Page 141 of His Boys to Protect

Ward muttered a curse and scrubbed a hand down his face. All of that was moot, anyway. Everything had to wait until Skylar was healed. And if the boy had taken a bad turn—as Charlie's urgent text implied—then nothing else mattered in that moment but getting home to make sure Skylar was okay.

When he finally reached the apartment, Ward parked his truck, then hesitated. Gripping the steering wheel, he closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. Even before getting Charlie's text, Ward had endured one hell of a day. He didn't want to bring all that inside to the boys.

Ward took another deep breath, waiting to make sure he was calm, then hurried inside. He barely paused long enough to take off his boots before heading towards the bedroom, softly calling, “Charlie?”

The boy met him halfway, throwing himself into Ward's arms.

“Hey, little mouse,” Ward murmured, rubbing Charlie's back. “What is it? Where's Sky?”

“Hhnn.” Charlie pointed at the bedroom, then grabbed Ward's hand and tugged him along.

Ward found Skylar sitting up in bed, pushing the covers aside.

“What's going on?” Skylar asked.

“Charlie was worried about you.” Ward perched on the edge of the bed, stopping Skylar from getting up. “You feeling okay?” He reached out and held Skylar's chin, studying the boy's face.

“Yeah. Fine.”

“Sky.”

Skylar winced. “I just felt really tired today, all of a sudden. The doctor did say that could happen.”

Ward glanced at Charlie, who begrudgingly nodded.

“It was the same after my top surgery,” Skylar went on. “I kept feeling better every day, and then, out of nowhere, it was like I took a giant step backwards for a day or two.”

Ward gave the boy a through once-over. “Did you get any sleep?”

“Yeah.” Skylar glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “A couple hours, actually. Feeling a lot better now.” Skylar squirmed. “Except Ireallyhave to pee.”

Ward chuckled with relief as he got up and stepped aside. “Sorry. Go on.”

Skylar made a beeline for the bathroom.

Ward pulled Charlie into his arms. “He's okay, little mouse.” He pressed a kiss to the top of Charlie's head. “Thank you for texting me, though.”

Charlie gave a littlechirpand burrowed closer.

“And how are you? Did you have a good day otherwise?”

Charlie tensed.

“No?” Ward asked.

The boy pulled away and frowned, rocking on his feet.Stuck, he signed.

“Stuck? What's stuck?”

Charlie rolled his head.Want go home, he signed. After a short pause, he added,Want stay here. Charlie frowned.Not here. With you and my Sky.

Ward bent down, putting them at eye level. “I am so proud of you, little mouse. Taking such good care of Sky. You've been so good for Daddy, you know that?”

Charlie squeezed his eyes shut and let out a long, happysqueak.

Ward grinned.

But then Charlie's joy faded from his face.Miss laptop, he signed.And my mug.

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