Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
Easton
I swear good things always happen right when I’m about to leave for an away series. Thankfully this time it’s only three days away, but standing in what is supposed to be Hadley’s room, I can barely contain myself after what I hear.
“Mama.”
He called her mama. I shouldn’t watch through the monitor like some techno Peeping Tom, but it was still on when I came in from taking a shower after the best blow job I’ve ever gotten in my entire life.
I thought it would just be one of those moments I got to see them together that would put a smile on my face. Then Tanner said, “Mama,” and I stopped in my tracks, worried about Hadley’s reaction.
I watch her stop for a second, and he repeats himself, holding his arms out for her.
This isn’t my moment to see or witness. I should let it be between them, and I know I’m being really fucking selfish right now, but I can’t pull myself away.
She picks him up, hugging him and kissing his cheek.
That has to be a good sign.
He places his hands on her cheeks and stares at her, repeating the word as if he’s questioning his use of it.
I have no idea where he heard that word except that he’s around Ellis and Flora and all the other kids who have moms and refer to them as such. Or maybe it’s all the books Hadley and Felix read to him that have a mom in them.
Regardless, Tanner’s appointed Hadley his mom, and though it feels so right to me, I’m fixated on what Hadley’s response will be.
She smiles and covers one of his hands with hers. “Yeah, Mama.”
All the air leaves my lungs in a rush.
Holy shit, did she really just tell him she is his mama?
I wait for her to come in and tell me so we can share this moment together. Will she be excited? Terrified? Turning off the monitor, I get dressed while I wait.
But she never comes.
I overhear her in the kitchen, putting Tanner in the high chair and fixing him a snack while they talk about what they’re going to do while Daddy’s away. When I’m finished getting ready, I go out to the kitchen. She glances at me but says nothing.
Dread fills my stomach. Why isn’t she telling me? It’s exciting, isn’t it?
Then the other side of the coin makes me realize that maybe she doesn’t know what to do with it.
“He’s up?” I try to keep my voice even.
She looks over from cutting up some bananas for him. “Yeah, got up while you were in the shower.”
“I gotta go.” I walk over to her, and her hands are busy, but she wraps them around my neck. “I hope I’m not raw when I get back after that picture you took.”
And I mean it. I’m going to beat off to that picture, remembering her sucking me off, every night until I’m home again.
“Then I’m going to be disappointed when you get back.”
I stick out my tongue. “I always have this.”
She chuckles. “But I much prefer the other part.”
I kiss her, not too long, not too much tongue, and she hugs me goodbye.
This is the worst part of my job right here.
I walk over to Tanner and kiss him goodbye as he tries to grab my cheeks, and then I whisper in his ear, “Good boy.”
I swear he grins at me as though he understands.
I say another quick goodbye, dragging it out before I finally leave and meet Foster and Decker downstairs. We all walk out of the security gate to head to the bus that will pick us up at the stadium and take us to the airport.
“Hey, guys…”
They each turn around, and I want to ask them for advice. Why wouldn’t she tell me? But I decide no, I’m not going to read anything into it.
When I first heard it, it was a shock. It might be even more so for her, Tanner picking her.
She might not have told me, but she didn’t run.
I’ll be patient and wait a few days to see what happens.
I guess my son takes after me. When he finds the one he wants to keep, he makes sure to lock her down.