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John swallowed. He only hoped he could be half the man his father is one day.

“Thanks, dad. I really appreciate that. So, ah, how long do I have to wait to see if it is my kid?”

John was absolutely clueless on anything that had to do with pregnancy, or babies. Google was about to become his best friend.

Best friend …

Jace. In this moment he wished Jace was here to talk about this with. He needed his friend right about now.

“I know a paternity test can be done once the baby is born, but that’s court ordered most of the time, I think? To tell you the truth son, times have changed since your mother and I became parents. We’ll have to get on the internet to see if there are any tests that can be done sooner. I’m a little rusty on this stuff.”

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he crumpled it and dropped it on his plate. John asked, “What am I supposed to do? I’m twenty years old.” Shaking his head, he was so confused.

Clark reached across the table and rested his hand on John’s shoulder. His father’s touch comforted him. “Don’t worry, son, we’ll get you through this. Together. I promise.”

“Do you think, ah, tomorrow, maybe, you could have mom and my brothers out of the house so I can talk to Alyssa in private? I want her to be comfortable with me.”

“No problem. I’ll take her out to lunch with the boys.”

Damn. His father was a Saint. No one compared to him.

“Thanks, dad. I really appreciate it.”

Clark smiled. “I know you do, son.”

John stood and grabbed both plates and brought them to the sink. He rinsed each one and then put them in the drying rack. He hadn’t craved a beer in months and suddenly he wanted one. Instead, he was going to taking a steaming hot shower to calm his nerves and call Ford.

“You know it was pretty fucked up that you up and left without sayin’ a word,” Ford stated without sympathy. “No one had any idea what happened to you.” He offered John a beer, but he declined.

“I know it was, but at the time I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. I knew if I didn’t leave that I‘d be doing the same damn thing night after night and hurting the people around me. I mean, I tried to swing on you, one of my best friends.” John’s face fell and he turned silent.

He only had one best friend now. Swallowing the emotion, John was ashamed. He couldn’t believe he tried to hit Ford.

“That was fucked up of me, and I apologize for trying to hit you.”

Ford shrugged it off. “I wasn’t the one who got roughed up in the end,” he grinned and John returned the smile. Ford had nailed him to the floor that afternoon—and with good reason.

“Touché.”

John and Ford were catching up after he’d been gone for the last four months at Ford’s house. Normally when they came out here, it was the three of them riding their ATV’s or just hanging around shooting the shit. However, today, they were sitting in Ford’s guest house that had been turned into a full gaming sports room many years ago.

“So, you’re a Marine now? Active?”

John bobbed his head. “Just graduated from boot camp. Crazy, huh? I can’t believe it myself.”

“It’s pretty fucking crazy actually. I bet your pops is happy about it.” John nodded with a big smile. Clark was overjoyed. “I assume you’re done with college then? That’s it?”

“I have school in the Marines, but it’s to train for my job. Maybe one day I’ll go back to college, but for now we’ll see where the road takes me.”

Ford took a sip of his Coke. “So was boot camp as bad as they say? Man, I feel like I’m interviewing you it’s been so long. Next time drop a line so we don’t have to go through this.”

A laugh escaped his throat. “A lot of guys couldn’t hang and left. I ain’t gonna lie, that shit was hard as hell. I was sore in places I didn’t even know I could be. It tested me at every corner and some days I hated it, wondering what the fuck I signed up for, but I refused to give up. I’m no quitter. Once I’m in, that’s it.”

Ford chuckled. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like you. You’re hard headed as fuck.”

“In hindsight, joining the Marines after Jace passed probably wasn’t the best move for me mentally. I was shattered, we all were, but then I think I needed that kind of mental distraction to help with Jace’s death.”

He nodded to John’s head. “Where’s all that pretty boy hair of yours?”