Chapter Twenty-Three
Fuck, he had to stop borrowing trouble. He’d cross that bridge when he was pushed off it.
Hudson returned, shoes on as he shrugged into his coat. Everyone else grabbed theirs, too, then they piled into his mom’s SUV as the morning sun climbed in the painfully blue sky.
Seth slid into the driver’s seat. Beck took shotgun while Heavenly and Hudson settled into the back. Once the engine turned over, Seth headed toward the highway, excitement and trepidation warring inside him.
If everything went as planned, Hudson would legally be his son within hours. If not…
He shoved the thought down and pressed the accelerator.
The ninety-minute drive felt interminable.
Beck tried to lighten the mood, and Heavenly chimed in with bright observations about the scenery, but the forced cheer only underscored the tension thrumming through the car.
Hudson stared out the window, lost in his own thoughts.
Seth kept his eyes forward, his mind cycling through a thousand what-ifs.
As if sensing his anxiety, Beck squeezed his shoulder. “You got this.”
Seth wanted to believe that…but the final decision wasn’t up to him.
By the time they pulled into the diner’s parking lot, Seth’s nerves were a tight knot of tension in his gut.
He pushed the door open and ushered Heavenly in before him. Beck followed like a silent sentry watching his back.
Inside, the smell of coffee and bacon greeted them. Seth scanned the small crowd. There, at the big table at the back, Laura stood, looking tense and tremulous. She tried hard to keep herself together, but the second she spotted Hudson, her face crumpled.
She rushed forward, tears spilling down her cheeks as she pulled him into a fierce hug. “Oh, Hudson… I’ve missed you so much. You’ve gotten taller in the last month.”
Hudson hesitated for just a beat. Then he wrapped his arms around her. “I’ve missed you, too, Mom. Don’t cry.”
Seth’s chest tightened. Clearly, this separation had been hard on Laura. And maybe harder on Hudson than he’d thought.
When they finally broke apart, Ted rose, cradling a baby girl with Laura’s eyes and Ted’s chin against his chest.
Then Seth shifted his gaze to Laura, and for a moment, the world seemed to tilt. His past collided with his present, beginning to form a future he was desperately trying to shape.
Laura offered him a hesitant smile, her voice soft. “Wow. You look almost the same. Just…more grown up.”
Seth approached slowly, his own smile tentative. “You, too.”
Her hair had darkened, her hips had rounded, but her face—those eyes—they were achingly familiar.
For a split second, he was transported back to that summer, to the restaurant where they’d worked together, huddled in the dark after closing, driven to take shelter during a nasty storm.
Now, here they were, seventeen years later, deciding the fate of the son Seth hadn’t known he fathered until a short month ago.
Laura closed the distance between them with an awkward little laugh and pulled him into a hug.
Seth froze for a heartbeat, surprised, but then he returned it.
They’d been friends before they’d been anything else, and that friendship had always been easy.
This felt like an unexpected icebreaker.
He hoped it was a good sign for what came next.
“Good to see you,” he murmured.
“You, too.” When they stepped back, Laura gestured to the man beside her. “Seth, this is my husband, Ted. And our daughter, Emma.”
Ted nodded, his expression stoic as he stuck out his hand. “Good to meet you.”
“Same,” Seth said as they shook.
Hudson gave Ted a quick wave, then leaned toward the baby, his face softening. “Hey, little Emma girl.”
She smiled. Then he made exaggerated faces at the infant that had her giggling and kicking her little feet.
Hudson’s grin widened. For just a moment, the kid looked like he’d missed his baby sister.
Seth hoped like hell he was doing the right thing for his son.
But Hudson wanted to be with him—had hopped on a plane as a fucking minor without telling anyone to find the father he’d never met.
Since then, he’d insisted in every way possible that he didn’t want to go back to Connecticut.
Seth could make that happen.
If he didn’t fuck up this reunion.
In the ensuing silence, Laura’s gaze drifted to Heavenly and Beck, who stood near Seth.
Her brow furrowed slightly, curiosity flickering across her face.
She probably wasn’t surprised that he’d brought his fiancée to their custody discussion.
After all, from Laura’s perspective, Heavenly would be helping him raise Hudson.
But she was probably very confused about why he’d brought another man to this meeting.
Seth resisted the urge to scrub a nervous hand down his face and fastened on a smile as he gestured toward his angel. “Laura, you’ve spoken on the phone to my fiancée, Heavenly.”
She stepped forward, hand extended. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“You, too.” Laura shook it, her smile polite.
But her attention strayed to Beck, the predictable question all over her face.
