Page 22 of One More Baby for the Boss

Alex expected that Jack would ask what they were going to do. It was the question she would have asked at his age. Frankly, it was what she was wondering right now. She hadn’t had a plan in place when she had asked Elijah to blow off his work and spend the day with her and Jack. She could come up with something if the need arose, but it sort of sounded like he had some ideas already, and she was curious to see what he had come up with.

But Jack didn’t seem curious about that at all. The only emotion she could see from him was contentment that he was going to be able to spend a day with his father. “That sounds really fun,” he said.

Alex was blown away that he had said that without even knowing what they were planning to do. It was shockingly mature, but there was also something heartbreakingly young about it. He just wanted to be with his father. It didn’t matter what they did. The only thing that mattered to Jack was that they were together.

It occurred to Alex that if she had been offered one day with her own father — or any one of her family members — she wouldn’t have cared what that day looked like either. It had taken losing them, feeling isolated in the world, for her to reach that understanding. The fact that Jack had gotten there at such a young age made her heart break.

Elijah picked up the dinosaur book and resumed reading. Eventually, Jack began to slump against Alex as he listened. Andby the time Elijah whispered the words “The end” and closed the book, Jack was fast asleep once again.

CHAPTER 10

ELIJAH

Alex eased Jack gently out of her arms and into bed, and Elijah pulled the covers up around him and bent over to kiss his forehead. Neither of them spoke until they had made it out of the room with the door pulled closed behind them.

“That was impressive,” she said quietly.

He raised his eyebrows. “Impressive that I read a book?”

“Impressive that you made him feel comfortable enough to go back to sleep after a nightmare like that.”

“I wonder what he dreamed,” Elijah said. “It sounds like it was something pretty ugly.”

“I’m guessing it wasn’t any particular thing,” Alex said. “Just one of those formless haunting dreams where you’re aware that something important is missing. I have dreams like that sometimes. Did you have those dreams after your wife died?”

“I did,” Elijah said. He hadn’t thought about that in a long time. “I stopped dreaming like that after the first year, though. Do you think he’s still having those dreams?”

“I can’t know that, of course,” Alex said gently. “But he lost his mother during a very formative part of his life. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that trauma has taken root in his mind.”

“I should have thought of that,” Elijah said, feeling terrible.Hadhe neglected his son?

“There’s no road map for these things,” Alex said. “You’re doing the best you can and everyone knows it. Jack knows it.”

“I hope he does.”

“Of course he does. He understands that you work as hard as you do because you want to make a good life for him. He knows you’re someone he can rely on, and he loves you.”

“Maybe I should take him to talk to someone about these dreams.”

“Well, that’s beyond my pay grade,” Alex said dryly.

“But what would you do if he was your son?”

She looked startled. “You can’t ask me that, Elijah. I don’t know what I would do.”

“I want you to be honest with me about this. I really do want to know what you think.”

She sighed. “All right. But please remember I’m not an expert.”

“I know you aren’t. You’re just someone who cares about my son.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” she said. “But I think you should talk to him yourself first. Find out more about the situation. Find out if these are recurring dreams. It’s possible this was the only time he’s had this dream, and if it was, there might not be any cause for outside intervention. Maybe he just needs to talk it out with his father. He sounded like the biggest anxiety he walked away with was the idea that you might not be around someday. He needs to be reassured that that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. He needs to know he can count on you as a presence in his life.”

“I hate that he doesn’t know that already,” Elijah said. “If that’s the way he feels then you’re right, I really haven’t been around as much as I should.”

“Don’t blame yourself too much,” Alex said. “I don’t think it’s because you’re busy with work. At least, it’s not mostly because of that. It’s because he only has one parent. That’s a tough set of circumstances for any kid. I’m not at all surprised that he’s struggling a bit.”

Elijah nodded. “I want to thank you for helping me get him back to sleep,” he said. “I hope you know how much that meant to me. And I could see that it meant a lot to Jack too. He really does care about you.”

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