Page 73 of Hammer

Hammer’s eyebrows drew together, his body language shifting from alert to suspicious.“What kind of personal?”

Atlas clutched the folder tighter.“I was near the house when you were talking with Chase,” he said to me.“Not eavesdropping on purpose.Just happened to be close enough to hear.”

My stomach dropped.Chase’s vulnerable confession was never meant for other ears.“That was a private conversation,” I said, keeping my voice low.

“I know,” Atlas acknowledged, looking genuinely contrite.“And I wouldn’t normally… but this was different.”He glanced at Hammer.“I heard what he said.About wishing you were his real dad.”

Hammer went perfectly still, only his eyes moving as they shifted from Atlas to me.“What’s he talking about, Amelia?”

Before I could answer, the boys emerged from their room, drawn by the late-night voices.Chase froze when he saw Atlas, his face paling as he read the situation instantly.

“You were listening?”he demanded, fists clenching at his sides.

“Not intentionally,” Atlas replied, holding up a placating hand.“But yeah, I heard.And it got me thinking.”

He turned back to Hammer, extending the folder.“You know what I can do with computers.How I… fixed things to help you and Amelia before.”

Hammer’s expression darkened, memories of the marriage certificate clearly surfacing.“What did you do now?”

Atlas opened the folder, revealing official-looking documents.“I registered you as Chase and Levi’s adoptive father in the system.Changed their last name to Williams.”He spoke matter-of-factly, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell in our living room.“Everything’s legal.Well, legal enough.No one will question it.”

The silence that followed was absolute.Chase and Levi stood frozen, wide-eyed, looking between Hammer and Atlas with expressions caught between hope and terror.I held my breath, watching Hammer’s face as he processed what Atlas had done.

His thick eyebrows drew together in a scowl that would have intimidated most men into immediate retreat.“You had no right,” he growled, taking a menacing step toward Atlas.

To his credit, Atlas didn’t back away.“Probably not,” he conceded with a small shrug.“But sometimes families need a push.You claimed them as yours to Piston’s face.Now it’s official.”

“Official?”Hammer’s voice dropped dangerously low.“You fucking with government records is official?”

“As official as anything in our world gets,” Atlas replied calmly.He held Hammer’s gaze, unflinching despite the older man’s obvious anger.“I thought it would help.Make you all a real family.”

Something shifted in Hammer’s eyes then -- a softening so subtle most would have missed it.His gaze moved from Atlas to the boys who still stood frozen in the hallway.The tense silence stretched, broken only by the distant sound of a motorcycle engine somewhere in the compound.

“Dad?”Levi’s voice was barely audible, the word experimental on his lips.

The single syllable seemed to pierce something in Hammer.His shoulders lowered slightly, the rigid anger in his stance melting away.Without a word, he crossed to where the boys stood, his movements careful, deliberate, as if approaching wild animals that might bolt.

“Come here,” he said, his gruff voice gentler than I’d ever heard it.

Chase and Levi exchanged a hesitant glance before stepping forward.What happened next took my breath away.Hammer, who rarely initiated physical contact beyond a shoulder clasp or head nod, pulled both boys into his arms, enfolding them in an embrace that seemed to shield them from the entire world.

“I’m proud to be your dad,” he said, the words rough with emotion.“Been trying to be that for you since day one, papers or no papers.”

Levi’s arms went around Hammer immediately, his thin frame melting against the older man’s chest.Chase stood stiff for one heartbeat, two, before his resistance crumbled.His arms lifted, wrapping around both Hammer and Levi, his face pressed against Hammer’s shoulder to hide whatever emotion had overwhelmed him.

My vision blurred with tears as I watched them, this unlikely family forged in crisis and cemented by choice.Hammer, who’d claimed to be too old for love just hours ago, now held my sons with the fierce protectiveness of a man who’d found something worth more than his own life.

“This doesn’t change anything,” he told them, his voice low and certain.“You were already mine.Have been since your mother brought you into my life.These papers just make it harder for anyone to take you away.”

Chase lifted his head, meeting Hammer’s gaze directly.“You mean that?Even though I’ve been such an ass?”

A rare smile crossed Hammer’s face.“Especially because you’ve been an ass.Got my temper, apparently.”

A choked laugh escaped Chase, the sound so unexpected it made us all smile.Levi, always quieter, simply pressed closer to Hammer, his thin fingers clutching the older man’s shirt as if afraid he might disappear if he let go.

I wiped at my tears, overwhelmed by the scene before me.From across the room, Atlas caught my eye, his expression unusually soft.I mouthed “thank you” to him, unable to voice my gratitude aloud without completely breaking down.

He nodded once, satisfaction clear in his slight smile.Without another word, he slipped toward the door, his task completed.As he left, I heard him mutter, “That’s twice now,” under his breath, and I couldn’t help but smile through my tears.Twice he’d used his skills to forge our family -- first binding Hammer and me together, now connecting him to my sons.

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