Page 40 of The Moments You Were Mine

HIM: If the team finds this out, they’ll initiate me with a new nickname.

HER: And Baywatch is so much better than Kermit?

HIM: *** one-fingered emoji *** At least Parker Stevenson and his lifeguard pals were tough guys. They weren’t little green puppets.

Later

HIM: Damn it, Ducky. They’ve made Kermit our group mascot. How will we strike fear into our enemies with a puppet on our dashboard?

HER: Bait and switch. They’ll think you’re pushovers, and then you’ll prove just how wrong they are.

PRESENT DAY

Four weeks. A month had goneby since I’d brought Will’s body home. I’d been in charge of Theo for thirty-one days, but after what had happened today, I wasn’t sure I was any better at taking care of him than I’d been in the beginning.

We’d done nothing but sit on the couch, brainlessly watching dog shows, for the first week. After that, I’d realized I needed to kick my ass into gear before we became melted piles of goop. So, I’d done what I was known best for doing—I’d gone into research-and-planning mode.

I’d inhaled dozens of books and blog posts on parenting. I’d even watched a slew of social media reels and videos, hoping to extract the best advice and assemble it into a cohesive strategy. I’d learned more about parenting than I’d ever wanted to know.

Whenever my teammates had popped by to check on Theo and me, they’d made jokes about the “Daddy Workshop” I’d put together, asking if I’d start offering classes. But what the fuck else was I supposed to do? Theo deserved someone knowledgeable, someone who would consider a kid’s wants and needs but also knew how to say no and set boundaries, which I’d failed at miserably in those first horrifying days.

But now, we’d found a routine. We had meals at a set time, and he played outside as much as possible in the mornings and worked out with me in the afternoons. He’d even learned to ride his bike without the training wheels. Watching him pedal, watching his tiny legs and body balance the bike, had curled a strange sort of pride and love inside me. My smile had been as wide as his when he’d turned the bike around without falling off and rode straight back to me.

I’d thought I’d done at least one damn thing right.

But not today. Today had been another failure.

I’d dropped him off at a preschool not far from my house for the first time and almost had a panic attack. Leaving him there with Dog tucked under his armpit, looking at me with the saddest eyes I’d seen on him since the funeral, had just about undone me.

Once I’d gotten back to my truck, I’d been shaking so hard I couldn’t even start the damn thing. I’d put my head on the steering wheel and inhaled slowly and painfully, trying to calm myself down. Eventually, I’d turned the key and headed toward Will’s apartment, where our teammates were meeting me to help clear it out.

I’d barely made it to the complex and was bounding up the steps when I received the call from the preschool.

“Mr. Steele, you’ll have to come get your son.”

The handful of words had the panic roaring back to life. It had been so quick and so harsh that I hadn’t even bothered to correct the woman’s misconception about Theo being mine.

“What happened?” I’d demanded, turning and leaping back to the ground.

“He slammed a toy truck into another boy’s face.”

“Theo?” Shock had my feet halting in a way that almost caused me to trip. Theo didn’t have a violent bone in his body. Whenever we were playing, if he accidentally hit me, he nearly cried.

“Yes. And we have a no-violence policy. One and done. I’m sure that was explained to you when Sheila signed you up. You may be okay with violence with your lifestyle, but we are—”

“By my lifestyle, do you mean my occupation as a Navy SEAL?” Anger rippled through my words.

“Your response is clearly the reason your son reacts in the same way.”

I bit the inside of my cheek until the taste of iron coated my tongue. “I’m fifteen minutes out.”

As soon as I was on my way, I called Sweeney, postponed the work at Will’s apartment, and tried my damn best to modulate my emotions so I’d be calm when I got to the school.

Walking into the office, seeing Theo sobbing in Dog’s fur, unraveled any calm I’d found.

I glared at the woman in charge, picked Theo up, and rubbed his little back. “I’m here, Theo. I’m here.”

“I’s sorry. I’s sorry. I’s sorry,” Theo cried.