Page 72 of Charming But Reckless

Smiling at the raised voice, I stood and turned to watch the hall for the first sign of the pair. I had no doubt Sol was headed to the bedroom to wake us up first. They’d both head out this way once they saw I wasn’t there.

Sure enough, they appeared a minute later. Arick was being dragged by a giddy Sol. It was the happiest I’d seen him since his bad day.

“We’ll find him. Don’t you worry,” Arick said before he froze. “What in the —”

Admittedly, I might have gone overboard with everything. I didn’t want to hold back though. These two needed to see how much I loved them by my actions.

“Happy birthday!”

Sol ran to me, his small arms squeezing me tight. “Did you do all of this, Dad?”

“Sure did, kiddo. Had to go all out for your birthday. Do you like it?”

I held my breath, though I shouldn’t have worried. He nodded emphatically, then went to look closer at the decorations.

There were streamers, balloons, and loads of confetti. I’d even hung photos from strings on the ceiling to add to the family energy I was going for.

Arick walked up to me much slower than our son had. “How long did it take you to do all this?”

“Let’s not talk about that. Tell me you’re not mad that I steamrolled any plans you had.”

“Absolutely not!”

Horror filled me as I thought about how badly I’d fucked up. He must have realized how his answer sounded because he planted a hard kiss on my lips, then placed his hands on my shoulders and shook me.

“You silly man! I’m not mad. I’m thrilled. He’s never had someone in his corner besides me. This is the best surprise. It means the world that you thought of him enough to do all this.”

I wiped away the tears as they started to fall from his eyes. Holding his face in my hands, I basked in the rightness of it all.

“This is only the start of it all, baby. Every birthday, every holiday, is ours to have together.”

He groaned, though he wore a big smile. “Should I be worried about Christmas?”

“Probably. I have zero control when it comes to you two.”

“That’s not such a bad thing. I know he deserves it after everything.”

I tightened my grip, making sure he focused on my words. It wasn’t enough to hurt. Just enough to let him know I was serious.

“You both deserve it. Yeah, what he went through was horrible. But you also had to deal with the worry and stress of not knowing what was happening to him. Your birthday might be even more outlandish,” I admitted.

“Dads! Look at this!” Sol’s shout drew our attention. I laced our fingers together, then walked over to see what our son wanted to tell us.

It was the best feeling in the world.

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