With Brave Wings

by Cara Dee

  Sophie couldn’t wait. She loved her job, but once she'd worked her way to the top, she wouldn’t have to pick jobs solely to establish herself in Hollywood.

  *

  Los Angeles

  "Oh, my God!" Sophie nearly bowled over as the contraction hit her. She hadn't been prepared for the pain. "Time?" She looked up, panicked, at Noah.

  He looked just as freaked out. "Thirteen minutes. They're getting closer."

  A whimper slipped through her lips, and Noah was there in a flash to help her over to the couch.

  "Has Tennyson left yet?" she gritted out, panting.

  The second the contractions had started, she'd called Tennyson, who'd had a jet on standby in San Antonio the past week and a half.

  "Yeah, he's in the air by now." Noah eyed the bag she'd already packed and kept in the hallway. "I should drive you to the hospital, right?"

  Sophie nodded, knowing she couldn’t go through much more of this pain unless she was in a hospital bed with doctors around her.

  *

  Kayden Pierce Wright was born on the sixteenth of April, and it was the day Sophie fell in love for the first time. Love at first sight—it was real.

  Tennyson had gotten to the hospital just in time for Sophie to push.

  They had the next three days together. He thanked her over and over for the most precious gift he could have ever received, and watching him with Kayden was like a gift all its own to Sophie. It was beautiful.

  "I never knew love could run so deeply," he murmured one morning as he held Kayden.

  The Wright side of the family was sold, too. Tennyson and Asher's mother was surprisingly nice. Griffin was gruff as always but sweet and proud. Asher was proud, too. Mainly because of the origin of Kayden's name.

  Everyone stopped by to congratulate the new parents.

  A small pang of loss hit Sophie at the thought of her own parents, but she refused to dwell on it. There was nothing she could do, and the grief of not having her mom and dad there was nothing compared to when Tennyson had to go back to Texas.

  It was devastating. He looked so anguished, and it didn’t get much easier as the months flew by.

  Tennyson saw Kayden as often as he could, and Sophie couldn’t imagine how painful it was to be away from their son. Even when she returned to work, Kayden was close.

  She traveled with him.

  He was there on her lap when she signed a three-million-dollar contract to star in two films that would be shot back-to-back on location in Australia.

  Daniel hired Angela, a nanny who helped out whenever Sophie was on set or when she was with her personal trainer.

  Sophie was there every moment possible to see Kayden grow and learn new things.

  Despite being there as often as he could—maybe a week or two out of every month—Tennyson missed many of Kayden's firsts. So when he was almost ten months old and cautiously letting go of furniture when he stood up, Sophie picked up the phone and told Tennyson Kayden might take his first step any day now.

  Tennyson was on the next flight.

  He had been stuck in LA while Sophie was in Boston.

  Most of her filming took place in the studios in LA, so it hadn't been more than two weeks since she'd seen Tennyson, but there was always something new.

  Not only with Kayden, it seemed. With Tennyson, too.

  The ink? Hot as fuck, and she always wanted to ask about the feather along the inside of his forearm, but it would be like putting out a fire with gasoline. She'd finally gotten him out of her head, mostly, and she wasn’t going to jeopardize that.

  She had no room for attraction in her life right now.

  By the same token, she refrained from asking why he'd bought the painting they'd created together in Vancouver.

  Now as she opened the door to her hotel suite and let him in, she couldn’t help but notice another tattoo had been added. She could only see the edge of it around his wrist, and she was curious. The silver at his temples and in his beard was ever present, but in other ways, he almost looked younger. Or perhaps not younger, but more youthful.

  "How can you look so good after a long flight?" she asked in wonder.

  This was a man who worked day and night, spent all his free time flying back and forth to see Kayden, and was two months away from forty.

  "You're too cute," he chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Everything good?"

  She nodded and pinched the hem of his jacket. "Can I see your new ink?"

