Page 65 of Freeing Hawk
My heart broke and I got up to turn fully so I could hug him. “Come here.”
Keegan fell into my chest and buried his head under my chin. I held onto him until I was sure my voice wouldn’t break when I spoke. “I’m sorry you’ve had to go through what you’ve gone through. No child should ever have to. The only thing you get is the less that the world can be a cruel place but there is always someone out there to have your back.”
“Like you?”
I leaned back. “Like me—Hawk. Did you know that your aunty Aisha was in the military?”
“She was?”
I nodded. “And she was very good at it. We won’t ever let anyone hurt you like that again.”
“You promise?”
I framed his face. “I promise. Now…” I kissed his forehead. “You get some rest. Tomorrow we go see about registering you for school and all that good stuff.”
Keegan groaned and flopped back on his pillow.
“See?” I laughed. “See? Being a child is like riding a bike—you never forget.”
“Right.” Keegan laughed. “So, what do I call you? I can’t keep calling you Angel.”
In that instant, I wanted him to call me dad. The thought of hearing that word from him filled my soul with warmth and light. But I didn’t say that out loud. “Instead, I inhaled, held the breath then pushed it out my mouth. “Why don’t we let time decide that?”
“Time.”
“Yeah. When the time is right, I think it will just flow out of you. Okay?”
“Okay.” Keegan nodded. “Good night.”
I touched his cheek tenderly before pulling the sheets up to his shoulders. “Good night, Keegan.”
The time between that night and the current day melted by. There were so many things I had to learn about teenagers. So much had changed between the time I was his age and now.
We thought he would have a little harder of a time settling in, but with Cam and Patrick as his first friends, Keegan buckled down and was prospering.
It took about another week and a half to be able to have everyone together. With Keegan settling in, registered in his new school and everything he’d need to start school purchased and ready, Hawk and I planned a party—to celebrate him being ours and his sixteenth birthday.
On the day off, I whipped out the grill while Hawk took Tiberius on his walk. By the time they returned, it was going. I also had a slew of Jamaican food cooking inside on the stove and in the oven, mini Jamaican patties were heating.
The night before, Hawk made a large pot of chili and I turned the burner down low under it for reheating.
Keegan helped by carrying beer from the cellar and stocked the three large coolers in the backyard. He dumped ice in then covered them. He got a list of wines to pull and stuck them in the fridge to cool then unpacked sodas and water into one of the trays at the bottom of the fridge.
“Shower.” I told him.
“Anything else I can do?” He asked.
“This is your party.” I kissed the side of his head. “Shower.”
“Sir, yes sir!” He offered me a mock salute.
I laughed. “Smart-ass.”
With him gone, Hawk and I worked to finish up everything else. I distracted her from her stress with soft touches to the back of her neck, kissing her cheeks, her forehead, holding her. When Keegan returned, we were kissing.
“Aww, come on!” He protested. “Hang a sock on the door next time.”
“Get used to it.” Hawk tapped his nose with a finger. “There will be plenty more.”
