Page 5 of Greater than the Heart
When Ford broke down and started to cry, Jax collected him in his arms. “Where’s Kincade?” he whispered.
“I don’t know. I—” Ford quietly replied before he continued to sob.
Jax heard peals of laughter, likely coming from the pool, so he picked up Ford and carried him upstairs to their bed. Something was horribly wrong, and it had to be more than a non-serious procedure. He was going to get to the bottom of it. Branford knew for a fact Jax didn’t like surprises.
Jax sat on their bed, leaning against the headboard. He was trying to organize his thoughts because he knew they had to go downstairs to have dinner with Cade, Sela, and Carlotta, and according to Ford, they had to pretend everything was perfectly normal.
To say he was stunned was an understatement. A lot of things could have happened to the three of them which would have stunned him less, but this wasn’t anywhere on his list of possibilities.
He looked down to see Ford’s blond head resting on his thigh, and he gently brushed his hand through the golden locks of the man that he’d fallen in love with years ago at first sight.
As Jax’s mind strolled back to those days, he couldn’t help but smile. Ford was a true beauty; a blond-haired, blue-gray-eyedboy-next-door. He was athletically built, and he had an ass Jax couldn’t take his eyes from.
It was truly a miracle that they hadn’t given up over the years because they both found themselves to be tops, but they’d stuck together, and they’d found the perfect person to balance their lives. They’d both fallen in love with Kincade Hayes, and to even consider harm would come to either of his husbands nearly made Jax physically ill.
“Branford, there’s no way we can keep this from Kincade. He might get emotional about it, but we have to plan, babe. If you don’t tell him, he’ll think he’s not as important in our relationship, and I know for a fact that’s not the message you wanna send. After Sela takes Carlotta home, we’ll talk to him, and then we’ll work out the logistics. I’m assuming you’ll need to take some time off, so we’ll work it out,” Jax reasoned.
In his heart, Jax knew he’d need Cade’s support as much as Ford because he wasn’t ready to think about something that could disrupt the wonderful life they were building together. His mind refused to conceive of something that had the possibility to change their lives.
Ford opened his eyes and sighed. “Thank you. I just needed some time to think about this. I’m going to shower and change. What time is dinner?” Ford asked as he shuffled from the bed.
“Six, I believe. Take your time,” Jax told him, fighting with himself not to follow the man.
Jackson needed a minute to get himself together. The three of them had put off making wills because Jax couldn’t comprehend being without either of the men he loved. It was unfathomable.
Chapter Three
Ford
Earlier…
Ford drove home in a daze, wishing he’d have brought someone along to do the driving so he’d make it back to the Greystone alive. One minute, he was having a relaxing shower and cleaning his balls in the stall by the pool after working out in the fitness room they had downstairs, and the next thing he knew, his doctor was telling him he needed surgery.
There was a growth on his left testicle, and the news nearly had him on the floor. The doctor had taken blood and performed a sonogram, so all he could do was wait for the results of both tests.
Ford had done his internet research and had concluded that if it was cancer and had been caught early, he’d lose a ball, but he might not need chemo or radiation therapy. The doctor had told him there were prosthetics that could be used for aesthetic purposes, but would it feel the same for him? Would it feel the same to his lovers?
Worst case—it was cancer and had spread throughout his body without his knowledge, and he was a dead man walking. He’d never considered cancer would be a problem for him.
As far as he knew, nobody in his family had ever been diagnosed with any type of cancer, but he didn’t really know much about extended family because his parents thought they were better than their siblings and hadn’t bothered to keep in touch.
Fuck, for all he knew, every person in his family could have had cancer, and he’d never know it because Neil and Alicia left family behind like so much dead weight. If it wasn’t for his grandfather, Silas, Ford wouldn’t have the little nest egg he’d kept over the years.
Once he arrived home, he felt overwhelmed by everything, thus his mountain of lies to buy time to create a plausible excuse to keep Cade and Jax from worrying. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t keep it up. He needed the men he loved, and while hehated to appear weak, if he couldn’t rely on his husbands for support, who did he have?
Two days later, Jackson had caught him at a particularly weak moment, and he finally came clean with him. As he suspected, the big man wouldn’t allow him to wallow alone.
Of course, Jax was right, so Ford gathered his strength to go take a shower. Jax came into the bathroom where Ford was shaving. “What time’s your appointment tomorrow?”
“Eight in the morning. I need to be at the hospital by seven. I... I’m scared, Jackson. I mean, what if…” he whispered, hating to consider the worst.
Ford had heard of the difficulty women had losing their breasts if they had breast cancer, and for once, he perhaps understood how they felt. His balls were the essence of his manhood. If he lost one or both of them…
Jax smiled at him as he walked over to the bathroom vanity, hopping on top to sit. “We’re not gonna worry about thewhat-ifsuntil we have to, Ford. I love you so much, I won’t hear of anything awful happening to you, so let’s keep our thoughts positive.
“Let’s get you showered and go down for dinner. Our little angel is going home tonight, so let’s concentrate on that for the time being.” Jax stripped off and followed Ford into the shower, taking a seat on the bench.
Ford sat with his legs splayed, enjoying the gentle spray from the shower heads. He turned to Jax and grinned. “Do you wish we’d have looked into having kids?”
