Page 55 of Hunter

“Were you scared?” Adair’s voice caught his attention.

“Huh?”

“When you heard that the big men came into the house … were you scared?”

“Yeah, I was. I was so scared I thought I’d die.”

“Don’t die, Uncle Hummer!” Adair cried out with concern, like Hunter was about to drop dead then and there.

It was such a bittersweet surprise that all my flooding emotions came out in a burst of laughter. Even Hunter’s shock turned into laughter. He had the most beautiful, rough laugh I had ever heard.

He ruffled Adair’s short curls. “Don’t worry, Adair; I’m not going anywhere yet.”

Adair, although confused by our laughter, smiled with relief.

“Now,” Hunter said, picking Adair up by the armpits and spinning him in the air until he dropped him on the bed, the boy giggling, “it’s time for bed.”

“But Momma—”

“Will be right here, baby,” I said, getting up to press a kiss to his forehead before moving over to the other bed.

I pulled down the sheets and slipped into the side closest to Adair, making an obvious effort to curl myself up in the surprisingly silky sheets. My exaggerated comfort turned out to be too real as I sank into the memory foam mattress. Gosh, this bed felt like heaven.

When I rolled back to look at Hunter and Adair, Hunter had an amused smirk on his face.

“What?” I asked.

“I’ve never been jealous of a bed before,” he mused, making me blush before turning back to Adair whose green eyes were already drooping

“G’night, Uncle Hummer.” His voice slurred a little as he pulled Hunter close for a kiss.

“Night, little man,” Hunter whispered back, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Then Hunter flicked off the light from the switch by the bed.

Aside from the dim nightlight in the wall between mine and Adair’s bed, the room was awash in darkness. I listened for the sound of Hunter’s footsteps, but before I heard them, Adair’s drowsy voice whispered in the dark.

“Uncle Hummer?”

I heard Hunter’s footsteps backtrack to Adair’s bed.

“What’s up?” he whispered back like I had fallen asleep the second the light had gone off and they didn’t want to wake me.

“You know how you said you were scared?”

“Yeah.”

“Does that mean I’m precious?”

“More than anything.” There wasn’t even a second of hesitation in his answer.

I smiled in the dark, a welcomed warmth turning my heart into a sloppy mush.

“What about Momma? Is Momma precious, too?”

“Yeah,” Hunter whispered. “So precious it hurts.”

“Okay,” Adair whispered. Then the soft sound of his sleeping breaths filled the room.

Hunter’s footsteps sounded again as they moved across the room. Then the bed dipped on the other side.

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