Page 20 of If Only In Our Dreams

I met a girl named Becca—she looked suspiciously like Baxter—who took one look at my outfit, gave me a thumbs-up, and told me I was—and I quote—“Hot shit. No cap.”

Maybe I was getting old, but I had no idea what the fuck half of that meant. So I just nodded and told her she was too. Which made her incredibly excited.

All the while, I searched the crowd for a familiar little blond head, only to find Bubba suspiciously missing.

By the time I was full of sugar and squashed between Miles and Trent on the couch, I felt two seconds from bursting. This was…a lot of people. Nice people, yeah. But they were still people. And I needed a break.

“Where’s Bubba?” I asked, two man-shoulders smushing me.

Jesus fuck, I was surrounded by giants.

Across the room I caught a glimpse of Ben talking to his mom. He looked visibly uncomfortable, and I had no doubt she was trying to tell him about his own books again. Which was so fucking cute, what the fuck.

“He’s comin’,” Miles assured me, grinning down at me. “He’s still getting ready.”

It’d been at least an hour since I’d gotten here.

What the hell was he doing?

As if he had read my mind, a parade of tiny feet thundered down the stairs loud enough to be heard over the low rumblings of the party. Four kid feet, and seven dog feet thumped their way into the living room as Bubba—and a kid I did not fucking recognize—burst into view.

Bubba had a poster in his hands, glitter sliding off of it and sluffing onto the floor as he held it high above his head. His headwhipped around as he searched the crowd for me aaaand—the second hesawme his entire fucking face lit up.

Like Christmas.

I was off the couch in seconds, cheeks hot and uncaring of the spectacle I made launching myself across the room like a bat out of hell. Ben paused mid-conversation with his mother, his attention on me once again, and Miles looked like a fucking kid with a jar full of cookies—but all my attention went to my favorite kid in the whole fucking world.

“What’s up, pipsqueak?” I teased, sliding through the crowd and across the floor. I’d taken my shoes off at one point, and my socks offered no traction. Vibrating with glee, I paused only a foot or so away from him, my gaze caught on his familiar—and now older—face.

He was taller than the last time I’d seen him. Less baby fat too. The poster lowered down by his chest, as Bubba tipped his head up to stare at me.

“Nothing much,” Bubba waited for a beat, face scrunched up as he tried to think of a comeback. This was our favorite game. We played it every time I saw him. “Uncle…” His face pinched even more. “Idiot.”

I laughed, unable to help it, before tilting my head to admire the poster he’d made at the same time a grin split across his face.

“Welcome home!” Bubba shook the poster at me, and I did my best to cover my mirth as I read what it said.

Welcome back, Uncle Dad Robin. Dad Uncle Robin. Duncle Robin. Robin the First. Duncle Robin the 1st. Duncle Robin the 1st, the coolest duncle in all the land.

It’d never been a secret that I was Bubba’s bio dad. He was even fucking named after me. And while I’d never been present in his life the way Miles was, I’d done my fucking best to provide for him in whatever way I could.

The way my dad never had.

“I didn’t know what name to call you so I called you all of them,” Bubba declared, looking shy and excited all at the same time. “Is that cool?”

“Fuck,” my eyes burned a little. “That’s super cool. Put that poster down, you little shit, before I break it trying to hug the fuck outta you.” Laughter burst through the room, reminding me that this wasn’t a private moment at all as Bubba set the poster down carefully, commanded his tall friend to watch it, and then held his arms out expectantly.

You can bet your ass I squeezed the fuck outta the goddamn kid.

And all the while, I felt the heat of Ben’s eyes on me.

Warmer than his hand had been.

Theyburned.

I was more than a little glad for my nap with Ben on the plane because, without it, I had no idea how I would’ve survived the party Miles had planned for me. There were so many people and names. So many stories that I got them all jumbled up in my head.

No one seemed to recognize me, which was relieving and a bit flabbergasting.

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