Page 21 of Zac

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“Oh wow,” Presley says as they step inside. I grab her jacket and slip it off her shoulders and watch as Gray peeks around her legs. “Look at this, buddy.”

Grayson slowly eases forward.

Kneeling down, getting eye level, he never takes his eyes off the fort.

“Have you ever slept inside a fort before?” Staring ahead, he shakes his head at me, his eyes wide with amazement. “Well, that is all for you.” He shifts his gaze and looks at me.

“Mine?’ he asks and it’s my turn to nod my head.

“You can go check it out.” He glances back at Presley and she offers him a nod and then he is off. Running across the space and skidding to a stop right at the entrance. Suddenly he disappears inside and all we can hear is laughter and squeals.

I watch for a minute wondering if he will come rushing back out.

“He’ll be busy for hours,” she tells me before taking a step closer. I’m frozen in place as Presley places her hand on my arm and moves in. Pressing a kiss to my cheek, I’m sort of stunned for a moment until she once again creates space between us.

“Thank you for doing that for him.” She offers me a smile. “It’s perfect, more than perfect actually.”

“I wanted him to enjoy himself.”

“He would have been happy even without the fort, he’s been talking about staying at Zac’s all day.” She smiles. “But the fort is a huge bonus.”

I remain where I am, watching as she joins her son and I hear the echoes of his giggles ricochet around the big open space. Closing my eyes I listen loving the sounds. Lately the place has felt like it was swallowing me up, but tonight, for the first time in a long time, I feel comforted.

Placing Presley’s jacket on a hook I walk toward the laughter and peek inside. Press is tickling Grayson, him on his back. He’s shifting from side to side, his legs and arms flailing.

Moving closer I crouch down and move inside, joining them.

Grayson starts to explore the area, and I notice how Presley is looking around too.

"Let me show you something.” I stand up and move over to the part that is facing the television. With a few Velcro straps I release the wall and it opens up further. “You can still lay in the fort and watch a movie too.” Grayson does that wide-eyed full of excitement look and I grin.

He can’t hide how he is feeling even if he tried, every little thing he expressed showing through his eyes.

I grab the controller and get it to the program I wanted to show him. “Your mom said that you two like watching cartoons?”

He starts nodding his head.

“Well,” I get to the place I want to be and then pass him the controller, “you can choose whatever you want to watch.”

Gray is in complete awe as he takes the controller from my hands and starts to scroll.

I glance at Presley and notice she is staring at me. I offer a smile and she quickly looks down. For a minute I wonder if I’ve screwed up. But then she lifts her head and mouths a thank you to me, before the two of them settle in and pick a show.

The three of us get comfortable and spend the next hour and a half giggling our way through a Disney movie that I am sure he’s watched a hundred times. There were a few times that I even caught Presley mouthing the words right along with the characters.

ChapterSixteen

Presley

This night had been so much more than I expected. I’d be worried if it was any other man, but Zac, he’s not the type to have an ulterior motive. He is honest and kind, and one of Aurora’s best friends.

He went above and beyond to make sure that Grayson was comfortable here. Watching him with my son made me both sad and happy. Sad that his own father couldn’t be the kind of man Zac was, and happy because if he couldn’t have his own dad, then having an awesome pal like Zac seemed like a perfect alternative.

The two of them were like two long lost buddies, caught up in conversation while having a drink. The conversation being about cartoons and the drinks being juice pouches but hey, it’s all the same.

The attention he gave Gray wasn’t fake, it was from the heart. They played trucks inside the fort, and when it got darker, they got flashlights and had a laser show. I was in awe for hours, feeling raw and emotional and incredibly thankful. However I knew that I’d be forced to hear Grayson beg for a repeat of tonight every single night that follows.

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