Once the gate was open, it was instinct for Brennan to crouch down close to the ground, and then that little shifter—his son—was racing toward him. Brennan held out his arms, and his son jumped straight into them.
Brennan wrapped his arms around his son’s small body and held him close. He had held Declan, Shannon, Isleen, and Finn, and he loved his nieces and nephews desperately, but nothing compared to holding his own child in his arms. He gathered the little boy even closer and stood up. His son laid his head down on Brennan’s shoulder, and Brennan patted his back.
He didn’t even know his son’s name, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was they were together now, and no one would ever separate them again. This child was now his only living relative, related to him by blood.
He spent a few minutes just breathing in and out. His son smelled like cotton candy and bananas. In fact, Brennan was pretty sure some candy was still smeared on his small hands.
After a few minutes, Brennan finally looked up to see that Fallon had walked through the gate, and she was relocking it with the code. Once she was on the sidewalk, he made eye contact with her. “Is that your house?”
Her eyes widened. “No. Not even close.”
“If this isn’t your house, what are you doing here?” Maybe she was visiting a friend. Or a family member. Maybe even a lover.
He bit back a growl. He’d had one night with her, and he certainly hadn’t expected her to stay celibate in the meantime—he certainly had not—but he didn’t like the idea of her visiting another male.
She glared at him with her piercing green eyes. “I was in that house because I was cleaning it.”
Oh, fuck. So she hadn’t finished her chemical engineering degree. She’d gotten pregnant during their one night together, so she probably missed her senior year of college.
“We need to go somewhere and talk. Where’s your car?”
She lifted her chin. “I don’t have one right now.”
She didn’t have a car. How the hell did she get around? Rideshares? Buses? He planned to find out. “I need to talk to you.”
She crossed her arms. “You will not try to intimidate me.”
Brennan stood his ground, but he did blink a few times. Wow. She was feisty. That was a side of her that he hadn’t seen five years ago. That night, she’d been captivating, but she’d seemed mostly fun-loving and carefree. Now, though, she had a child to protect.
He did need to get a grip. Yes, this was his kid, and yes, he’d been deprived of four years of being this child’s dad, but maybe Fallon hadn’t been able to find him. She wasn’t a dragon shifter, and they hadn’t exchanged last names. It wasn’t fair to blame her.
To lighten the mood, he smiled. “I won’t?”
She didn’t laugh. “No. You won’t. I won’t tolerate it.”
If he’d been human, he might have taken a step back. She was something else. There was a fire in her eyes that he’d never seen before. It must be the look of a mother protecting her child. He tried to think about how he’d feel if a stranger showed up and claimed that one of his nieces or nephews belonged to them. He’d want to rip their head off. He was going to have to keep that in mind while they were figuring out how to proceed.
“I do have a car. We can take it. Is there a restaurant around here you like?” Brennan asked.
“Yes. We can visit Waves.”
The kid’s head popped up. “Waves!” he yelled at top volume.
Brennan had to smile. This kid wasn’t blood-related to Declan, but he acted just like him. Brennan couldn’t wait to introduce them. Declan would love having another cousin to hang out with, and he would be an excellent role model for Rowan to look up to.
“Is that your favorite place to eat?” Brennan asked.
“Yes!” the boy yelled, but not quite so loudly as before.
With a sudden flurry of motion, the kid let go of Brennan and launched himself backward. In the process, he nearly cracked his head on a palm tree. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt him, but such behavior did tend to make humans very nervous. Not Fallon. She was clearly used to this behavior.
Brennan smiled again. He vividly remembered this phase with Declan. Back then, Kellan had been at his wit’s end. They’d all had to take turns watching Declan when he was a preschooler because he got kicked out of every daycare he’d ever attended for being way too rough with the other kids. By the time he was five, though, he’d mostly settled down, although a lot of that was due to Clara working with him full-time to get him ready for kindergarten.
