by Kim Loraine
“Damn, I’m beat. Why is it we always get the short end of the stick, Lieutenant?” Klipper massaged the back of his neck with one hand while opening his own locker.
“What do you mean?”
“You and me. We’re always working the worst fucking holidays. The Fourth, New Year’s, Halloween. Vandals and fireworks. If it isn’t pranks, it’s idiots blowing themselves up.”
Shrugging, Michael opened his locker and reached for his deodorant and extra shirt. He wanted to spend time making love to Lena, not getting cleaned up. As he pulled his shirt free of the shelf his arm caught one of the photos he had taped to the inside of the door. The glossy picture floated to the floor as he watched. There, smiling up at him was him and his two brothers, all decked out in their turnout gear, standing in front of the engine. Alex gave it all up after John had died. He’d been a newlywed and said he couldn’t risk it anymore, not after what they all watched Grace go through when she lost John. Now it was just Michael at the firehouse.
“Hey, I remember taking that picture. That’s a good one.” Klipper was standing behind him, looking over his shoulder. “Not as good as your Mr. December spread, though. I’m still pissed they didn’t ask me to be in the calendar.”
“What can I say? They didn’t want a scrawny New Yorker to represent Golden Beach.”
Klipper laughed and walked away. “There ain’t nothing scrawny about me, Oliver.”
“That’s not what your girlfriend told me.”
“Fuck off.” Klipper walked out of the room, but called out after he got a safe distance, “I’ve seen what you’ve got packing. I feel sorry for poor Lena. I hope you bought her a vibrator for Christmas.”
The house was quiet when he walked through the door, though the smell of coffee greeted him as it usually did when he came home from a shift.
“Baby? Are you here?” he called as he slipped off his boots.
The sound of muffled voices carried from the living room. Voices? Who else would be at his house before nine in the morning? As he rounded the corner he caught sight of a dark haired little boy sitting at the dining room table playing with toy cars. Big, dark eyes found his as he approached. The little boy stared at him for a moment and went right back to racing his cars.
“Michael, good, you’re home.” Lena’s voice pulled his attention from the kid in his dining room,
A sick feeling took hold in his gut when he looked past Lena into the familiar sea-green eyes of the woman who broke him into a million tiny pieces five years ago.
“Kate.”
Lena watched Michael’s face pale as he stared at Kate. The woman had just shown up at the crack of dawn, hammering on the door, insisting on seeing Michael. What was she supposed to do? The kid was crying, Kate was yelling. It was all too much. Now, seeing his reaction, she realized just how badly Kate had fucked him up.
“Kate.” The incredulity in Michael’s tone was unmistakable.
“Good to see you, Michael.”
He raked a hand through his hair and flicked a glance in Lena’s direction. She could tell his nerves were getting the better of him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I told you I needed to talk to you. You wouldn’t listen.”
“It’s been five years. What could you possibly want to talk about now?”
Her eyes went soft as she stared at him and a wave of jealousy washed over Lena. “I need your help.”
“With what?”
Lena’s heart sank as she watched Kate walk across the room and put her hands on the little boy’s shoulders. “With him.”
Michael’s eyes widened as she stood over the boy. “What are you talking about?”
“I made a mistake, leaving you. I found out I was pregnant when I got to San Francisco, but I knew I couldn’t come back.”
His jaw clenched as he ground his teeth. Lena didn’t know what she should do. Unease clutched at her throat as she weighed her options. Michael needed something, she just couldn’t figure out what that was.
“You mean I’ve had a kid for five years and you didn’t think I should know about him?”
“His name is Mitchell and he’s almost five.”
Mitchell raised his eyes to Michael and as Lena watched, the man fell apart. She could practically see his heart breaking as he tried to work through years of feeling all at once.
“Why didn’t you tell me about him?”
Kate shot a look at Lena and shook her head. “I think this is a conversation we need to have in private.”
Bristling, Lena took a deep breath as she tried to keep hold of her control. “Yeah, sure. I can give you guys some space. I’ve got some last minute packing to do.”
Hoping Michael would call her back, she began walking to the bedroom. Instead, she heard the scrape of a chair on the tile floor and the soft rumble of Michael’s voice as he and Kate started talking.
Tears pooled in her eyes as she packed the last of her carry-on items. This couldn’t have come at a worse time. She was hours away from leaving for three months and now Michael had a kid and an ex coming out of the woodwork. This was not how she wanted to leave things.
The sound of the front door opening and closing had her wiping her eyes and working to pull herself together. It wouldn’t be long before Michael came to find her. A soft knock on the door proved she’d been right. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Each breath built her resolve as she prepared to hear the words, I still love her, fall from his lips.
“I’m sorry, baby. I had no idea.” He sounded so lost as he spoke.
She busied herself with menial tasks, moving around the room, straightening a blanket, pulling open her drawers and tucking the clothes a little deeper into them, anything to keep her gaze away from his.
“Is she gone?” She hated the break in her voice.
The springs on the bed squeaked as he sat. “Would you stop it and just look at me?”
