Page 7 of Greater than the Heart
“Sweet fancy Moses, Branford. We’re nowhere near you leaving us. This is a premature discussion, but if you want children, then you need to talk to me and Jackson together. Don’t just…” Cade snapped as his tears started to fall.
Ford took him into his arms and held him. They were all too fucking emotional, so they needed to get a good night’s sleep.
“Let’s clean up the dishes so poor Connor doesn’t have a heart attack in the morning. I don’t want Sela to know about this yet, okay? It’s between the three of us,” Ford demanded…gently.Cade nodded as they got busy cleaning up the dining room and the kitchen.
Just as they were finishing up, Jax came in through the garage. “You’ve talked?” Ford nodded as he held his two loves in his arms.
“Let’s go to bed. What time do we need to be there?” Cade asked.
“Up at six, hospital at seven, surgery at eight.” Jax led the two of them upstairs.
They quickly took care of bedtime business before they climbed into the king-sized bed and moved to the middle, holding each other. Ford was between them, and it felt so incredible to have his husbands engulf him in loving arms. It would be a memory he’d keep for always.
“Branford, this is Dr. Schulman. He’s going to give you a little sedative. We’re going to perform an orchiectomy. We’ll make an incision in your belly and…” the doctor began.
The gist was they’d take out the ball, slice off the tumor, biopsy it and have a pathologist look at it right there. If it was cancer, the ball and some other stuff would come out and a prosthetic testicle would be inserted in its place.
There would be additional testing to the lymph glands to determine if the disease had spread or not. If it hadn’t, then that was the end of it. If it had spread, there would be follow-up with chemo or possibly radiation. It all sounded scary as fuck.
Ford had changed out of his jeans and T-shirt into a hospital gown and no underwear.Why would you wear underwear? They’re going after your junk.
He turned to Cade and Jax. “You’re going to the club tonight, right? It’s Wednesday, and Griff said there was a birthday party tonight. I need you there, Kincade. Cleveland can handle most of it, but honey, this is your business too,” Ford told him.
Jax reached for Cade’s hand before gripping Ford’s. “We’ll take care of it. You just think positive thoughts.”
Dr. Schulman gave him a shot in the IV line, and he remembered soft kisses to his lips before he fell into a deep sleep.
“Silas, get back here,” Cade called to a little boy with bright red hair. As he looked around, Ford saw they were at a beach, and a beautiful little boy was running around in Speedos, eluding Cade at every turn. Cade’s giggle brought a smile to Ford’s face.
“Lunch!” Ford turned to see Jackson walking down the beach with a basket. Sela was pregnant, and Carlotta was taller…and older.
As Jax lowered Sela onto the blanket, she laughed as she turned to her brother. “I’m done, Branny. Twins are definitely above and beyond the call of duty. I already carried that little monster.” She pointed to the boy Cade was chasing.
“Baby, we’re right here.”
The voice was familiar, but it sounded far away in his groggy state. Ford opened his eyes to see Cade and Jax standing next to the bed on either side. It was heavenly to see the men he loved waiting for him.
The dream had been amazing, but it was just a dream. Having the two men he loved standing next to him was more than enough. He wasn’t about to get greedy.
Chapter Four
Cade
The surgeon had removed Ford’s left testicle. The tumor was cancerous, but it had been caught early, thankfully. Ford had a brand-new silicon testicle and a really bad attitude about the whole thing.
The lymphatic sample was sent to another facility for further testing to ensure the cells hadn’t spread, and they were simply waiting for the call. Of course, the waiting had everyone on edge.
It was Friday night and Jax was home with Ford. Cade wished he could be as well, but he’d spent the afternoon at home with Ford while Jax was at the Center. It seemed Ford had nearly accepted the fact he was going to die, and Cade wouldn’t hear it.
“I want you and Jax to have a family, Kincade. I’d bet you a hundred bucks Sela would be a surrogate for you. Just think about it,” Ford had insisted. Yeah, Cade wasn’t going to think about it because Ford wasn’t going anywhere.
The knock on the office door brought Cade from his thoughts. “Come in.”
When Cleveland entered the room with a look of concern, Cade sighed. He believed Cleveland, who was a trusted employee and loyal friend, should have been told the truth about Ford’s surgery, but Ford had demanded nobody at the club be told about the biopsy. Cade couldn’t help but honor his husband’s wishes.
“Hey, Cleve. What’s up?”
“Look, Cade, I love y’all. I know some shit’s goin’ on, but you haven’t made it my business so I ain’t askin’. Now, that asshole, Marcus Drury is downstairs at the bar askin’ for ya. I can get Toby and Deon to throw him out and beat his ass such that he won’t come back, but maybe you wanna work out a little aggression? At least come downstairs and tell the asshole to get lost. I think you’ll feel a whole lot better about shit after,” Cleveland told him.
