Page 117 of Hendrix

“Doc?”

Bones gave us a tight-lipped smile. “Freya’s finishing up the surgery. Congratulations, you have a small but seemingly healthy baby boy. We’ve put him straight into the incubator because he’s seven weeks premature, but it’s to help him along, not keep him alive. He’s breathing on his own, and he’s had a crying jag, so his lungs are working just fine. The incubator is simply a precaution.”

Dad’s hand squeezed. “That’s good, Doc. But what about Anna?”

“She suffered a placental abruption,” Bones explained. “The car crash, the beating she took, or both, tore the placenta away from the uterine wall. Once the placenta detaches, it limits the oxygen and nutrient supply to the baby. Without oxygen, the baby could suffer brain damage, so that’s why after taking all the facts into consideration, I thought it was best to do a C-section. As for Anna, she’s lost a lot of blood. We’ve already given her a transfusion. She’ll likely need more, and we have to keep an eye on her kidney function, too. Another worry is that she’ll hemorrhage, so that’s something else we have to watch closely. I’m hopeful she’ll make a full recovery, Hendrix, but it’s too early right now to promise anything.”

My eyes cast downward, and I nodded through the searing pain.

“Hendrix. I’m sorry—” he began, but I lifted my hand to stop him.

“Loved her for years, Bones. Should’ve claimed her a long time ago, but instead, I pissed our time away with excuses and insecurities that a man my age should’ve dealt with. Barring Dad, I’ve lost everyone who ever mattered to me, so for the life of me, I can’t understand why I didn’t hold on tight to her. My track record speaks for itself when it comes to women, but from day one, Anna was different. She’s good and pure, and she keeps me straight and calms the demons. She looks at me like I can do anything, but she’s wrong because every bad thing that’s happened to her is on me. I let her down, and I let my boy down.”

Bones’ mouth quirked. “There’s nothing I can do or say to make you believe how goddamned wrong you are, Prez, so I’ll say this instead. If you think you’ve let her down, do better. If you think what happened today is on you, make it up to her. You’ve been given a second chance some of us will never get, so learn from your fuck-ups and don’t piss it away again. Be the man she obviously thinks you are when she looks at you like you can do anything, and instead, doeverything.” He jerked his thumb toward the door. “There’s a boy in there who needs a parent. Anna can’t be that right now, Drix, so step the fuck up and be that parent for her. Then, when she wakes up, at least she’ll know her boy was loved and cherished when she couldn’t give him that. Trust me, if you take care of that boy in the way she needs, everything else will fall into place.”

“I don’t know how to be a parent,” I protested. “I need her to teach me. How can I hold that boy before his own mother? How can I be his dad?”

“That’s just it, Prez,” Bones threw back. “Youdoknow how to be a dad.” His eyes flicked over my shoulder to where Pop still stood at my back before they drifted back to my face. “You’ve already been taught how to be a dad, and it was by the best.Hetaught you every day of your life becausehenever left.Hestepped up, and instead of giving you anything you wanted, he gave youeverything you needed.”

Fuck me if my eyes didn’t mist over at his words.

My skin began to tingle as the moment of clarity hit me like a Mack Truck.

Bones was right. My dad gave me everything. He gave me a home, he gave me security, he gave me friends and relationships. But more than anything, he gave me love, and that love was what I needed to draw on now and pass down to my son.

My body twisted, and I pulled my dad into a tight hug, relishing the strangled noise escaping his throat and reveling in the feeling of his hand shifting from my shoulder to my back and clutching me tight.

“Sorry, Pop,” I rumbled into his shoulder.

Dad let out a short laugh. “What for?”

“Taking you for granted.” I pulled back slightly, noticing immediately that it wasn’t just my eyes that had gone a little misty. “Seems I’ve been doing that a lot lately.”

“You know what, Jameson?” Dad began. “You were a good kid—a late bloomer, which you know I worried about, especially in the days of that Cilla Black lookalike. Thought you’d never pop your cherry. Then, you joined the military, and it was like you grew up overnight. I worried about you marrying that girl so soon after meeting ‘cause it was obvious you were looking for someone to fill a void, which was weird as fuck. Then you lost her, and I saw you fold into yourself and clam up tight like a drum. Imagine my shock when I turned around, and suddenly you’d become this cocksure, long-haired biker who’d covered himself in tattoos and had women hanging off his shlong twenty-four seven. I was worried about you then, too. Thought, this boy’s got some issues, and there ain’t enough psychologists in the world to sort his head out.”

My eyebrow cocked. “Is there a point?”

Bones chuckled.

Dad grinned and curled his fingers around the back of my neck. “Then you met Anna, and for the first time ever, you were you. Knew you were gonna fuck it up. You weren’t ready for what she brought to the table, but I also knew one day you would be. Over the last few years, I’ve loved watching you grow. I’ve loved watching you make mistakes but then think about them and learn. Watching you build something you can be proud of has mademe proud. But more than anything, I’ve loved watching you fall in love all over again with a woman who’s worthy of you. Being your dad was my biggest honor, Son. Watchingyoube a dad is gonna be my biggest privilege.”

Emotion burned through my throat. “Gonna need you, Dad. ‘Cause you know I’m gonna fuck up again, right?”

“Course you are,” he agreed. “You’re an idiot. But as long as you learn and do better, you’ll be alright.” His eyes bored into mine, and he flashed a joyful smile. “Now, do me a favor, Jameson. Grow the fuck up and stop your whining. It’s time I met my new grandson.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

ANNA

Whispered voices penetrated my brain, but initially, I couldn’t make out the words or even who was speaking. They sounded distorted, much like Daisy’s voice did in the other room. Weird, high-pitched beeps plagued me, and I remembered thinking how damned well aggravating they were.

Nightmares assailed my mind. At one point, I was drowning in the river after Daisy dragged me there and tied rocks to my feet just like she said she would. The bitch threw me in, and however hard I tried to swim, I kept sinking further and further into the murky depths. The water enveloped my nose and mouth, and I struggled to take in air.

At one point, I could sense light shining directly in my eyes, but seconds later, the darkness returned. I thought I could hear deep, rumbling voices, but I still couldn’t hear the words.

After a while, the voices became coherent, and I was sure I could hear Freya, but that wasn’t right. How could Daisy have her, too?

I think it was Hendrix’s voice that brought me back to the surface, and the reason I so desperately wanted to float awake was because he was singing, and it was beautiful.

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