Page 35 of Yours To Save

“Of the child.” She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Uh… no, but… uh… wait…”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and FaceTimed Logan, while he was still standing next to Danika. She didn’t move away and for a brief moment he was worried she would say something snarky to Logan.

Logan took his call grinning and giving him a quick wink barely pausing when he saw Sammy wasn’t alone. Logan waved at Danika, and Sammy somehow knew then, that everything would be okay.

Before he could say anything, Danika chimed in, using a voice Sammy certainly had never heard use before. It sounded…polite. “Hi there, Mr. Steward, my name is Danika. I’m Sammy’s friend. I was just helping him choose some things for little Jackson, and I was wondering if you could tell me what his hair and eye color are.”

Logan chuckled. “Hi Danika, nice to meet you. Please call me Logan. Jackson has sandy blond hair and blue eyes. He looks like that kid from the commercial for softener, uh you know which one I’m talking about? The one with the mom chasing him, and there is a pink bear.”

“Ah yes, I know what you mean. Thank you, Mr. … Logan. I’ll try and find something cute for him. Nice talking to you.” She waved and… smiled. Like a real smile, that didn’t hurt her face. She turned on her heel and briskly made her way to the next aisle.

Sammy just kept looking after her, his mouth still gaping. Logan chuckled and the familiar sweet sound made him remember his lover was still on the line.

“Was that the same…?”

“Yep!” Sammy nodded his eyes wide.

Logan gave him a bemused smile and then laughed. He was at home, and Sammy could see him move into the living room and plop onto the couch, holding the phone above his face looking dreamy and perfect in the light coming from the fireplace.

“I miss you. I wish you were here already.”

“I miss you too. I’ll be there first thing in the morning.”

Logan gave him a tired but happy look. For a moment there, it seemed like he wanted to say something. Sammy’s heart slammed in his chest then crawled up his throat.

Morpheus jumped on top of Logan, knocking the air out of him, causing him to drop the phone on the floor. He could hear the giant bullmastiff licking Logan’s face sloppily as he was making feeble protests. The service dog was panting loudly and probably drooling all over Logan. Morpheus was easily eighty pounds but always acted like a tiny lapdog, demanding to sit in Logan’s lap or to lie on top of him. When he got the phone back and turned the screen around, Morpheus was on his back, lying on Logan’s chest, getting belly rubs, mouth gaping, tongue lolling dripping drool on his shirt and panting happily. Logan was giggling and shaking his head wheezing beneath him.

The sight was so them. It was so wonderful and homely. They were Sammy’s little family.Mine.My family.

He missed them so much. He wanted them to be together every day. He wanted to come back to his little tribe every day. He swallowed hard and forced a smile. “I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“I love you.” Morpheus gave a low bark and a small whine. He hung up just as Danika returned with a very adorable outfit – cute, dark navy corduroy pants, a red sweater and a teddy bear dressed in the exact same outfit. She browsed through the basket and took some of the stuff away but overall, he had quite a few things he was very confident about. “This should do it,” she said, looking pleased with herself.

Sammy was still feeling a bit raw from his conversation with Logan and Danika somehow sensed it and hooked her arm over his and tugged him to the checkout, picking up a nice gift box to arrange all the items in and some cute packing paper. Sammy paid, and she made a quick job of putting everything together in a beautiful way. Still smiling.

Sammy was standing there watching her. When she was done and looked up to him grinning, he was pretty confident he was in the twilight zone. She rolled her eyes at his confusion. “I like him. He seems nice. I may not look it, but I’m not a coldhearted bitch… all the time. James says you love this man. He really wants you to be happy, and I…I love James, so there.” She gently placed the box in his arms. “I want you to be happy too.”

“Fuck!” Sammy huffed and a tear rolled down his cheek at this unexpected and overwhelming development.

“Uh-uh! None of that shit!” Danika waved her finger in his face. She looked over his shoulder, and made an impatient grimace, tapping on her wristwatch, then turned on her heel and left the store. James hurried past him and gave him a firm squeeze on the arm.

“Call me later, okay?”

Sammy just nodded and his friend, sensing he was a bit out of sorts, tracked back to him and gave him a hug. “You alright there?”

“Thank you.”

James huffed. “I love you, dude. I just want you to be happy.”

“Love you too. Now hurry up, before this miracle Danika turns into some sort of gremlin.”

“Yeah, I may not feed her after midnight… not sure about the getting her wet part.” He grinned then laughed at his own idiotic joke.

Sammy scrunched his nose. “Gross. Both of you.”

James winked and hurried out of the store.

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