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves before turning to face him. The minute she saw the sadness in his hazel eyes her lower lip began to tremble.
“Oh, baby. Don’t cry.” He reached for her and pulled her into his arms.
“This isn’t how I wanted to leave.”
Stroking her hair, he pressed soft kisses to her temple. “It’ll be fine. I promise. We’ll figure it out.”
“What are you going to do? Clearly she wanted something from you.”
He sighed. “She’s an alcoholic. She needs me to take care of Mitchell until she’s out of rehab.”
“Rehab?”
“It’s a sixty-day program. She doesn’t have anyone else. Besides, I’m his . . . father. I should be the one looking after him.”
“He’s going to stay here?”
Shrugging, he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Those soulful eyes of his stared into hers when he pulled away. “I’m going to convert the guest room into a bedroom for him. He’ll need a place to stay when he visits after she’s done with her program.”
She couldn’t say anything. How could she? This was bigger than her. Bigger than them.
“I know you don’t want this. But I can’t abandon him. He’s mine.”
Shaking her head, she stepped free of his arms. “I never said I wanted you to abandon him. It’s just . . . the timing is so bad. I’m leaving in three hours and you’ve suddenly got a kid. He’s moving in with us. It’s a lot to take in.”
Nodding his head, he stood and caught her up in his embrace again, refusing to let her go. “If we’ve only got three hours, I guess we need to make them count.”
Lena spent the entirety of her flight working on photo edits. She couldn’t let herself think about Michael and Kate. Every time their faces flashed in her mind she thought about
how dramatically life had changed in the span of a few hours.
“What is your problem?” Rhett groaned from his seat next to her. “You look like someone pissed in your champagne.”
Shaking her head, she closed her laptop. “Nothing. I’m just trying to wrap up a project before we land. There’s a lot I want to see and do while we’re in Japan. I don’t want anything looming over me.”
“Looming. You’re so dramatic. Lighten up and have a drink. We’ll be landing soon and then it’ll be nothing but work for three months.”
“Can you just lay off me, Rhett? I’m not in the mood for this right now.”
Raising his eyebrows, he turned away and stared out the window. “You should have warned me you’d gotten your period. I would have changed seats.”
God, he was such a prick. And she was stuck with him for three months. On purpose.
As soon as they landed, she connected her Wi-Fi hotspot and messaged Michael. It was the middle of the night for him, but she knew he would want to hear from her.
Landed safely. Miss you already.
Tucking her phone away, she and Rhett waited for their bags and navigated customs. The taxi ride to their hotel was blessedly short. Aside from the concierge speaking to her in rapid-fire Japanese until she finally remembered how to tell him she didn’t understand, things had gone smoothly.
“You really don’t speak Japanese?” Rhett asked, as they waited for the elevator.
“Look, just because I’m Japanese, that doesn’t mean I speak the language. I only know the little my mom taught me.”
He frowned. “You’re not going to be any help at all, then.”
Irritation settled in the space between her shoulder blades. If he didn’t shut up soon, she was going to get fired. Luckily, the elevator arrived, and they both shuffled inside, dragging their bags behind them. All she wanted was a hot shower and a soft bed so she could sleep away the remaining hours of this disastrous day.
As Rhett got off on his floor, he sighed. “Bright and early tomorrow. I hope you’ll be more entertaining and less bitchy.”
She bit her tongue as he walked away and the doors slid closed again. Two floors later, she made her way to her room. The breathtaking view brought tears to her eyes. The skyline of Tokyo spanned the wall of windows and she couldn’t wait for the sun to go down so she could stand at the glass in her darkened room, letting the lights of the city color her walls. Her body ached with fatigue as she wandered the small space. Lying on the bed, it wasn’t long before she drifted to sleep, haunted by images of Michael and Kate with their dark-haired little boy, living the life he’d wanted all along.
Chapter 15
Michael’s heart jumped into his throat as his phone buzzed in his pocket. Hope swelled in his chest that it was Lena. So far, he’d only heard from her once. Once in two-goddamn-weeks. He needed to talk to her. There was so much up in the air right now and she wasn’t even able to call. He stared at the screen and immediately sagged in disappointment.
You’re a complete bastard. You’ve got a fucking kid and I had to find out from Mom?
Alex.
Shit, he’d meant to let his brother know about Mitchell, but there was so much happening. He’d finally told his parents last night at dinner. Mitchell would be moving in the day after tomorrow and Michael knew he’d held on to this for far too long already. He was going to need help, and his mom was exactly the person to enlist.
It’s new to me, too. Don’t be a dick. I’ve got no fucking clue what I’m doing.
Michael waited for Alex to respond. Instead of a text, his phone rang.
“Miss me?” He tried for aloof, but was pretty sure the stress in his voice bled through.
“Who did you knock up?” Alex’s gruff voice held frustration.
“What do you mean? Kate. Can’t you do math? The kid’s almost five.”
His brother scoffed on the other end of the line. “Dude, you whored yourself around plenty after Kate, and even more after John died. Forgive me for not knowing who your baby mama is.”
