Page 12 of Forged

Jordan took advantage of the movement to slither out of Nick’s hold and to make a beeline straight through the open door into Bax’s flat.

“Jordan, come back,” Nick called after him.

“Hold on there, little tyke,” Bax laughed, rushing after Jordan. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

He managed to catch a giggling Jordan and bring him back into the hall, shutting the door behind him. Jordan had no fear in general and seemed to take to Bax immediately.

That did things to Nick’s insides that he definitely wanted to avoid.

“I, er, wouldn’t say no if you wanted to carry him downstairs and help me get him into the car,” Nick said, fighting not to be bashful about it.

“I’ll come along and help with the shopping trip, if you’d like,” Bax offered as they all started down the hall.

“Don’t you have something grown-up and important to do?” Nick asked, pushing Macy’s buggy.

Bax shrugged. “Not really. I was actually going to head out to the shops myself. We can kill two birds with one stone.”

Bax grinned at Jordan then turned to smile at Nick as they started down the stairs, carrying the buggy as they went.

That smile felt like comfort personified to Nick. It was so genuine and so freely given. And for a change, it wasn’t filled with sympathy or pity. Far too many people had treated Nick like being a widower was the central focus of his existence now and it just wasn’t.

Piling the kids into the car and making certain everyone was secured in their car seats pushed away any thoughts except the practical. Once everyone was secured, Bax was seated in the passenger’s seat beside him, and they were on their way into town, Nick was too busy focusing on fighting weekend traffic while singing along to the kids’ music he put on to think about how nice it was to have Bax with them for the errand. And once they reached Sainsbury’s parking lot and had to get the kidsout and organize buggies, there wasn’t time to feel anything but grateful he had Bax along to help with the chaos.

“I never did trust the big Sainsbury’s,” Bax said as they started up the aisle between the food and the clothing sections, Macy sitting in the buggy—which earned him a few disapproving looks from his fellow shoppers—and Jordan holding his hand as he walked.

“Why not?” Nick laughed, pausing to grab a few boxes of kids’ snacks that were on sale. The Hawthorne family might have supported him by offering a home and occasional childcare, but he was still trying to raise two kids on an artist’s income.

“It’s all just so…commercial,” Bax said, making a face at a flashy display of Valentine’s Day candy that had already been set up.

Nick laughed. “It’s commercial because this is commerce,” he said. “And the big store is perfect, because you can get everything you need in one trip.”

Bax hummed, then sighed, “I suppose so.”

Nick grinned at him, certain Bax was having a go at him with his pretend stuffiness. He would have found a way to keep the banter going if Jordan hadn’t yanked his hand away and gone charging after a shelf of soft toys that was part of the Valentine’s Day display.

That was how the pandemonium started. Jordan went off like a shot, Bax chasing after him. Macy was riled up by the sudden activity and tried to stand in the buggy. That caused one of the employees to come over and lecture him on how children were not allowed to ride in the buggies.

Bax caught Jordan, but since Nick now had to lift Macy and carry her around, they were both short on hands to push the buggy and put much-needed supplies in it.

When they headed down the veg aisle and Nick grabbed a few bags of salad, Jordan shouted, “No! Ick!” and flailed in Bax’sarms. Bax wasn’t used to managing a three-year-old and got too close to a display of sacks of potatoes. Jordan grabbed at one of them and had just enough strength to upset the balance, sending potatoes spilling everywhere.

That had the same employee who had yelled at him about letting Macy ride in the buggy chasing after them with hellfire in her eyes. Nick couldn’t help but mutter, “It wouldn’t have happened if kids could ride in the buggies,” before racing to get out of the veg section entirely.

Once they were a few aisles over, Bax burst into laughter. “Did you just tell a store employee off?” he asked, shifting Jordan to his other arm.

Nick blushed and admitted, “Yeah, I did.”

That sent Bax into more laughter, which had Jordan laughing along with him.

It should have been a frustrating and embarrassing moment, but Nick’s heart felt light. He loved seeing his kids happy, even if they were chaotic when enjoying themselves. He loved the sound of Bax’s laughter, too. Something about seeing both Bax and his babies happy, happy and together, filled him with emotions that he couldn’t quite name, but that made him feel like everything would be alright.

Those good feelings stayed with them for a few minutes and they actually managed to accomplish some serious shopping. It wasn’t exactly like things had been with Raina. That had been a very different sort of relationship. But the closeness Nick was beginning to feel to Bax touched a spot within him that had been empty since Raina’s death.

They’d almost found everything they needed and were just turning the corner of the last aisle when Nick came close to ramming his cart into…his mum?

“Mum? What are you doing here?” he asked, suddenly tense. He glanced quickly at Bax, like he’d somehow done something wrong.

His mum looked at Bax as well, then stepped forward to take Jordan out of his arms.

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