Page 47 of Angels and Skulls
I open the letter from my other mom again. She said she had reasons she wasn’t proud of. What does that mean? Did she worry I wouldn’t love her as much as I would my biological mom? Did she think she’d lose me?
My gaze goes to the photo on my dresser of my parents. My heart slows as I stand to pick it up. They look so happy. Mom is staring at Dad with so much love in her eyes; you can see it plain as day.
Was my dad angry because he feels betrayed, or is there something more to his outburst? My dad was friends with my biological mom. They ran away together …
There’s a soft knock on the door before it opens, and my little daughter runs through. “Daddy!” she squeals. I scoop her up in one arm, still holding the photo in the other.
Aspen points to it. “Papa,” she says, pointing to my dad.
“Yep, that’s Grandpa and Grandma,” I tell her, my eyes catching on the little dragonfly hanging around her neck.
My heart falls fast. My mom wasn’t afraid of just losing me. Could it have been she was afraid of losing him too?
Willow hurries in. “Oh, there you are.” She places her hand over her heart. “I just got here, and she ran off,” she explains. “I don’t know how she knew you were up here.”
The look on my face has her rushing to my side. “What is it, baby?” she asks, brushing her soft fingers across my cheek.
I bury my face in the crook of her neck while still holding our daughter. She hugs both of us tight and I finally let my emotions go, because I’m safe in my little family’s arms.
Aspen pats my back. “Daddy’s sad,” she tells my wife.
I lift my head, and she raises her little hands to wipe my tears.
“It’s okay, Daddy.”
Willow blinks back emotion as she watches the two of us together.
It takes everything in me, but I muster the brightest smile I can. “Thank you, baby. I’m feeling much better now that I’ve got you and Mommy here.” I give her a kiss on the cheek.
Willow stares at me, waiting for an explanation.
“My mom’s alive,” I say quietly. It still sounds so strange to say out loud.
Her brows furrow a few seconds before she realizes who I’m talking about, and then they jump in surprise. “Jenny?”
I nod, and she pulls us back into a tight hug.
“I need to go down and tell the club,” I tell her.
“Does your dad know?”
“He ran out …” I pause, because fuck, I don’t know if he’ll ever come back.
Willow places her hand on the side of my face. “He’ll be back,” she says sternly, then she looks at Aspen. “He won’t leave her.”
“I don’t know. He was angrier than I’ve ever seen him.”
“He’s in shock, but I know he’ll be back. He won’t abandon you, Jackson. I have faith in that. He loves you and Aspen more than anything in this world.”
“And you,” I say quietly.
She smiles. “And me. He’ll be back.”
I hope so, because I need him now more than ever.
Chapter Seventeen
Raffe
