Page 75 of Single Mom's Firefighter SEALs
“There he is,”she says with a smile.
“You make it sound so simple.” I cover her hand with mine and squeeze.
She shakes her head.“Youmake it sound survivable.”
I lift her knuckles to my mouth and press a kiss there. It’s a quick kiss, because this is the station, and if I let myself take more, I’ll be done for. “Thank you,” I say.
She brushes her thumb against my wrist. “You don’t have to thank me for believing in you.”
CHAPTER 41
BUCK
When I walk Elena out to the bay, T.J.’s sitting cross-legged on an old blanket. There’s a plate of cookies on one side of him and a container of LEGO bricks on the other. Weston and Calder are both kneeling beside him.
“Hey, Mom. Look what I made.” The boy holds up a multi-colored creation that might be a spaceship or part of a fire engine.
“What’ve you got there?” I ask.
He glances up at me with a serious expression. “Mobile rescue unit.”
“Looks fast.”
“It is.” After he takes a bite of a cookie, he snaps on another piece. “And it has armor.”
I lean against the engine’s bumper and fold my arms. “Useful feature.”
T.J. nods, like I confirmed somethingimportant.
“What’s with all the cookies?” Elena asks him.
Before he can answer, Calder says, “We gave him some pizza before the cookies.”
Elena lifts a brow at Calder, then looks back at her son. “I guess this is your dinner?”
As T.J. shrugs innocently, the men get to their feet, and Weston takes Elena’s arm.
“Don’t worry. We saved some pizza for you.”
“We’ll even warm it up,” Calder says, as they lead her off toward the kitchen.
T.J. keeps building for another minute, then looks up at me. “Mom said we’re practicing safety stuff at school tomorrow?”
“That’s right.” I push off the engine and come closer, crouching down so I’m not towering over him. “Just like a fire drill, except a little more specific. You stay with the adult you’re told to stay with, and you move when we tell you. You don’t go back for anything, even if you forgot your backpack or a project.”
He makes a face. “Even if it’s my volcano? I built another one.”
“Even then. And if Weston or Calder tells you something, you listen to them exactly like you’d listen to me. Understand?”
“Yeah.” He snaps two bricks together, then pulls them back apart again and repositions them. “Are you gonna be there the whole time?”
“Yeah, buddy. I’ll be there.”
“With Mom, too?”
I reach for a couple of LEGO pieces from the container. “Yes.”
T.J.’s quiet for a full minute, then, still focused on his rescue unit, he asks, “Are you gonna be my new dad?”
