penny settled in her stall, and by then, the house was filled with Halleys.
He grinned, because he and Mark walked into a buzzing front room, and Mark’s eyes went wide. “So many people.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it.” He held his arms open as Jesse ran to him.
“Unc!”
“You know it, son.” He scooped the little boy up and a dozen Halleys fussed at him about his back.
“It’s okay. I’m feeling pretty good.” He let Jesse pat his cheeks and kiss him.
“Uncle Mark, come meet Granny Halley!” Rachel grabbed Mark’s hand and started tugging. “She’s real nice, she’s Daddy Cam’s momma.”
“Yes, baby, I know I’ve met her before.”
Pam looked at Mark and smiled, the expression warm and fond. “Well, good Lord and butter. Mark Bray. I haven’t seen you in a month of Sundays. What have you been up to?”
Mark pinked and offered her a warm smile. “Oh, I went in the military, went to college, and now I’m working. I just had to come and see all these hooligans.” Mark looked a like he was gonna swallow his tongue. It was great.
Stephen glanced at Mitch, then at Cam, then at Mitch again. “Have you noticed that when the girls call him ‘Daddy Cam’, it sounds like they’re saying ‘Nanny Cam’?”
“Baby brother, I love you. Shut up.” Cam didn’t seem too worried, but he was looking tired.
He leaned in, searching those green eyes. “You okay? You need the pain pill yet?”
Cam shook his head. “I think I’m all right right now, babe. Thanks.”
Stephen snorted. “‘Babe’.”
“Shut up, you.” Cam pointed one finger at his brother. “I can tell stories.”
Stephen raised his hands in surrender.
Someone came through the front door—Leanne with the baby in one arm and a pan of something covered in foil in the other.
“You want me to try to get rid of some of these folks?” he asked.
Cam rolled his eyes. “I’d love to see you try.
Really, the only thing to do about this is to just let them come in, wander about, stick food in my face, and then everybody will leave.
But they didn’t get to actually see me be in the hospital, so everybody has to look and fuss. I know that you’re not used to this…”
Mitch glared at Cam. “I got used to it.”
He wasn’t sure how, not really. He’d been solitary for a long time, then it had been him and Allison. Then him and his girls.
Now he was…part of the Halley clan, and it didn’t seem like any of them were letting him go.
“We got a new horse. We got to go to the Lego store. We got to go to Walmart a lot. We got to get in the hot tub. Daddy Cam said that we get to have a hot tub of our own.” Rachel was going ninety to nothing.
Bekka was over there with Lori and the older cousins talking Girl Scouts, he was sure. And Sarah was…missing.
“If you’re okay, I’m going to go find my daughter.”
“Man, you’ve only been home for like five seconds and you lost one already?”
That was Wilder, who was standing there with Rosie and Sarah. “I found her on the front porch. I think she was waiting for me.”
“Hey, man, I really appreciate all your help.” He went over to shake hands. Leanne and Wilder had been dear as all get-out. It felt fucking amazing to be a part of this big, goofy situation.
“Not a problem. He was good as gold. But he was ready for his girl to come back home. I could tell.”
“Yeah, Teresa was ready for Sarah to come home, too. Those two are thick as thieves.” Stephen shook his head. “I’m so glad that they found each other.”
They had no idea. His girls were…happier than he’d seen them since Allison left them. “Man, me too.”
“I tell you what, brother.” Stephen clapped him on one shoulder. “We manage to raise all these girls up, it’ll be a miracle.”
That hit him in the center of the chest.
He’d never been anybody’s brother.
Mark was close. Mark was his dearest friend, but these folks loved him because he was—
Hell, he thought maybe these folks would be good to him even if Cam wasn’t part and parcel of the whole equation. They had been, hadn’t they? They’d brought him Cam.
So thank God the son of a bitch was, though.
Mitch was hooked through the balls, and he didn’t want to have to imagine his life again without Cam.
He’d done it. He wasn’t going to do it again.
“I hear that, man. I really do.” He looked at Sarah. “And she didn’t go off the porch, right?”
“No, Daddy. I saw Miss Leanne come in, and I knew Uncle Wilder had to be coming. I needed my Rosie Posie.”
“I know. He’s glad you’re home too.”
“Come on, Rosie, I’ll read you a book.” Sarah took Rosie off, and Teresa joined her as soon as they were five feet away.
That left him to sit with Cam for a while, and Mitch was happy to do it. He felt as if they hadn’t been able to even really see each other, even with Cam sitting in a hospital bed. He’d always been on the phone talking to doctors and nurses.
“How are you feeling, babe?” he asked.