Page 67 of The Ties That Bind
“There, there,” Mr. Reynolds said gently. “No reason to cry on my account.”
“Brie’s right,” Sir replied. “We owe you a great deal, Unc.”
Mr. Reynold’s chuckled lightly. “You’re wrong there, Thane. It has been my honor to be a part of your life. To see how far you have come is truly inspiring. This is the familyyoucreated.”
“Because of your unfailing love,” Sir answered, his voice clear but tinged with emotion.
Mr. Reynolds nodded humbly, accepting their praise.
“Would you like to hold him, Unc?”
It was a solemn moment when Sir placed his son in his uncle’s arms. However, it was soon broken by Hope’s excited chatter as she bounced on Brie’s chest while reaching for the baby.
Sir rescued Brie by quickly sweeping Hope into his arms. “It seems our little girl can’t get enough of her baby brother.”
Watching the four of them together, Brie felt the urge to take a picture with her phone. She gazed at the sight wistfully, realizing that all four of them were connected by the blood of Sir’s mother. It was proof that something of remarkable worth had come out of the love that Alonzo and Ruth shared—despite how it all ended.
Knowing that filled Brie with a deep sense of hope for the future.
Mr. Reynolds laid Anthony in her arms, stating, “I’m going to head out for a bit so you can spend time alone together. I’ll be back to pick Hope up in a couple of hours.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Brie said, although she loved the idea.
He gave her a kind smile. “This is our gift to you. Judy and I discussed it before I left. We want to give you time as a family.”
Brie glanced at Sir, who nodded.
“We gratefully accept,” she replied, squeezing his hand tight.
After he left, Anthony started to wiggle in her arms and let out a whimpering cry. Hope pointed to him, clearly distressed.
“It’s okay, sweet pea. Your brother is just hungry.”
While she fed him, Sir lowered the railing on the other side of the bed and set Hope next to Brie. Grabbing a chair, he sat down and began running his fingers through Brie’s hair.
“Oh, that feels good…” she purred, enjoying the tingles his fingers caused. She lay there in silence, enjoying this intimate moment as a family.
While Brie was burping Anthony, Rytsar called. Hope immediately responded when Sir switched the phone to speaker and she heard, “Is all well,moy droog?”
“Dyadya!”
“Is that mymoye solntse?”
She crawled over Brie to get to the phone.
“Hope appears eager to talk to you, Brother,” Sir laughed when she grabbed at his phone.
Not understanding it was on speaker, she put it up to her ear and started babbling excitedly. Rytsar interjected with comments as if they were having a deep conversation.
Brie smiled at Sir. It was too adorable for words.
When Hope was done talking, she let go of the phone and crawled back over to Brie to snuggle up with her little brother.
“In answer to your question earlier, all is definitely well,” Sir told Rytsar.
“And how are you feeling,radost moya?”
“Exhausted but happy.”
