“Impossible.” I brush my fingers over the soft skin on her cheek.
Her lips lift a little at the corners.
Dave picked Tiffany, Storm, and Marie up from the airport and brought them straight here.
This was Tiffany’s idea. She thought it’d be best for Storm to come straight to the place that would eventually, hopefully, be his home and meet us before going to their new place.
I wasn’t sure she would be up to it after the flight, but she assured me she would be fine.
They get out of the car, Marie helping Tiffany, and my eyes are on Storm, watching his reaction.
Tru is the first to approach them.
“Hey, Storm. I’m Tru.” She smiles that big beautiful smile of hers. Then, she clasps ahold of his upper arms and kisses him on the cheek.
Right then, in that moment, I see that she has him. His eyes light up with surprise and then soften on her.
“Hi.” He smiles back at her wide and warm.
He’s never smiled at me like that.
For a split-second, I actually feel jealous of my wife.
That’s all she has to do, just smile, and she has the kid like putty in her hands. Then again, that’s all she did to me to get me all those years ago.
Tiffany comes to stand by her son, and I stay back a little as I watch Tru move from Storm to Tiffany.
“Tiffany, I’m Tru. It’s really nice to finally meet you.” She greets Tiffany in the same way, kissing her cheek.
“It’s great to meet you,” Tiffany says. I hear a touch of nerves in her voice. “This is my best friend, Marie.” Tiffany gestures to Marie, who is standing beside her.
“Nice to meet you.” Marie sticks her hand out to Tru.
Tru glances down at her hand and then shakes it.
Guess Marie isn’t down with my wife’s greeting style.
“Dada!” Belle’s squealing voice comes from behind me, and then her arms are wrapping around my leg. “Is Stwowm here? Is this them?”
“I tried to keep her inside, but she broke free.” Stuart laughs.
I glance over my shoulder and see Stuart walking toward us, with Bob, and then, JJ and Billy are coming out, too.
Bob moved into Stuart’s old place on the grounds. He wouldn’t move into the house. He said we didn’t need an old man cramping our style. But he’s still in our house more than his own, and the kids love having him here.
So do I.
I realize now that I should have talked him into moving here after Lyn had passed. I failed then. I won’t make that mistake again.
And I intend on not making any mistakes with Storm, now that I have him here.
I pick up Belle and gesture for JJ and Billy to come over.
“Storm, Tiffany, and Marie.” I point to each of them, so my kids know who they are. “These are my kids—JJ”—I pat his head beside me—“Billy”—I touch his shoulder—“and Belle, the monkey in my arms.”
“Not monkey.” Belle scowls at me and then wriggles out of my arms to be put down.
I put her on her feet, and she walks over to Storm. She stares at him, and he watches her.
With fascination, I keep my eyes on Belle’s curious face.
When she stops before him, he crouches down to eye-level with her.
“Hey,” he says softly.
“You like pwincesses?” she asks him.
“Answer carefully,” Tru says with a touch of humor in her voice. “Your entire existence might depend on this.”
Storm smiles up at Tru and then looks back to Belle, still smiling. “I think princesses are the best things ever.”
Belle beams at him. “Wanna play pwincesses with me?”
“’Course he doesn’t wanna play princesses with you.” Billy goes over to them. “He’s a boy. Boys don’t like princesses.”
“They do, too.” Belle scowls at Billy.
“I got a guitar,” Billy tells Storm. “My dad’s helping me learn how to play.”
“I play guitar,” Storm says.
“Cool.”
“My dad has a studio in the house,” JJ pipes up from beside me. “You wanna come see?”
Storm glances over at him and smiles. “Sure.”
He stands, and then Belle reaches up and grabs his hand. I see the surprise on his face as he stares down at her.
Then, he glances over at Tiffany.
I look at her, too. I see the emotion in her eyes, and then she gives him a gentle nod, telling him to go on ahead.
I watch as Belle leads Storm into my house, Billy and JJ with them. All three of them start firing off questions at Storm.
“Kids make life seem so easy,” Bob says from behind me.
“Yeah, they do,” I say, turning to him.
“I made coffee,” Stuart tells me.
That’s his way of saying I should invite my guests in.
I turn back to Tru, who is quietly chatting with Tiffany and Marie.
“Stuart made coffee,” I tell them.
I let everyone pass me, heading into the house. I hang back, catching Tru’s hand, as she passes. I slide my arm around her waist.
“You okay?” I ask her. “I know that couldn’t have been easy for you.”
“I’m fine.” She turns her body into mine, wrapping her arms around me. “How are you?”
“Okay,” I say. And I really am. I will always be okay, so long as I have her.
I lean down and brush my lips over hers. “Thank you.”