Page 58 of The Blessing

He gives me a small grimace before handing Grey over to me. “He wasn’t so bad. He had fun with Harper, but when it was time for bed he became frantic. I guess sleeping in a new place really freaked him out and he really missed you.” Quinton looks around before asking, “Where’s Ronnie? Did you two have a nice time?”

“She’s asleep in the truck.” He gives me a knowing smile. “We had a great time. It was better than anything I could’ve imagined.” Realizing that it’s probably weird for me to talk about his sister-in-law like that, I quickly add, “The date I mean. The date was wonderful.”

“Dada!” Grey cries, pulling at the neck of my shirt, begging for attention. “Da, da, da!”

I immediately give him all of my focus, bouncing him and kissing his forehead until he’s more complacent and realizes I’m not going anywhere. Fuck, I wonder if he thought I’d abandoned him or some shit like that. That must’ve been terrifying for him. I’ll have to spend the rest of my day making him feel safe again. I don’t know if I can stomach having him spend the night away from me again. At least, not until he’s older and comfortable with having sleepovers. I just can’t enjoy myself if I know my son’s not having a good time, too. I’d just feel too fucking guilty.

“I’m really sorry if he gave you guys a lot of grief. It’s just this is his first night away from me. I should’ve known it would be hard on him.”

“I did my best to distract him, but after a while nothing worked and he’d just say ‘dada’ over and over again.” When he sees the aghast look on my face, he quickly adds, “I’m not trying to make you feel guilty, man. I promise. Besides, Harper managed to soothe him. They’re friends already.”

I smile at the thought. I want Grey to have lots of friends because I didn’t have any when I was really little. I spent all of my time hanging out with Dean. I looked up to him and his friends—who were a few years older than me. He was never like other kid’s older brothers. Unlike them, he’d never tell me to “beat it” and go play someplace else. He always welcomed my company, even when his friends thought I was too young to play with him. He would defend me and stand up for me at every turn.

“Well, I’m going to take him home and make it up to him. Besides, Ronnie’s passed out in the truck. I’m sure she’d like to go back to her apartment, so I better get going. Thanks again, man. Make sure to tell Eden I said, ‘thanks.’ ”

“Any time,” Quinton replies as he gives me a friendly pat on the back. “He really wasn’t any trouble, Trevor. Eden would watch him all night again if it meant you were taking her baby sister on a date.”

I smile at the thought of Ronnie’s sister liking me that much. I’d never have thought that her family would accept me like this so soon. I guess I really underestimated them… or maybe I just underestimated myself. Quinton hands me Grey’s bag and I say a quick “goodbye” before heading out. I bounce Grey in my arms as I walk back to my truck. He’s still a little fussy, but not as sad as he was a few minutes ago. I kiss his forehead and hold him close to assure him that I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. He looks up at me with wide eyes and finally smiles, making everything right in the world again.

“Daddy loves you, Grey. I’ll always be here for you.”

Grey smiles at me and reaches up to touch my face. I think it was his little way of saying he loves me, too.