  "Uh, sure." He smiled and shrugged out of his leather jacket, draping it over a chair. And it revealed the silhouette of a forest around his forearm. "I wanted something to represent Kayden." Well, that was a safe topic—unlike the other two tattoos Sophie had seen—so she raised a brow in question because she couldn’t see the connection. "Christmas trees." His eyes flashed with mirth. "It was Christmas Eve when I learned I was becoming a father. But I wasn’t keen on the idea of having a bunch of ornaments tattooed on my skin, so I went with a winter forest. I have his birthday and the time he was born inked on my shoulder blade, too."

  "That’s…" So fucking cute, she almost became weepy. "That’s so sweet, Tennyson." She couldn’t imagine a better dad than him. "Um, Kayden's napping, but it's time to wake him up." She pointed toward the bedroom.

  "Let me do it." On the way, he paused to pat Max on the head. "How are you doing, buddy? Miss me?" Tennyson grinned then continued to the bedroom.

  Damn. Sophie tilted her head, checking him out.

  It wasn’t fair. Sophie also had a birthday coming up—her twenty-third—yet she felt ancient. She couldn’t even remember the last time she went out to have fun. She knew it was before she got pregnant. Which Brooklyn loved to remind her about, but Sophie couldn’t help it. If only work and Kayden existed in her life, she wouldn’t have to deal with the outside world.

  She'd grown to despise the press. The few times the paps managed to track her down and get pictures of her—sometimes Kayden, too—she had flashbacks from the restaurant ordeal or from that hotel room back in Denver. When she'd seen all those hateful comments about herself online. Slut. Whore. Cunt. Her gut clenched just thinking about it, even though nearly two years had passed.

  It had been the tip of the iceberg that had made her change her behavior, and Tennyson had been one of the first ones to notice. He knew her. Her friends knew her. But strangers didn’t, and she was a joke to them.

  The little she did know didn’t ease her fears. Whenever photos of her resurfaced, it started a new storm. Questions about her and Tennyson's relationship. Had Sophie poked a hole in the condom? Had she tricked him into a secret marriage? Was she getting money out of it now that Daddy Dearest was out of the picture?

  Headlines were pretty difficult to ignore.

  Even Noah had gotten dragged into it because she spent so much time with him. He only thought it was hilarious, but Sophie loathed it.

  As Tennyson returned from the bedroom with Kayden in his arms, she smiled instinctively. It was getting easier to see whom their son took after. Kayden had the same dark, unruly hair that Tennyson had. His greenish eyes were all Sophie, but Kayden would definitely grow up to look like his father.

  With dimples and everything.

  "Can you say Daddy, bug?" Tennyson poked his tummy, earning him a sleepy sound from Kayden that was half giggle, half whine. "Can you say Daddy?"

  "Nooo." Kayden rubbed his eyes sleepily and stuck his thumb into his mouth.

  Tennyson shot Sophie a rueful grin. "Still his favorite word, I see."

  "Mmhmm." Sophie smiled and walked over to them, reaching up to ruffle Kayden's locks. "That and Ma-ma."

  The day Kayden called her Mama for the first time was the day Sophie forgot the excruciating pain of giving birth to him.

  "We'll add to that soon," Tennyson murmured. He kissed Kayden's hair then touched Sophie's cheek. "I've cleared my schedule after this film. I have all year."

  "Oh my God, that’s great!" She was so relieved. "Does
that mean you can come with us to Australia?"

  "That’s exactly what it means." He smiled. "I'll try not to get in your director's way."

  She chuckled and accepted Kayden when he reached for her. "Did you hear that, baby? Daddy's going with us in June." She kissed Kayden's chubby cheeks over and over, making him laugh and babble. "Yeah, you and Daddy can go on adventures while I'm stuck at work."

  "About that," Tennyson said quietly. "Brooklyn's asked me to talk to you. It's time you come out of hiding."

  "Not that again," Sophie groaned. Carrying Kayden over to the small corner kitchen, she took out a container of mashed beef and potatoes. "You hungry, Kayden? You want food?"

  He nodded. "Foo!"

  "That’s right, food."

  "I'm serious, Sophie." Tennyson joined them and leaned against the bar. Kayden decided to bounce over to him again. "Brooklyn's not the only one who's worried. I've seen it, too. You live in this bubble with Kayden and me, and it's not enough. You need to go out more."

