Page 96 of Winning You
Frankie let out a breath. “Can I…” He trailed off for a beat. “The kids, will they be weird with her? I know you came here when you were older, so?—”
“Hey, my poet,” Lucas murmured.
He didn’t call Frankie that often, but his face always warmed under Lucas’s hands when he did. “Mm?”
“You can breathe. My family is different. One of my uncles is an amputee, one of them has a muscle disorder and uses a wheelchair half the time, one of my new adopted-in uncles is Deaf. My new dad has a nervous system disorder that gives him cataplexy—which, by the way, if he slumps over, don’t panic. He comes out of it pretty quick.”
“Oh,” Frankie said.
Lucas realized he hadn’t talked about his family enough. “One of the kids—Rex. He’s Deaf too. He’s why I know how to tactile sign. They’re the reason I felt so safe when I got here. Like I wasn’t the only one who didn’t always fit out in the real world.”
“That’s,” Frankie said slowly, but he didn’t finish his sentence.
Lucas didn’t need him to though. He knew how he felt. It was the same feelings he’d gotten when his dad brought him around and he realized that he wasn’t the odd one out anymore. That none of them were the same, but they understood why and how the world could be total shit.
And he could only hope that Elodie could find peace growing up with them too.
“Kiss me,” Frankie said. “Every time I think being with you can’t get more perfect, it does.”
Lucas obeyed, keeping it soft and mostly chaste, but a promise of what was to come later. “I’m so in love with you.”
“Do you think they’ll accept it?”
Lucas pulled back. “I don’t know. But I want to have faith because so far, they haven’t let me down.”
Lucas braced himself when he recognized his dad’s heavy footfalls. Bronx tugged him into a fierce hug, then murmured against his ear, “Tell me you didn’t bring a child as a shield to keep me from grilling your new…boyfriend?”
“Boyfriend,” Lucas confirmed. He pulled back. “I’m hurt you think I’d do such a thing.”
“I’m insulted you think you could pull one over on me,” Bronx fired back.
Lucas grinned, but it felt cheap on his face. Fake. He was nervous. “Please don’t freak out. I really like him, and I promise it’s not weird.”
Bronx was quiet for a long beat, and then he said, “If I can trust anyone to know when something is good, it’s you. You’ve saved more people than you know, Luke.”
He had no idea how to take that, but he had never loved his dad more. “Promise you won’t make any weird age jokes. He’s super stressed about meeting you, and he has a lot going on.”
Bronx sighed loudly. “That is a big ask, son. A big, big ask. But if this means I can be a step-grandpa, I’ll take it.”
Lucas hadn’t realized what bringing Elodie into the family might mean, but it hit him. Hard. Elodie was going to be Frankie’s adopted daughter. Which would eventually—hopefully—make Lucas her stepdad. Which would then make Bronx and Monty…
“Won’t it make you feel old?”
“You have been making me feel old since you were born,” Bronx said flatly. He wrapped an arm around his shoulder, taking care not to knock his cane around. “She’s adorable, by the way.”
“I know. She’s blind. CVI and cerebral palsy. She sees some stuff, but she won’t recognize you for a while. She’s still working on me.”
“I can be patient,” Bronx said. He sounded thrilled, and Lucas realized then it actually was going to be okay.
“Where’s my other dad?” Lucas asked.
It took Monty a beat to answer. “Here. I want a hug. And an explanation.”
Lucas allowed himself to be tugged close. “Is Frankie nearby? Is he freaking out?”
“Nope. He’s talking to Lane and Adele. I think he knows them both. They hugged,” Monty told him.
That could be a good or bad sign. Lucas wasn’t sure yet. But he wasn’t going to give up Frankie, no matter what.