Seth cleared his throat, nerves jangling. “And this is Dr. Beckman. Beck to his friends.”
Recognition crossed her face, and Seth saw the moment she relaxed, as if she thought she had the proper context to understand why Beck had come along. “The doctor you share a house with. Nice to meet you.”
Beck nodded, his expression locked down as he shook Laura’s hand, then Ted’s. “Good to meet you both.”
But Seth saw a muscle tick in Beck’s jaw. He hated being the third wheel, and he’d been shoved into that role too much these past few days—a situation Seth needed to change.
Starting this morning.
Another silence fell. The moment stretched on, everyone standing in the middle of the diner, not quite sure what to do next while other patrons gave them curious side-eyes. Finally, Ted gestured to the big table in the corner. “Should we sit?”
“Yeah.” Seth forced a smile, grateful for the redirect.
Fuck, this was awkward.
They all shuffled to the back. Laura slid into the seat next to the high chair after she strapped in a happily babbling Emma.
Ted took the seat on the other side of the baby, at the foot of the table.
Hudson hesitated, then sat on Laura’s right.
Immediately, she reached over and squeezed his hand with a strained smile, her eyes glassy.
Seth took the chair at the head of the table, gesturing Heavenly to his right. Beck flanked her, sitting directly across from Laura and the baby. As everyone focused on their menus, the tension around the table continued in a silent hum.
The waitress appeared carrying a tray of water glasses and a carafe of coffee, her cheerful greeting temporarily filling the stilted silence.
Once she was gone, Laura turned to Hudson. “Is LA still as cool as you told me when we talked last week?”
“Yeah.” The teen nodded.
“That’s good. Tell me more about your school.”
“Mom, it’s a school. But the people are okay.”
“So you’ve made new friends?”
“A few, mostly through the football team.”
“Now that you’re the new wide receiver, I’ll bet lots of girls are interested in you.” Laura grinned.
Seth and Beck shared a knowing glance. He prayed the kid didn’t say anything about his sexual exploits with Casen and Brielle.
“A few.” His smirk was cocky, but he didn’t stray into dangerous territory.
“Of course.” Laura grinned, then sobered. “What about your grades? You still working hard?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“He really is,” Beck seconded. “Especially since we all hound him about his homework every night.”
Hudson rolled his eyes, but nodded his mom’s way. “They really do.”
Heavenly smiled with affection. “We check in with him every day. Not just about his homework, but also how he’s doing. If there’s anything on his mind.”
Laura smiled back. “Thank you.”
“They care a lot, Mom,” Hudson confirmed. “Everything’s good, I swear. I have my own room. Plus they have an awesome pool in the backyard.”
Laura studied him as she dragged in a deep breath. “It sounds like you really like it there.”
“I do.”
“And…you want to stay in LA?”
“Yeah. Absolutely.” Hudson nodded solemnly. “I’m happy there. I have rules, structure, consequences… I don’t love that part, but…they all listen to me.”
Laura frowned. “I listened to you, honey. Always.”
“I know. I just mean...it’s different. I don’t know how to explain it. I just...I feel like I belong there.”
Laura pressed her hand to her mouth, tears pooling in her eyes. Clearly, she was struggling to let go, and Seth didn’t know how to soothe her. If the shoe were on the other foot, he’d be upset, too.
Ted grabbed his wife’s hand and squeezed. “This might be exactly what he needs, sweetheart.”
Laura wiped away the tear as she sent Hudson a smile full of forced cheer. “I just want you to be happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“I promise, Hudson’s happiness and wellbeing are my top priorities. Actually, all of ours,” Seth assured.
“Exactly. And I am happy, Mom,” Hudson vowed. “Really, truly.”
Laura absorbed his words, her chest rising and falling as she tried to hold herself together. “Well…then I won’t stand in the way of you living with your father.”
“Thanks,” Hudson murmured. “I know this isn’t easy on you.”
“No,” she replied with a watery scoff. “It’s not. And if you ever change your mind—”
“You’ll be the first to know,” the teen promised.
Laura gave him a shaky nod, then looked away, as if she needed a moment to process the fact her son was no longer just hers. A thick silence settled over the table.
Heavenly darted an anxious glance at Seth, then turned to Laura and cleared her throat. “So…tell me about you. What do you and Ted do for work?”
Laura’s expression said she was grateful for the reprieve as Ted plucked a plushy bunny from the diaper bag for baby Emma. “I’m a loan officer at a bank, and Ted took over his father’s plumbing business a few years ago. Hudson mentioned you’re in nursing school.”