  "I don’t want to." She placed the baby food in the microwave and then straightened, folding her arms over her chest. "How often do you go out? When was the last time you went climbing or even saw your house in Mendocino?"

  He lived in her spare room whenever he was in LA, and Sophie knew he wasn’t fond of the city she called home.

  "You're asking the wrong questions," he reasoned. "Ask me what I did when I was twenty-two instead. Do you even have plans for your birthday next month? And I mean plans that don’t involve movies with Noah, ordering in with Brooklyn, or hanging out with me and Kayden."

  Sophie had no reply to that, and she already knew what Tennyson had done at her age. He'd been a struggling assistant director. He'd helped his brother start Fight for Fighters. He'd gone out with his friends.

  "I'm only saying this because I care for you. It's nothing short of a miracle that you actually manage to be a hermit in the middle of LA, but it can't go on."

  "Hermit." She rolled her eyes.

  He looked at her pointedly. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

  She sighed and took out the food, checking the temperature.

  "Here, I'll do it." Tennyson took over. "Sit down. Relax."

  In a moment of petulance, she stuck out her tongue at him, but then she did as told and sat down at the table. She could be honest with him, so perhaps it was time to let him know why she dreaded going out.

  She watched while Tennyson fed Kayden for a while, half of the food ending up on the table—even more so when he allowed Kayden to hold the spoon. It was funny and cute. Like an unintentional food war. And why give up even an ounce of that just so she could go out with her friends? Ugh.

  "I'm afraid of rumors," she confessed.

  Afraid, absolutely terrified—what was the difference?

  Tennyson brought Kayden's empty plate over to the sink, then returned and sat down. "What do you mean?" He wiped Kayden's face with a damp towel. "What kind of rumors?"

  "About me." She hated talking about this. "You know how I was in the past, Tennyson. If I went out, like…to a club…with Brooklyn—all those rumors would start up again. But then I wouldn’t just be some spoiled party girl. I'd be a horrible mom. You know what they wrote about me after my run-in with Cass."

  "Jesus Christ, is that what you think?" Tennyson's eyes had widened during her rant. "Sophie, you're a paragon of responsibility. Anyone can see that—"

  "No, you can see that." She cut him off. "Brooklyn and Noah can see it. Daniel and Zane can see it. To everyone else, I'm still that stupid party girl."

  Tennyson shook his head. "You're wrong. You may have hidden from the paps and stayed away from trouble, but you've been in the spotlight in other ways. Premieres, interviews, photo shoots, junkets… You speak to industry people all the time, and they write about you, too. It's not all gossip."

  Sophie bit her thumbnail. "I don’t read those interviews or watch those segments."

  "Why?" He looked surprised. "Doesn’t Sage tell you what she thinks you should check out?"

  "Yes." Her publicist knew about her aversion to the media, so she sent over files of stuff that was "safe to read," but it was easier to ignore than to actually go through them. "I just don’t wanna read it. I don’t care. The studios and the producers get what they want, and I can go home knowing I've done my job."

  "Yeah, but you think people hate you when they don’t," Tennyson replied with a frown. "I watch every talk show you're on—people think you're funny. And you know what? It would've been perfectly fine if you didn’t care, like you claim, but you do, sweetie. It's keeping you hidden."

  Sophie averted her eyes to Kayden, who was busy chewing on the hem of his hoodie.

  Was Tennyson really right? Was it safe to go out?

  Regardless, she wasn’t ready, and she didn’t have time. "It'll have to wait, though. I'm so busy."

  Tennyson finally gave her some slack. "I was thinking after Australia. I know that production means a lot to you. You're shooting them back-to-back, right?"

  She nodded. She would live there for like nine or ten months.

  Unrecovered had been her first big film, but this was huge. And her agent said these were likely the last films before offers for leads began trickling in. To say she was nervous and excited would be the understatement of the century, and it had been a dream for a long time to be major enough to carry a movie. One that didn’t come out on DVD right away or have a low budget.

