Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
“She’s pretty cool,” Carson said.
“Told ya.”
“I already knew that.”
“Uh-huh. Sure you did.”
He gave her a gentle spank on the ass as he walked by her to find Ty. “Who wants to swim?”
“I do!” Ty came running and let out a yelp of excitement at seeing his Spider-Man suitcase waiting for him.
“Down the hall on the right is a bedroom you can use,” Carson said.
He grabbed the handle and took off running. “Awesome, thanks.”
Carson took advantage of the opportunity to kiss Cresley while they had a minute alone.
“Can you swim, too, Carson?” Ty asked when he returned thirty seconds later, wearing a swimsuit, a pair of goggles around his neck.
“Not yet. I have to watch out for infection while my incisions heal. We’ll watch those surfing videos after dinner. I promise.”
“Okay. Let’s go, Mom! It’s time to swim.”
“The boy has spoken,” Carson said.
The afternoon with Isla and the kids was delightful.
Ty was great with three-year-old Theo and one-year-old Mila, watching over them and keeping them safe as they splashed in the shallow end of the pool.
Even though multiple adults were right there, Ty took responsibility for the younger kids and made sure they were having a good time.
“He’s so sweet,” Isla said. “Theo and Mila will talk about him nonstop after this.”
Cresley and Carson were seated on lounge chairs, while Isla sat on the side of the pool, close enough to grab a wayward child wearing floaties.
“He’s always been great with younger kids,” Cresley said.
“He’d be an awesome big brother,” Carson said.
Both women looked at him as if he’d said something crazy.
“What? He would.”
“He has no idea what he said or what it does to your ovaries, does he?” Isla asked Cresley, who laughed.
“No idea at all,” Cresley said with a smile for Carson.
“Men can be so clueless.”
“I can hear you two,” Carson said.
“Good, we want you to,” Cresley said. “I know the whole relationship thing is new to you, but you can’t drop a bomb like that into a brand-new situation and act like it’s no big deal that you suggested we might have kids together.”
“Julian doesn’t get that stuff either,” Isla said. “I have to constantly remember that he’s brand-new to all this.”
“They’re like babes in the woods in need of someone to show them how it’s done,” Cresley said.
“Can still hear you, and I understood exactly what I was saying.”
“Whoa,” Isla said. “This sounds serious.”
He reached for Cresley’s hand. “Feels kind of serious, too.”
“Was it the multiple near-death experiences that changed your mind about happily ever after?” Cresley asked.
“Nah, it was every minute with you and Ty and how all I want is more minutes just like those. As many as I can get, in fact.”
“I’m, ah… going to need a minute,” Cresley said.
“Isla, you’re my witness to the moment I went all in with the exceptional Cresley Dane and her incredible son, Ty.”
“I’m honored to have witnessed such a moment, and if I can be self-serving for a moment, welcome to the Remington Resistance Movement, Cresley. It’s lonely out here in the land of people who’ve brought one of them over to the dark side of love and romance.”
Carson laughed at her witty comment and decided he totally understood why Julian had fallen flat on his face in love with her. She was sweet, funny, gorgeous and a wonderful mother to two adorable, well-behaved kids.
Speak of the devil, he thought, as Julian came strolling in, straight from the office and still wearing a navy suit with a navy patterned tie over a light blue dress shirt.
Theo and Mila let out squeals of excitement when they saw him, and Isla’s smile must’ve looked like home to his brother, who bent at the waist to kiss her. “I heard there was a party over here.”
“It’s a pawty!” Theo said, splashing and laughing.
“Are you so used to having that knot around your neck that you don’t even think to take it off when you’re in the car?” Carson asked. One of the best things about being chief investigator was that he rarely had to wear a suit or a tie.
“I don’t do anything to delay getting home these days.” Julian stole a second kiss from Isla before standing upright. “I’d ask you two how it’s going, but…”
“It’s actually going really well for them,” Isla said. “I witnessed the exact moment when Carson went all in with Cresley. You now have an ally against the rest of your siblings who think you’ve taken leave of your senses with me and the kids.”
Julian’s smile lit up his face. “Is that right? Oh, the irony. Weren’t you in my face a few short weeks ago, telling me I was insane to commit to a single mom with little kids? Do I recall that correctly?”
“I have no memory of that.”
Julian’s bark of laughter made Isla and Cresley laugh right along with him. “You’re full of poo-poo.”
“Julian said poo-poo!” Theo said at the top of his lungs.
“Welcome to the land of little kids,” Julian said. “Where you have to watch every word you say.”
“That must be a struggle for you, brother,” Carson said, grinning.
“You have no idea. Isla is constantly chastising me.”
“Which leads to other things,” Isla said with a laugh.
