Page 104 of The Path To Us

“Orrrrr maybe he’ll be so honored and blown away that he’ll give me a big hug.”

“Yeah. Let’s go with that,” she says, rolling her eyes.

She glances in the area she’s all in a tizzy about, shakes her head like I’m an idiot, then marches into the house calling for her mother.

Cruz comes bounding down the steps, Macaroni trailing behind him along with our new adopted pup, Snickers. Yeah, Zoey named her, too. There is absolutely no doubt whose kid Cruz is. From the moment he was born, he looked exactly like me. It’s not just his looks, though. He’s got a short temper, quick fists, huge appetite, bulky build, and a love for his mother that knows no bounds. He’s a mama’s boy through and through but the second I announce I’m heading to the barn, he’s my shadow.

I’ve learned a lot over the years on how to care for the animals we raise. Of course, we couldn’t have — or I couldn’t have — done it without Richard. But that’s the entire reason why I did what I did.

“I wanna see inside, Dad!”

“Do you think Pop is gonna be mad, too?”

“No way. He’s gonna be happy!”

“That’s my boy,” I say, giving him my fist to bump.

He cheers and I hear the screen door slam shut behind me. I wait, knowing Addy and Zoey are coming after Zoey tattled to her mom. Not that Addy wasn’t fully aware of what I did. It wasn’t a surprise here. Hell, people have been here for the past several weeks doing the work for it. But now that it’s finished, apparently Zoey has feelings about it that she feels the need to express.

“Let’s wait for Mommy,” I tell Drydon and Cruz.

When Addy reaches me, she kisses my cheek and reaches for Drydon who shakes her head and cuddles into me.

Cruz might love his mommy more, but I got Drydon. She’s a perfect mix of Addy and me but she rarely lets me out of her sight.

Addy rolls her eyes good naturedly. “I won’t take you away from Daddy. Should we check it out?”

“Yay!” Cruz shouts.

I turn to Zoey. “See? At least Cruz is excited.”

“She’s just afraid that Pop is gonna be upset.”

“He won’t be.” I say it like I know it as fact but in reality, I don’t know how he’ll react.

When I decided to build a tiny house on our property so he could be closer, I knew it would be a risk. But he hates living in the duplex and this would be the best of both worlds. We like having him here but we need our space. Having him live on the property but in his own place is the perfect compromise.

He and his son Noah went on a three week trip to Europe with Noah’s sons for their high school and college graduations, so it was the perfect time to set it up. Most of the house was built off-site so all we needed to worry about was getting the land ready.

The house has everything he’ll need and this way we get to keep him close. He may be in remarkable shape for seventy-five, but that won’t always be the case.

I just hope he sees it the same way. He’s a proud man and could see it as us thinking he needs babysitting or that we don’t trust him to live on his own.

Using the key to unlock the front door, I twist the knob and push it open, letting my family go in before me. Addy’s seen it to completion as she did all the decorating, but the kids haven’t.

I know the second they see the loft because Cruz and Zoey squeal and run for the stairs. “Cool!”

“Thought you said he would be mad!” I shout to Zoey.

“That doesn’t mean he won’t think it’s cool, Dad.”

Addy grins over at me and moves around the small space, trailing her fingers over the back of the couch.

“When does he get in?”

“Flight landed twenty minutes ago. Noah’s bringing him out after they drop their stuff at the duplex.”

“Still don’t understand why they wouldn’t let us bring them to the airport.”

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