Chapter 8 Full Circle
Full Circle
Bear Bollinger
(Engaged to Joy Davis; Son of Finn & Charlie Bollinger)
Marshall was taller than Bear remembered.
Three years ago, he’d been a quiet fourteen-year-old who wanted to learn how to make macarons because his terminally ill little sister would like the colors. Now he stood in the main room at Linear Tactical, nearly six feet, with Ashley’s arm looped through his and snow melting in both their hair.
“We’re so sorry,” Marshall said for the third time. “We didn’t mean to freak everyone out. The car just died, our phones were already dead, and we knew Linear Tactical was nearby so we decided to—”
“Marshall.” Bear gripped his shoulder, felt the kid flinch slightly at the contact before relaxing. Old habits. These were kids who’d learned to take up as little space as possible, to never need anything from anyone. “You did exactly the right thing.”
“We didn’t know where else to go.”
And there it was. The thing that mattered more than Marshall probably realized.
Three years ago, Bear had started that camp because he’d seen something in kids like Marshall and Ashley—kids who spent their whole lives in the shadow of a sick sibling, who never demanded attention because their parents were already overwhelmed. Kids who learned to be invisible.
Marshall had remembered Linear Tactical. When he’d needed help, he’d thought of this place. He’d felt like he could show up.
That was worth more than a hundred thank-you letters.
“You came to the right place.” Bear clapped him on the back. “That’s all that matters. Let me grab my coat—I’ll go take a look at it.”
“Already ahead of you.” Baby was pulling on his own jacket, keys in hand. “Where’d you leave it?”
“About a mile up the road, just past the curve.” Marshall’s face tightened. “We don’t have a lot of money for repairs. I can pay you back over time, or work it off, or—”
“Stop.” Baby held up a hand. “We’ll figure out what’s wrong first. Probably just needs a jump and some coaxing. And even if it needs parts, you’re getting the family discount.”
Marshall blinked. “Family discount?”
“Anyone who comes in from the snow is family.” Baby said it like it was obvious. Like it was just the way things worked.
“Baby, I can handle it,” Bear said. “You don’t have to go out in the cold.”
His uncle waved him off. “You’ve already been out once tonight. And I still remember a thing or two about the mechanic business. Taught you most of what you know, if I recall.”
Bear snorted. “You recall selectively.”
“That’s my privilege as an old man.” Baby zipped his coat. “Back in a jif.”
He was gone before Marshall could protest further.
The rest happened fast—the way things always did when this family decided to absorb someone. Girl Riley materialized with blankets. Annie checked them over with brisk efficiency, pronouncing them cold but fine. Finn pressed hot chocolate into their hands. Zac found them chairs near the fireplace.
Marshall looked slightly overwhelmed. Ashley had a tear tracking down her cheek, though she was smiling.
Bear stepped back and let it happen. This was what his family did. What they’d always done.
He found Joy across the room without meaning to look for her.
She was watching Marshall and Ashley with a soft expression, one hand resting against her stomach. When she caught Bear looking, something shifted in her face. A question.
He crossed to her. Didn’t rush, didn’t make it obvious, just moved through the crowd until he was close enough to speak without being overheard.
He didn't say anything. Didn't need to. Joy's hand found his, her fingers warm and slightly trembling.
“Now?” he asked quietly.
She looked up at him. All the fear he’d seen in her eyes over the past few weeks—the what-ifs and the worries and the terror of wanting something this much—it was still there. But underneath it was something else.
“Now,” she said.
Bear didn’t make a speech. Didn’t clear his throat or tap a glass or wait for a dramatic pause in the conversation. He just raised his voice enough to cut through the noise.
“Joy and I have some news.”
The room went quiet. Not all at once—conversations trailed off in waves, heads turning, attention shifting. Bear waited until he had most of them.
“We’re having a baby.”
Silence. One heartbeat. Two.
Then his mother burst into tears.
It wasn’t delicate crying. Charlie Bollinger had never done anything delicately in her life. She let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a shriek, crossed the room in three steps, and grabbed Joy’s face in both hands.
“I knew it,” she managed, tears streaming. “I knew something was different. Oh, honey. Oh, honey.”
Joy laughed, the sound wet and overwhelmed. “Charlie—”
“This sweet baby girl is having a baby.” Charlie pulled her into a hug so tight Bear worried about Joy’s oxygen flow. “Finn! Finn, did you hear?”
“I heard.” His father’s voice was rough. Bear turned to find him standing a few feet away, grinning like he’d been waiting for this moment. No surprise on his face—he’d put it together earlier, when Bear had asked him to watch over Joy.
“You knew,” Charlie accused, pulling back from Joy just long enough to smack Finn’s arm. “You knew and you didn’t tell me!”
“I suspected. For all of about thirty-seven minutes. There’s a difference.”
“Finn Bollinger, I have been married to you for forty years—”
“And I’ve learned when to keep my mouth shut.” He caught Bear’s eye, still grinning. “Well, hell, son.”
He pulled Bear into a hug. Brief, hard, the way they’d always done it. But he held on a beat longer than usual.
“Proud of you,” Finn said quietly. Just for Bear.
“Thanks, Dad.”
After that, it was mayhem.
Annie started calculating due dates out loud, cross-referencing Joy’s answers with some internal medical calendar.
Quinn hugged Joy so tight she actually lifted her off the ground.
Becky pushed through the crowd to discuss every piece of baby equipment she and Derek had accumulated over the past three weeks.
“The swing is a lifesaver,” she said earnestly. “And the white noise machine. And—Derek, what’s that thing called? The one that warms the wipes?”
Derek, holding Denise against his shoulder, looked mildly traumatized by the question. “I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything from the past three weeks.”
“Helpful,” Becky said dryly, but she was smiling.
Through it all, Marshall and Ashley hung back near the fireplace, watching. They weren’t part of this—not really—but they were grinning anyway. Ashley whispered something to Marshall, and he nodded.
They got it. They understood what they were seeing.
The front door opened, letting in a gust of cold air and Baby, stamping snow off his boots.
“Car’s running,” he announced. “Just needed a jump and—” He stopped. Looked around at the chaos. At Charlie still crying. At Finn’s grin. At the way everyone had clustered around Bear and Joy. “What’d I miss?”
“Bear and Joy are having a baby,” someone supplied.
Baby’s face went through about six expressions in two seconds. Then he crossed the room, pulled Bear into a hug, and said, “About damn time.”
“It’s been like three minutes since we announced.”
“I meant about damn time you knocked her up. I had money on last summer.”
“Baby,” Quinn smacked her husband, scandalized.
“What? I did. Ask Gabe.”
Bear laughed. He couldn’t help it. This was his family—loud, inappropriate, incapable of letting any moment stay serious for more than thirty seconds.
Joy appeared at his side, tucking herself under his arm. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She leaned into him. “Yeah, I really am.”
Around them, three generations continued to celebrate. His mother was already making plans. His father was pretending he wasn’t emotional. His cousins were cracking jokes and placing bets on gender and due dates.
And in front of the fireplace, two teenagers who’d stumbled out of the snow were watching it all with something like wonder on their faces.
This. This was what they were building.
Bear pulled Joy closer and let himself feel it—the weight of it, the warmth of it, the terrifying perfect reality of what came next.
He couldn’t wait.
1
1 Books from characters in this chapter:
Bear & Joy – HERO MINE
Marshall & Ashley – HERO’S PRIZE