Page 87 of The Run Home
I couldn’t look away from him. My son.Ourson. Boon kissed me, his tattooed hand coming down to touch our son’s bald head. Tears rolled down both of our faces. I didn’t notice, but Gigi had stepped back to give us privacy, taking pictures and video on her phone.
I was exhausted but so happy I thought I might burst.
“Thank you, lovebug. Thank you for giving me everything,” Boon whispered, kissing me again.
Hours later, our son was washed and dressed in his first onesie. Gigi was downstairs to greet the family and friends that were arriving to see the baby before the town’s fireworks show. Boon was lying on the bed with me, both of us staring down at this precious lump in our arms. He was sleeping, his little eyebrows twitching like he was dreaming.
“I’ve never seen a miracle like that,” Boon whispered. When he looked at me, there was something different in his eyes. “You’re so much stronger than I’ll ever be, Shae Fletcher.”
I grinned, thinking about how smug he’d been about getting me pregnant in the first place. “Don’t you forget it, bat boy.”
His lips tilted up on the side, teasing back in his tone. “I know I won’t forget that my dick broke your water. I mean, I knew it was long and powerful, but that’s next level.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved him with my elbow, trying not to disturb our son. Though Boon might have been right…
He leaned in and kissed me, the two of us now three. Four, once Kinsley got here. For all those years that I’d felt alone after Mom and Dad died, I’d somehow been given a family of my own again, and for that I would always be grateful.
“Now what are we going to name him?” Boon asked, his gaze constantly dropping to our son and then back up to me, like he didn’t know how to take in both of us at the same time. I knew what he was feeling. The emotions were running high, like I couldn’t contain all of this love in the same heart that had walked into this hospital just a few hours ago.
“I was thinking Bray William Wolfe. Your father is the one who brought you back to Blueball, so it only seems fitting to name our son after him. And Bray was one of the names we both had on our lists.”
Boon’s eyes filled with tears, but he didn’t brush them away or hide them. He just cupped my face and kissed me tenderly. “Bray William Wolfe it is.”
All three of us snoozed on the bed until the door banged open and Kinsley walked in. She honed in on her brother, and even though he let out a cry at the disruption, she transferred him carefully to her arms and danced him around the room until he settled again.
“I love him already,” she said in a daze, gazing at him like she’d never stop.
My friends and Boon’s brothers and wives came into the room next, admiring the baby, handing me flowers, and hugging everyone like the celebration this was. The volume in the room got a little rowdy, but none of the nurses poked their heads in to shush us. A loud boom outside had all our heads swiveling to the window. There, like it had been perfectly positioned just for us, was the fireworks show coming from the park downtown.
Everyone sat around and watched the fireworks, each taking a turn holding Bray until he started to cry and needed his mama. I wasn’t adept at breastfeeding yet, but Boon was right there, helping me position him while also keeping me covered. With my fiancé on the bed right next to me, family all around, and my son suckling like a champ, I laid my head on Boon’s shoulder.
“I’ve never been so happy,” I said dreamily. And just a little bit delusionally due to exhaustion.
Boon kissed the top of my head. “This is just the beginning, my love.”
And he was right. The summer flew by with Kinsley helping me with Bray. She was a master at diaper changes, even the really gnarly ones. She and Boon had officially moved into my house by then, all three of us living together as a blended family.
It was the day before she went off to college that we saw it for the first time. It was probably just gas, but Bray smiled, showing off identical dimples on each side of his mouth.
We had a future heartbreaker on our hands.
His daddy’s chest puffed out like he’d grown this baby for nine months himself.
Lord help me with these Wolfe boys…
EPILOGUE
Boon
“Shae?”I called across the house.
She was supposed to be getting ready for our first date since Bray was born. Lydia had just put Bray in his car seat to go for a nice drive around town. Shae had agreed to a two-hour date, but I had a feeling if Bray made a peep, Shae might hear it from across town and demand to come home. I couldn’t blame her, I was a little nervous to leave him with someone else too. Though Lydia wasn’t just someone else. She was Bray’s godmother and the fiercest woman I’d want protecting my son—besides Shae, of course.
“Just a second! Meet me in the backyard?” came her voice from deep in the walk-in closet.
“Backyard?” I hollered back.
“Just do it, bat boy!”
