Page 28 of Light in the Dark (Heaven and Hell Duet 2)

She shrugs. Sawyer leaves me to crawl over to Idaline. He climbs onto her lap and snuggles against her chest just like he did me. Idaline looks surprised, but she holds him and rubs his back. I get out of bed and find some pajamas to wear, as Idaline is still dressed in hers. She lets me know her grandpa is already up and cooking breakfast. The moment I’m dressed, Sawyer is ready to come back to me.

I kiss his cheek as Idaline stands and then give her a kiss, too. “Good morning, love.”

Idaline smiles. “Good morning.” She wraps her arms around me. “Grandpa said my family already called, trying to come over for breakfast, but he managed to push them off until we’ve had time to eat, shower, and all that good stuff. I think they’re pretty excited to meet Sawyer.”

“I’m just chopped liver now.” I tickle Sawyer’s stomach, but he does this grumble and whine combo that says it’s still too early to play with him.

“Pretty much,” Idaline says with a laugh.

We meet Grandpa McAllister for breakfast and that goes really well. Sawyer sits in my lap while we both eat. He eyes Idaline’s grandfather once more. I’m super proud of him, though, when Grandpa McAllister slowly walks over, as if treading carefully, and holds his hands out to him.

“I have a present for you. Want to come with me to get it?”

We all hold our breaths for five seconds. Slowly, Sawyer leans away from me and lifts his arms so Grandpa McAllister can pick him up. That’s my boy. I watch them walk away toward the living room.

“He’ll be fine,” Idaline says, thinking I need reassurance.

“I know. Want some help?” She’s picking up the dishes and running some water to wash them.

“No. Go ahead and shower. Everything you need is in the bathroom closet.”

Leaving her, I check in on Sawyer before I take my shower. He’s happily playing with his new grandpa, who got him a little toy train. After showering and after Idaline takes her shower, Sawyer runs the show until one after another her family arrives. First, her parents show up.

Her mother, Heidi, quickly shakes my hand before moving to Idaline, who holds Sawyer. I’ve never felt so quickly dismissed in my life. Her father, on the other hand, lags behind.

“It’s nice to see you again, FC. You have a good-looking boy there.”

“Thank you,” I reply.

Sawyer hides in Idaline’s neck, becoming shy as Heidi talks to him. When her father, Simon, speaks to him and says hello, he reaches for me. They’re barely comfortable before Idaline’s brother, Brandon, his wife, Candace, and their daughter, Kelsey, all arrive. Sawyer is not having any of it. With so many new people around, he’s overwhelmed and shy. But Kelsey is around six years old and she’s very interested in Sawyer. She stands at my knees with her stare hyper-focused on Sawyer.

“What’s his name?” she asks.

“Sawyer.”

“Hey, Sawyer.” She waves and reaches for his hand, but Sawyer pulls it away, keeping his hand close to him. Kelsey frowns. “I wanna play, Sawyer.” She spots his new train sitting on the arm of the couch next to me and picks it up. Sawyer sits up. She definitely has his attention now. “Is this his?”

“It is,” I reply. “You can play with it too.”

Kelsey thinks for a moment, leaning against my legs. She drives the train on my thigh and over to Sawyer’s foot. He quickly reaches for it. Kelsey lets him take it. Sawyer pushes the train and then drives it toward Kelsey. And that is how their friendship begins. It’s also how Sawyer slowly opens up to everyone else here.

“How’s your job going?” Brandon asks Idaline.

“It’s great. I think it’ll work out. FC works on cars.” That’s how Idaline has answered almost every question she’s been asked. I can’t decide if it’s because she doesn’t want her family to focus on her or if because so far, they haven’t focused on me yet. She’s sitting next to me, gripping my hand in a vise, though. I wasn’t expecting her to be nervous right now.

Her family is great. They accept me and take the time to learn about me as we move to the kitchen for lunch. It doesn’t take long for things to seem like a regular family dinner. Idaline relaxes as well. We all know that this weekend isn’t about her family spending more time with me. They were all about meeting Sawyer, who officially has a new friend in Kelsey.

That in and of itself makes this weekend a success. It almost makes me wonder if I shouldn’t go ahead and put him in daycare with other kids. That is something I’ll have to think about and see if I feel comfortable enough to do such a thing, especially with Lila hanging around.

“I should probably go home,” Idaline says once we return to my apartment Sunday.

“Oh, no. You’re staying here tonight.”

She smiles. “If you insist.”

“I insist.”

After I put Sawyer down for a nap, we sit on the couch together. It feels good to be home. I enjoyed leaving, but I also like being home where all of Sawyer’s things are. Idaline snuggles against me with her hand just above my waistline. Before I can take advantage of how close she is, my phone vibrates with a text.

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