Page 37 of Protecting Lainey (Broterhood Alliance #7)
Finn took another swallow of coffee. He shouldn’t have had it.
His stomach was doing flip-flops, worse than anything he’d faced in a combat zone.
Lainey had gone to pick up Luke, and that left him with nothing but time on his hands wondering.
What if Luke hated him? What if the boy thought he had abandoned him on purpose?
Before he could go deeper into that spiral of self-doubt, he heard the front door open. He stood and walked into the living room just as Lainey and his son—his son!—stepped through the door.
The boy cocked his head to look at him, questions in his brown eyes.
He wore a pair of jeans, sneakers and a navy-blue T-shirt with a picture of a fiery dragon splashed across the front.
Finn remembered Lainey had told him before she left that Luke was into space, Legos and dragons.
He looked so small. So serious. And yet, somehow, so familiar.
“Hi, Luke,” he said gently.
The boy nodded. “You were here last night.”
“Yes, I was.”
“Luke,” Lainey said, setting her purse down, “why don’t we sit on the sofa? Finn and I want to talk to you.”
He placed his backpack by the door, turned and sat next to Lainey, and Finn couldn’t help noticing the little frown on his face—the exact one Finn had seen in the mirror.
Lainey smiled and reached for their son’s hand. “Sweetheart, you asked me once if you had a dad, remember?”
Luke nodded slowly.
“I told you everyone had a dad and that yours didn’t know about you.”
The little boy bit his lip, looked at Finn and then Lainey, his brows knitting tighter.
She continued, her voice soft. “When I found out I was pregnant with you, your dad had already been deployed. I wrote letters and sent them to his mother’s house. Apparently, she never got them, so he didn’t know about you.”
Finn stepped in, heart pounding. “Luke, what your mom is saying is … I am your dad. I never got the letters, never knew.” His throat tightened. “If I had known, I would have been in your life. I promise. I would’ve been there every day.”
He wiped at his eyes and added, “But I’m here now. I would really love to get to know you.”
The silence seemed to stretch on for minutes. Finn couldn’t breathe. He was afraid that Luke was going to reject him.
Luke studied him for a long moment. “So … you’re really my dad. For real?”
Finn nodded. “For real.”
Luke glanced down at his lap, his hands twisting the hem of his T-shirt. “You’re not gonna leave again?”
The question gutted Finn. He swallowed hard, shifted forward, and knelt in front of Luke. “No, bud. I’m here. And I’m staying. I promise.”
Luke gave him a long, steady look, like he was trying to decide if Finn was telling the truth or not.
Then, slowly, he gave a tiny, shy smile. “Do you wanna see my room?”
Finn blinked, caught off guard by the offer, then nodded. “I would love that.”
Luke hopped off the couch, reached for Finn’s hand without thinking, tugging him toward the hallway. Finn looked back and noticed Lainey with tears in her eyes giving him a quiet thumbs-up.
“Okay, so this is my bed,” Luke said as they entered the small room. He pointed to a bookshelf. “Those are my Lego sets.”
Finn took it all in. Sky-blue walls, a mobile of planets hanging from the ceiling, shelves filled with books and models. A little boy’s dream bedroom.
“I like building things. Do you?” Luke asked.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Maybe we can build something together someday.”
Finn swallowed hard. “I would like that very much.”
Luke pointed to the ceiling. “Mom put stars up there. They glow when the lights are off. You can’t see them now, but you can in the dark.”
On a small table was a half-built Lego starship. Luke walked over to it and frowned. “I’m kinda stuck on this. Can you help?”
Finn smiled. “Sure. Although I bet you’re really good at this.”
“I am.” Luke sat down and motioned to Finn to sit on the bed. They worked in silence for a little while.
Then, out of nowhere, Luke asked, “So, you were in the Army? Did you have to shoot people?”
Finn snorted. “No, I was in the Navy. Then I became a SEAL. Sometimes we had to stop bad people. Sometimes that meant shooting, but only when we had to.”
“Was it scary?”
“Sometimes.” Finn took a deep breath. “But we trained a lot. I trusted the guys I was with. We had each other’s backs.”
Luke nodded thoughtfully. “That’s like my friend Jack and me. We have each other’s backs.”
“Good to hear. Everyone needs someone in their corner.”
“Yup.” Luke hesitated, biting his lip. “Will you teach me how to shoot?”
Whoa. Finn blinked. That came out of left field. Being a dad was a lot harder than he thought. He’d never been around many kids, didn’t know they asked so many questions.
He cleared his throat. “Umm, right now that’s a big no.”
Luke looked disappointed. “Oh.”
“But,” Finn added quickly, “when you’re older, much older, and if it’s okay with your mom, I will take you to the range. We’ll do it the right way. Safety first.”
Luke grinned. “Yay!”
They worked for a few more minutes in silence. Luke continued adding pieces to the project. Then he asked quietly, “Do you think … I could call you Dad? Maybe not right now. But sometime?”
Finn’s chest squeezed so tight he could barely speak. He nodded. “I would like that very much. Whenever you’re ready.”
Luke didn’t answer, but Finn saw the small, crooked smile on his face as he clipped another piece into place.
And that was enough. Finn’s heart nearly cracked open.
He was a dad!
Later that evening, Finn helped Lainey clean up the dinner dishes. The three of them played card games after dinner, laughing and joking around. It was the most fun Finn had ever had. Luke had a keen sense of humor. It felt like the missing piece of his life had snapped right into place.
And when bedtime came, he asked Finn to read him a story and actually hugged him good night.
“I think today went well,” she said when he came back down. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Luke’s always been a go-with-the-flow kid. I know he let Richard into his life without issues.” She smiled and leaned against the counter. “Thank you for today.”
Finn’s jaw tightened at the name. Richard .
He turned to face her. “Feels surreal, especially after missing so much.”
“You didn’t miss it by choice.”
“Still missed it,” he murmured. He glanced at his watch. “I should go.”
“You sure?”
He nodded. “Yeah. This has been a lot. For him. Probably for you, too.”
“And you.”
He gave her a tired smile. “Yeah. I’ll be back tomorrow, if that’s okay.”
“You know it is.”
They stood there, letting the quiet stretch between them.
Lainey finally stepped in, rose to her toes, and brushed a kiss across his cheek. “Drive safely.”
Finn lingered for a moment, then pulled her into a hug. “Tomorrow then.”
“Tomorrow.”
And then he let go.
He’d be back.
And this time, he wasn’t going to miss a thing.
Finn stepped into the night, stretching slightly as he headed toward his truck. The air was cooler now, and he let it surround him, easing the tightness in his chest.
The day had turned out so much better than he had ever imagined.
He had a family! He knew it wasn’t going to be easy like this every day. There’d be bumps and hard conversations.
But tonight had been good. More than good.
He stood by his truck and took in the quiet of Lainey’s street. The hum of crickets. A porch light flickering two houses down. The scent of freshly cut grass lingered in the air. It was in a nice neighborhood. Safe. The kind of place people let their guard down.
But something made the back of his neck tingle. Not fear. Not yet. Just awareness.
He turned slowly and scanned the street up and down the block. Most houses had their lights on, curtains open, cars in the driveway. Normal.
A few houses down, one house sat in shadow. No porch light. No glow from windows. A truck, an older model Dodge Ram, sat half hidden in the shadows. Lights off. No movement. Familiar.
It could belong to the homeowner. Probably did.
Still …
He stood there for another few seconds. Listening. Watching.
Then he made a mental note to check tomorrow, do a drive-by just to be sure.
Just in case.
Because he had a family now. One he’d protect with his life, and he’d be damned if he’d let anyone take it away.