The mention of John was like the strike of a whip over barely healed flesh. Pushing away the hurt, he walked the perimeter of the firehouse, hoping to keep the discussion quiet.
“I’m not an idiot. I know how to use a condom.”
“Sure. That’s how you ended up with a kid. So, why is she showing up now?” His brother sounded skeptical. That was Alex, always guarded, always level headed.
“She’s got some . . . personal issues to take care of.”
“And? She just decided that now was the time to let you see your own son? What a bitch.”
Anger bubbled hot in his chest. “Hey. Don’t talk about her like that.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? She left you two days before the wedding. Two. Fucking. Days. Now it turns out she kept your child from you all this time. I can’t believe you’re not more upset about this.”
Raking his hand through his short hair, Michael shook his head. “I am. But being angry doesn’t change the fact that I have a kid and he needs me. He’s coming to live with me for two months while Kate sorts her shit out.”
“Damn,” Alex breathed.
“Yeah.”
“But Lena’s gone. How are you going to handle your shifts with a five-year-old in tow?”
“I’m working on that. Mom offered to help. I just . . . I want to keep this quiet for now. Get to know him without all the busybodies in this damn town getting in my business.”
“Then you’d better not breathe a word of this to Klipper. He’ll blab to anyone who’ll listen. You know that.”
“Yeah. I’m going to take leave for the first two weeks he’s here. But after that, he’s going to spend a lot of time with Mom and Dad.”
“That’s a good plan. Mom know you want to keep him on the down-low for now?”
Michael cleared his throat. Their mom hadn’t been thrilled about that. “Yeah. She doesn’t like it. I can’t blame her. This is her first grandkid and she can’t tell anyone about him.”
“Actually, uh, Roxie’s pregnant.”
His jaw dropped and a flood of excitement filled the gnawing hole his stress had formed in his gut. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah.” The pride in his brother’s voice was unmistakable. “She’s four months already. We find out if it’s a boy or girl in a few weeks.”
“That’s fucking fantastic.”
“I was planning to wait on telling Mom and Dad until after the ultrasound. Maybe I can convince Roxie to tell them on Sunday at dinner.”
News like that would definitely distract their mom and give her something to celebrate. “That would be awesome. Wow, Alex. This is huge.”
Letting out a nervous laugh, Alex agreed, “Fucking life-changing.”
The room was ready for Mitchell. Michael had bought him some building blocks, a few toy cars, and an Avengers bedding set in hopes that he could make the transition a little easier for the kid. Pacing the front porch, he waited to see the car he knew would appear any second, ushering in an entirely new chapter of his life.
As the telltale rise of dust began to billow in the distance, signaling an approaching car on the dirt driveway, his phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket he smiled as he saw it was Lena trying to have a video call with him.
“Son-of-a-bitch,” he muttered, swiping across the screen to accept the call.
Her beautiful almond eyes stared at him a second later. “Hey! I finally have internet and it’s not the middle of the night.”
Shifting his gaze from her to the oncoming car, he tried to keep a neutral expression on his face. “Yeah, I thought maybe you’d been kidnapped by a vengeful Japanese ghost.”
Her face lit up in a bright smile as she laughed. “We did stay at this one h
ouse that totally looked like the house from The Grudge.”
It felt so good to talk to her, to see her. His arms ached to hold her against him. He wanted to tell her how much he missed her, but the beep of the car’s horn distracted him from their conversation. Looking away from the phone, he watched with his pulse pounding in his ears as Kate and his son got out of their car.
“Michael? What’s going on?” Lena’s voice barely registered as he took in the woman who broke him to pieces, and the little boy they’d made together.
“Kate and Mitchell are here.” He focused on Lena’s face. “I’m sorry, baby. Now’s not a good time. Can we try again a little later? I need to get Mitchell settled.”
The disappointment in her eyes killed him, but she nodded and smiled sadly. “Sure. I’ll text you the next time I’m somewhere with a good connection. Good luck.”
Without waiting for him to respond, she disconnected the video call. Swallowing hard, he pushed aside the guilty feeling in his gut as Kate walked up the steps and pulled Mitchell behind her.
“He’s nervous,” she said.
“Me, too.”
Chuckling lightly, she rolled her eyes. “You’ll be fine. He’s a good kid. He’s never been away from me overnight, though. Aside from babysitters and daycare, it’s been us on our own.”
He wondered idly where she found the time to drink. Then anger seeped in. She’d put her own son at risk.
Big, chocolate-brown eyes peered at him as the boy peeked around his mother’s legs. A wave of love rushed over Michael at the sight of that little face—love and recognition. There was something so familiar in those eyes. Crouching, Michael smiled at his son. “Hey, buddy. I fixed up your room. Do you like the Avengers?”
Mitchell’s face brightened, and he nodded emphatically.
“Cool. Want to come with me so you can see it? We can put your suitcase in there, then maybe we’ll have a snack. I think I’ve got some cookies.”