“Enough already,” Carson said. “Who wants to stay for dinner?”
“Me,” all three kids said together.
They ordered pizza for the kids while the adults enjoyed Isla’s delicious chicken parm. During dinner, Carson got a text from his grandfather that made him laugh.
Glad to see some life in that house, ya jack wagon.
Carson showed the text to Julian, who chuckled.
“No such thing as a free place to live, huh?” Julian asked.
“Right? He drives me crazy spying on me.”
“Maybe if you give him something to look at, he’ll learn his lesson.”
“That’s a great idea,” Carson said with a meaningful glance at Cresley.
“I don’t do skin flicks. It’s in my contract.”
“What’s a skin flick?” Ty asked.
“Watch what you say in front of the child,” Carson said sternly, earning a glare from Cresley.
Ty’s glance darted between them. “So what is it?”
“Yes, Cresley, what is it?” Carson asked.
“Nothing you need to know about at seven. Go take a shower and get ready for bed.”
“I don’t want to go to bed when my friends are still here.”
“They’re going home to bed, too,” Isla said.
Carson was shocked when Ty started to cry. “I don’t want them to go home! We’re having fun, and we haven’t played with toys yet!”
Cresley was obviously unnerved by his outburst. “We’ll have them over again soon, honey. It’s fine.”
His face flushed bright red. “It’s not fine! I don’t want to go to bed!”
Cresley stood and picked him up, carrying him kicking and screaming toward the bathroom.
“Never seen that before,” Carson said as he got up slowly and carefully to follow her, to see if she needed help.
“Go take care of him,” Julian said. “We’ll head out. Call me later.”
Carson nodded and moved toward the sound of Ty melting down.
In the bathroom, Cresley was wrestling Ty out of his clothes as he screamed and carried on.
“What can I do?” Carson asked.
She looked up at him, her eyes wide. “I don’t know what’s happening.”
Carson moved toward them. “Ty, what do you need right now? We’ll do anything we can to make you feel better.”
“I don’t need anything! I just want everyone to leave me alone!”
“Tell me why, honey,” Cresley said.
Ty continued to kick his feet and struggle against Cresley’s tight hold. “Let me go! I don’t want you! I don’t want anyone!”
Cresley held him tightly even as tears rolled down her face. “You’re scaring me, buddy. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Everything is wrong,” he said, hiccupping on a sob. “My dad tried to kill Carson—and you—and then he took us and he had a gun and everyone will know what he did, and the kids will say stuff. I hate him! Why did he do that to us? Why did he hurt Carson? He’s my friend.”
Listening to Ty’s heartbroken words, Carson’s own heart shattered. “Those are all really good questions, buddy. It’s hard to understand why anyone would do those things, especially someone who’s supposed to take care of you.”
“I’m so mad that he hurt you,” Ty said, his eyes full of tears as his little chin trembled.
“Will you come here?” Carson asked.
Ty gave a quick nod that had Cresley releasing him.
Carson sat on the closed toilet and held out his arms to Ty, who stepped into his embrace like he’d been doing it all his life. “You know what the good news is?”
“There’s good news?”
“Oh yeah. There’s always good news if you look for it.”
“What is it?”
The tears on his little face wrecked Carson as he brushed them away. “You have me now, and I have you, and any time you need anything, you can come to me forever and ever.”
“Does that mean you’re my dad now?”
“Only if you want me to be, and if you do, I’d be so honored to be your dad.”
“Could I think about that?”
“As long as you want, but no matter what you decide, we’ll always be best friends, okay?”
Ty nodded.
“I’m sorry those things happened with your dad—”
“He’s not my dad. He was never my dad.”
“I’m sorry Marlon did those things, but it’s got nothing to do with you. I want you to hear me when I tell you that. It’s not your fault. Do you hear me?”
“Y-yes.”
“Give me a hug, but not too tight,” Carson said.
Ty offered a wan smile before he hugged Carson.
“I love you. Your mom loves you. Everyone who knows you loves you. This has been a tough couple of weeks, but we’ll get through it and have lots of fun and learn to surf and play hockey and lots of other things. Everything will be all right. I promise, and I never make promises I can’t keep.”
“I want to go home.”
“We’ll do that tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Really. Do you feel better?”
He was leaning against Carson as if all the fight had gone out of him. “I’m really tired.”
“Let’s get you tucked in, then.”
“Can I sleep with you guys again?”
“You bet, buddy.”
“Thank you for being my friend.”
“Aw, Ty, thank you for being mine.”
Cresley moved quickly to help Ty change into pajamas and carried him upstairs while Carson cursed the healing wounds that made it impossible for him to do that for her.
“I’m sorry if I was mean, Mommy.”