It was the end of summer here, so maybe this kid wasn’t in school yet, or maybe he didn’t go for the same reasons Declan hadn’t in his early years.
The kid skipped along the pavement. “Which one’s your car?”
“That one right there.” Brennan pointed to the white open-air Jeep that he’d rented for the week. He relished driving with the salty wind on his face.
“No doors!”
“You’re right, there are no doors, so we have to make sure our seat belts are buckled tight.” He looked at Fallon. “There’s a booster seat in the back of the car.”
Brennan retrieved the booster and plopped it down in the seat. His son didn’t need one since even a car crash wouldn’t harm him, but no one else would know that, and they didn’t need to advertise that they were any different. Fallon picked up the seat and helped the boy sit down in it. Once he was buckled in, she climbed into the passenger seat. She didn’t say a word.
Brennan knew where the Wave restaurant was located, so he drove them there while his kid chattered happily in the backseat. When they got out of the Jeep, his son raced ahead of them.
“What’s his name?” Brennan asked Fallon. He had to know.
For a moment, she looked stricken, but she recovered quickly. “His name is Rowan.”
“I like it. I’m glad you stuck with an Irish name. What’s his middle name and his last name?”
Her cheeks flushed pink. “His full name is Rowan Brennan Ryan.”
Warmth flooded Brennan’s chest. She named his son after him, at least partially. He didn’t have the chance to have the Sullivan surname, but she’d given him Brennan’s middle name.
At the restaurant, they asked to be seated outside. Rowan walked over to a play area, where luckily, he was the youngest kid. Once a waiter had brought their drinks and had taken their orders, Brennan took a drink of beer and stared right into Fallon’s eyes.
“I have questions,” Brennan said.
“And I have answers, but you may not want to hear them.”
“I would appreciate honesty.”
Realistically, he wasn’t sure what his rights were. If he’d been human, then Liam would be able to advise him about the legal process of establishing paternity. He’d have to request a DNA test, and then he’d proceed from there. Shifter blood was different, though. Brennan’s blood and Rowan’s blood had no business in a medical lab. So whatever arrangement they came up with would have to be because he and Fallon were able to work it out.
Luckily, she was already aware that Rowan was different. Brennan had a whole lot of questions about that. Such as, why did she think he was so resilient? Why didn’t she worry about broken bones? At what point did she learn those lessons? It was clear that she was a good mother. Rowan was fortunate. So Brennan had to believe that she would work with him and compromise. She wouldn’t want her son’s DNA anywhere near a science lab.
Brennan would start with the simplest questions first. He knew his son’s name, but he needed more. “How old is he?”
“He’s four years old.”
“Did you have to drop out of college?”
“No. I clean mansions for fun.” Her jaw tightened briefly. “Yes, I had to drop out. He was born in August. I planned to go back to school for the spring semester when he was a few months old, but it was clear from the beginning that he was an unusual baby.”
Brennan hated that he hadn’t been there for her. He could hav
e paid for her college or watched Rowan. His brothers would have helped, too, just as they’d helped Kellan when Declan was a baby. “How is he unusual?”
“He’s unusually strong. The doctors said he probably has a genetic disorder that causes him to be stronger than other kids his age. They wanted to do genetic testing, but I didn’t have the money. They didn’t think it would harm him, so we don’t worry about it too much. But it does make it hard for him to make friends.”
That was a relief. “So he goes to work with you,” Brennan said.
“Yes. I’ve always had jobs where he could tag along. I worked in daycares and in bakeries where he could come along and hang out in the dining area, and now he goes with me to clean houses.”
“I help my mama all the time,” Rowan chimed in as he came back to the table and crawled into his chair.
“That’s awesome,” Brennan said to him as he held up his hand. “Can you give me a high five?”
With great vigor, Rowan spread his fingers wide and slapped his palm against Brennan’s. He executed the high five with such intense force that Brennan’s chair scooted back. He was definitely stronger than Declan had been at this age. No wonder Fallon didn’t want him in preschool or daycare.