  "The commute's gonna suck for us." She grimaced. "I'm so glad you'll be there for most of it, though." It meant they'd only have the first two months of next year when they'd fly back and forth as much they could. "What do you have after Australia?"

  "Press. Otherwise, I'm waiting for A Killer's Walk to be green-lit," he said. "I still want you in that movie."

  And Sophie loved what little she knew of the script, so she wanted to be part of it, too. "I've already told you to count me in." She smirked. "We gotta make sure you get another statue so you can quit moping."

  Sophie had been humbled beyond words when she'd won a couple minor awards—compared to the Oscars—for Unrecovered. Tennyson, on the other hand, had been irritated when he didn’t get the Oscar for directing.

  Seriously, if she were ever nominated for an Academy Award, she'd die of sheer joy.

  In the end, Unrecovered had won three Oscars, which was terrific to anyone but Tennyson.

  It showed he really could be quite arrogant, and he'd muttered crap about awards for best score, film editing, and adapted screenplay not being real awards.

  Sophie and Asher had both whacked him upside the head.

  "Let's not rehash the past," Tennyson said. "We should get back to talking about you. I have a proposal, and before you freak out, I've taken your schedule into consideration."

  "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma!" Kayden decided he'd stayed quiet for too long, so Sophie picked him up and positioned him on her lap.

  "Should we listen to Daddy's proposal?" She made a funny face as Kayden smashed her cheeks together and giggled. "Huh? Should we listen to Daddy?"

  "Yuh!" He laughed. "Bam-bam!"

  "He's saying yes." Tennyson grinned at them.

  She threw him a look, though it was difficult to hide her amusement. "Fine. What do you have in mind?"

  He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table, seriousness taking over. "Mendocino. When you come back from Australia next March, I want to take Kayden and Max to Mendocino for a week."

  "A week?" Sophie asked in disbelief. "A whole week?"

  One night was fine—happened often enough—and she'd survived up to three nights in the past. But a whole fucking week? And all the way up in Mendocino?

  It was practically in Oregon!

  "Yes." He merely smiled. "You'll take that week off to have fun. Either go away with your friends or go out in LA—but you won't have Kayden and Max to worry about."

  Sophie wanted to say no, but she wanted this discussion to be over even m
ore. Next March was over a year away, and a lot could happen.

  "You've never shown me your house." She pretended to be upset. "I could always come with you."

  Tennyson saw through her. "Nice try, but you know it's your schedule's fault you've never come up to visit. But sure, you can come, too. My parents will probably be there." He smirked knowingly.

  Blegh.

  As it turned out, Griffin—Tennyson and Asher's father—was a hoot. He was incredibly nice, albeit old school and rough around the edges, and he adored Kayden. But Ms. Prissy Pants? No, thanks. Karen could go suck something.

  Tennyson was a man of his word; he demanded Karen treat Sophie with respect, which she did, but Sophie wasn’t blind. It was very forced, leading to their rare get-togethers being filled with tension.

  "All right," Sophie conceded. "When I get back from Australia… One week. I'll be a little more social."

  "Good." He was obviously pleased. "You'll thank me one day. But for now, shall we see if our son can walk?"

  Kayden did walk, though it took him another two days, and by the time Tennyson returned to LA, the studio was pissed at him.

  Not that he seemed to care; he was the epitome of a proud father who'd just witnessed his son take his first steps.

  *

  Los Angeles

  Sophie honked the horn, and Brooklyn said goodbye to her coworkers outside the studio where she worked at the moment.

  They were having a spa evening. Tennyson, Asher, and Noah were watching Kayden and Maliah, leaving two moms with some precious time for pampering.

  "You ready for the land down under?" Brooklyn asked with a grin.

  "I'm nervous as fuck." Sophie stopped at a red light and tapped the wheel. "I'm gonna miss you guys." It had hit her last week when she and Tennyson had finalized the arrangements for the house they were renting together. A lot of the actors would be in the same neighborhood, and it was going to be so weird not coming home to rowdy guys—Noah, in particular—or to be able to call up Brooklyn and catch a movie.

  "Maliah and I will visit," Brooklyn promised. "I bet you'll be too busy to even miss us!"