Page 64 of Forged

Bax realized Macy was already strapped into her car seat and was crying as well. “You’re giving the kids away?” he asked, feeling like his mind was exploding with shock.

“Just on a trial basis,” Nick said, raising his hands like he was defending himself. “Just for a little while so that we can have some time together.”

Bax gaped harder, his chest squeezing so hard he couldn’t breathe for a moment. “You’re giving the kids away because of me?” he wheezed out.

Nick’s tense look turned to all-out panic. “I don’t know what else to do, Bax,” he said, raising his voice. “I love you and I want to spend time with you and build a life with you. I haven’t felt this way about anyone but Raina. But the kids keep getting in the way, and I’m barely keeping my head above water as I juggle them and us and work and art. I don’t know what else to do. You’ll leave me if I can’t give you everything you need.”

Bax was simultaneously angry and miserable for Nick. His heart broke knowing that he’d had even a small part in Nick doing something so drastically against what his soul was probably telling him.

“I love you,” he said, his anger making the otherwise tender words harder than they should have been. He stepped closer and hooked his hand around the back of Nick’s neck, holding him there. “I love you no matter what, Nick. Are things perfect between us? No. Do we have things to work out? Yes. Everyone does. But you don’t have to get rid of the kids for me.”

“It’s just temporary,” Nick said, his eyes glassy as emotion got the better of him.

Jordan continued to scream and reach for his daddy throughout their whole exchange, despite Mrs. Turner’s efforts to hold him clamped to her. Bax couldn’t take it anymore. He broke away from Nick, marched over to Mrs. Turner, and pulled Jordan from her arms,

Jordan clung to him, wrapping himself around Bax as if he was as good as Daddy, or almost. He held on so tight and hid his face against Bax’s neck as tears, snot, and spit soaked his shirt that Bax’s heart nearly squeezed right out of his chest.

He didn’t just love Nick, he loved the kids, too. It was just like he’d told Callum at The Chameleon Club. Jordan and Macy werefamily. They were already a part of him. They shared his DNA. There was no way in hell he was going to let Nick sacrifice them to the mad idea that he had to choose between the kids or him.

“I’m not letting you send the kids away,” he told Nick firmly, even though his heart was melting more and more by the moment. “You don’t have to choose between them and me. I never imagined myself as a parent, no, but I can change. Everyone can change. We can figure this out, Nick. We can figure out how to have the time we need for each other and to keep the kids safe and happy with us, too. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”

“But I can’t give you what you need,” Nick said, breaking into tears as he crossed his limit. “I don’t want to lose you, but I don’t know how to give you everything you need when I have so many responsibilities already.”

“We’ll share the responsibilities,” Bax said, moving in to hug Nick with his free arm. “We’ll figure out what we’re doing together.”

Jordan had stopped crying and was just gasping and shuddering in the aftermath of his outburst. He had enough awareness to push himself away from Bax and into Nick’s arms. That freed Bax up to fetch Macy from her car seat.

“What are you doing?” Mrs. Turner demanded. “Stop that!” Bax imagined that if she had an umbrella with her, she would have been beating him with it. He ignored her as he pulled a crying Macy into his arms. “Nicholas, stop this. Tell him to put Macy back in the car.”

Macy clung to Bax as fiercely as Jordan had, and Bax hugged her tightly in return.

“No, Mum,” Nick said, looking intensely at Bax as he and Macy joined him and Jordan. “I’ve changed my mind. The kids are staying right here with us.”

TWENTY

That was the moment.It was the moment Nick knew would begin the rest of his life. Just like the day he’d asked Raina to marry him. He could tell from the smile of pure joy on Bax’s face, and he could tell by the warm, settled feeling that spread through his gut, encircled his heart, and made his entire body hum with rightness.

“What do you mean the children are staying here?” his mum asked, her lips thin and her words tight. “We made an arrangement, Nicholas.”

Nick sighed and pulled his gaze away from Bax. Really, he wanted to forget everything and kiss Bax just then. Hard. Whether the kids were watching or not. In fact, he wanted his kids to see. He wanted them to see that Daddy was happy and that Bax was part of their family.

“I’ve changed my mind,” he repeated for his mum. “I don’t know what I was thinking earlier. There’s no way I could give my babies to someone else to raise, even to you. I love them and I want them with me always.”

“Nicholas, this is ridiculous,” his mum huffed. “Children belong in a stable household with traditional values. Theyshould not be raised in a heathen paradise as this one with a…asorcererexerting his influence over them.”

Nick grinned. He wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t funny. His mum was insulting the man he loved. But even he had to admit that it was ridiculous that she’d gone from accusing Bax of witchcraft to labeling him a sorcerer in a matter of a few days.

“Mum, I love you, but I also love Bax,” he said, walking around to the back of her car and starting the process of taking out everything he’d just finished packing. “I claim temporary insanity brought on by stress, exhaustion, and just not trusting the man I’m in love with enough to feel like everything will be alright.” He probably could have used both hands to unpack the car, since Jordan was clinging desperately to him like a monkey, but he kept one arm around his son as he pulled the larger of the suitcases out and set it on the tarmac. “I love you,” he told Bax as he straightened. “And everything will be alright.”

“Damn right it will,” Bax said, leaning in to kiss Nick’s lips.

Nick’s mum made an exasperated sound and stepped forward, like she would come between them. “And now he’s using rough language around the babies?” she demanded.

“Mum,” Nick sighed.

There really wasn’t anything else he could do. His mum was who she was, and she wasn’t going to change that for anything.

He didn’t need her to. For too long, he’d relied on her for most of his support, but now he had Bax. It was wild how one moment, one action, could change his outlook on everything and shift his burden.

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