Brennan had listened carefully, and he’d watched her face, but she’d given no hint that she suspected he was anything other than a human little boy with a condition. She hadn’t even questioned Brennan about his own genetics. But that might come later.
After a satisfying meal of mahi-mahi, all three of them were full. Brennan didn’t want to go back to the beach house and stay with his brothers. As much as he loved them and valued their time together, he wanted to be with his son. He knew that they would all understand, but he couldn’t tell them the truth just yet. If he did, his brothers would descend upon them, ecstatic to have found another family member.
Poor Fallon would have to deal with the chaos, and honestly, he wanted to keep this to himself for a little bit. He wanted to enjoy Rowan without other people around. A part of him wouldn’t mind spending more time with Fallon again, even though he wasn’t sure she was interested in seeing him. For Brennan, their night was a fond memory. For her, it was the night her life changed forever. Although she seemed to treasure Rowan, maybe Brennan was not such a pleasant memory.
He paid the bill. He did not want their evening to end.
Fallon had not given Rowan any explanation as to who he was. Yet the boy didn’t seem to need one. Rowan hopped into Brennan’s lap. “Do you want to come to our house?”
Brennan did want to come to their house. He ruffled Rowan’s hair. “Let’s ask your mom what she thinks.”
“Momma, yes! He can come!” Rowan slid from Brennan’s lap and crawled into his mother’s arms. “Please?”
Just like Declan’s had been, Rowan’s speech was very clear. Even beyond his words, Brennan could feel Rowan’s emotions. It wasn’t clear like mind-reading, but a strong feeling of happiness radiated from Rowan. Brennan couldn’t wait to get to know him better.
Fallon’s lips curved up at the corners, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. They stayed wary while she looked at Brennan. “Yes. He can come.”
6
Fallon
Other than to give him directions on where to turn, Fallon was silent as Brennan drove them to her home. She had been lonely for so long that she’d forgotten what it was like to have an adult in her home. Yes, she had Rowan with her twenty-four hours a day, and she was grateful for every minute with him, but it wasn’t the same as having an adult around to confide in.
Not that she was going to be confiding in Brennan right now, but the possibility was there if he didn’t try to fuck up her life and try to take her son.
She’d made friends, but she couldn’t let them too close. As soon as she spent a lot of time with one of the other moms, they pressed for more—more playdates, more lunches—and they even started asking for trips together or to trade babysitting duties. She wouldn’t let anyone in like that.
She couldn’t afford for them to know her secrets. As much as it scared her, now there was another adult in the world that cared about Rowan as much as she did. Brennan might not know Rowan as well yet, but she could tell already that he would protect Rowan with his life.
Suddenly, having that kind of backup as a parent was a relief. She hadn’t realized that she’d been missing that in her life, but even with the tension between them and even with her fear that Brennan would want to take her son away with him, she was convinced that Brennan wanted to provide for her kid. She wasn’t alone in loving Rowan anymore. Her amazing little boy now had a dad in his life, a dad who wasn’t going to fade into the distance or dump him if something more exciting came along.
Even if she hadn’t seen the evidence of Brennan’s commitment to Rowan, it wouldn’t have surprised her. Back in Ireland, Brennan’s clan had been known for its loyal members. Each of them protected their members with a fierceness that the Fae did not possess. Her own family had wanted to discard her for being half-human. That would have never happened in a dragon shifter clan. Even now, Brennan believed that Rowan was half-human and half-shifter, and yet he did not reject his son. When he eventually found out that his son was also a quarter Fae, he would likely take that in stride too. What would her own life have been like if her family had accepted her hybrid blood?
It would have been a hell of a lot more pleasant to grow up, knowing she was wanted, no matter what her bloodline was, instead of being shunned for something she had no control over. Fallon was thankful she’d chosen to raise Rowan here, where he’d never know the sting of being denied by his own relatives.
