Page 54 of A Baby for the Firefighter
I nodded. Things certainly did go to shit. I just had to wrap my head around that and I had to become a functional firefighter again, because I still wanted to protect people. Especially Griff. If anything ever happened to him, I had to be there. Taking this job was going to help me prepare for that and make myself the alpha I needed to be again. I only needed to shove all thoughts of thetragedyaside.
* * *
When I got back home, I spotted Conner out on the front lawn playing with the puppy. The sight made me smile. It was good for the boy to get some sunlight. He had a piece of rope in his hand that the puppy was trying to tug away from him, yipping excitedly in between his attempts.
“Dean!” Conner called out when he spotted me.
I walked over to him. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Great!” Conner beamed. The expression on his face surprised me a little bit just because of how rare it was. “I’ve decided on a name for the dog!”
“Yeah?” I knelt down by him and patted the dog, who ignored me in favor of the rope.
“I’m going to call him Max!” he announced.
“That’s a good name.”
Conner smiled. “After the main character inWhere the Wild Things Are.”
“You like that book?”
He nodded, and tugged on the rope again. “Can you take me over to Jake’s?”
“Have you asked your dad?”
“Yeah. He said to ask you when you’re back. He’s busy. But Jake and I want to practice for the play.”
“Okay, I’ll take you.”
“Thank you! Can we take Max?”
“You’ll have to ask Jake’s parents.” But knowing Eli, it would probably be fine.
“I’ll call.” Picking up the dog, he walked into the house. I watched him go, grateful to see the reserved boy open a bit. He still had a way to go, but he was going to get there. I was glad for him and Shane, knowing how much my cousin worried about his kids.
Of course he did. I would worry too, if I had children. And maybe someday I would. Maybe with Griff. The thought made me smile, even if all that was still in the far-off future.
Or so it seemed at the time.
24
Griffin
Ineeded advice. On Wednesday, my mother went off to visit my father at the hospital. She told me he was awake most of the time now, and doing well. She asked me if I didn’t want to come with her and have a talk. I didn’t know what to say, but she understood my silence as a no. It wasn’t supposed to be that. I just really didn’t know. Making up with my mom was one thing, making up with my dad was another thing entirely. I knew my mother wasn’t guilt-free, but she hadn’t been the driving force behind our family dispute. No, that title went to my father. He wasn’t an alpha, but he was damn stubborn, still. I was sure my brother got that from him.
And as soon as my mother was gone, I called my brother. Not only about this. I also needed some advice for what I’d planned for Friday. “Eli?”
“Yeah?” He sounded a little bit stressed.
“Do you have a moment or should I call back later?” I figured maybe his baby daughter had had an emergency or something.
“No, it’s fine. Just studying for a test and it’s not going great.”
“I’m sure you’ll ace it.” My brother had always been good at the academic stuff, while I’d largely preferred art class. He’d worked his ass off to be able to attend college, while I could never wait to be done with school. Different talents and all that—not that my parents always agreed.
“Maybe,” Eli said. “I’m not so sure. But it can wait a little while.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