From Brennan, Rowan would receive only loving acceptance. So no matter how frustrated she was with Brennan’s sudden appearance in their lives, she was going to try to keep in mind the benefits that he would bring to her son’s life.
She didn’t know what his living conditions were, but she assumed they were better than hers. Her house was small and shabby, but it was clean. She tried not to imagine the creaking floor and the sagging roof through Brennan’s eyes. To his credit, Brennan didn’t remark on her home as he let Rowan drag him into the house.
“You can see my room!” Rowan yelled, tugging Brennan down the narrow hallway.
Rowan’s room was furnished better than the rest of the house. During her years of cleaning, her wealthy clients frequently discarded items. If they were going to be donated or recycled, sometimes she asked if she could have them. Her clients always agreed, and she’d been able to collect a designer bunk bed set for Rowan that had a slide at the top. He also had a nice canvas tent in his room. On the walls hung large wooden cutouts of dinosaurs, and white fairy lights crisscrossed overhead. She had worked hard to make a sanctuary for Rowan in this room, and she was proud of it.
She could tell Brennan was impressed too. “Wow, Rowan! Your room is really cool.”
Rowan immediately scaled the bunk bed and flung himself face-first down the slide.
A thought occurred to her. She scooped her son up and put her mouth close to her ear. “Brennan is like you. You don’t have to hide anything from him. Not if we’re in our house.”
He whipped his head up, eyes alight at the prospect of having another adult in his life that understood who he was. At this new information, he scaled the bunk bed again, but this time he didn’t use the ladder. He just jumped high and hoisted himself up. Then he hung upside down from the side of the bed. The sight would have given any other mother a heart attack, but even if the entire bed collapsed, which it might one day soon, he would be fine.
He waved at his father. “Hi!”
Brennan laughed and grabbed Rowan around the waist, tickling him. Rowan began to shriek, and the two of them ended up on the floor, wrestling.
Fallon had to step away. She went and sat down in the living room. She didn’t bother to turn on a light. All of them had excellent night vision. She’d tried to be a good playmate to Rowan, but it wasn’t in
her nature to play like this. It would never have occurred to her. Her kind tended to be still and quiet. They weren’t constantly on the move like the dragon shifters.
A pang of regret stabbed through her heart. If Brennan hadn’t shown up here, how much longer would she have waited before searching for him? It was crystal clear now that her son needed to be with other shifters. She would just have to negotiate with Brennan to make sure her son wasn’t taken away from her.
After about twenty minutes, Brennan came into the living room with Rowan sitting on his shoulders.
“I think this little guy’s ready for bed.”
“I’m not tired!” Rowan insisted, even as his eyes drooped.
“Thanks.” Fallon lifted him from Brennan’s shoulders and cuddled him close. She was not ready to lose any time with him, even if it was just for a few days at a time. “I’ll put him to bed. You can wait for me here.”
Brennan made himself comfortable on her couch, and with her mind numb to all the potential outcomes of this meeting, Fallon went through the process of getting Rowan cleaned up and ready for bed. Once he was in his dinosaur pajamas—also another hand-me-down from a client—he yawned and looked up at her with his big blue eyes that looked just like his father’s. “Can Mr. Brennan say goodnight to me too?”
She blinked back tears and kissed his forehead. “Of course. I’ll get him now.” She wiped at her eyes, refusing to let Brennan see her upset. If her sister could see her now, she’d scoff and ridicule her tears, scolding Fallin for giving into human emotions. If caring about her child made her human, then she’d take that over her sister’s cold cruelty any day. Once she was composed, she said to Brennan, “He wants you to say goodnight.”
Brennan was on his feet in an instant. He went straight to Rowan. She lingered in the doorway, listening to Brennan as he read him a short book, kissed Rowan on the head, and then tucked the covers tight around Rowan before coming back into the living room and flopping on the couch.
Sheriff Dragon's Secret Baby (Irish Dragon Shifter Brothers Book 4) Page 3
