I took it from him and placed a kiss on the top of his head. “Thank you, honey.”

King stepped forward and ruffled Oliver’s hair, the three of us standing together in a circle. I was momentarily hit with a pang of emotion to have them both so close. My two men. Our small family. King shot me a warm smile like he could read my exact thoughts.

“Come on, little man, let’s go downstairs and make breakfast. Give your mum a morning off.”

“Okay,” said Oliver, bobbing his head. He seemed to enjoy how King called him “little man,” like he was one of the grown-ups. He also seemed excited to have him there. It must have been because it was usually just the two of us, so having someone new around in the morning added an element of fun. I went and took a quick shower while the two of them chattered down in the kitchen. I had no idea what they were cooking, but they were making a hell of a lot of noise. When I heard King laugh, full and deep, it sent a pleasurable tremor right down my spine. It felt nice to have a man around, just doing normal man stuff, like making breakfast with our son and giving me orgasms.

Once out of the shower, I wrapped my hair in a towel and threw on a comfy navy dress with cream polka dots. Then, removing the towel, I twisted my damp hair into a knot and went downstairs to see what kind of havoc those two were wreaking on my kitchen.

Surprisingly, the place wasn’t too messy, and the heavenly smell of French toast filled the room. King stood by the cooker, holding a spatula. He’d placed Oliver on a stool so he could sit and watch. I went and peeked in one of the cupboards, grinning happily when I found we had maple syrup. King hadn’t even realised I’d come in, because he was too focused on cooking and talking to Oliver. The two of them were so cute together, the similarities in their looks particularly striking. It was like looking at two pictures of the same person, one as a boy and the other as a man. Somehow, even though he was smaller and not as strong, I felt like maybe the boy would be the one to save the man this time. Having my love was all well and good, but there was just something about King’s eyes when he looked at our boy that brought the life back into them. It was in that moment that I truly believed he’d never drink again. I hadn’t realised it, but I hadn’t been certain before. Now, somehow I just knew.

Sitting by the counter, I placed my chin in my hands, watching them interact.

It made me happy.

King only saw me when he turned, holding the pan. His lips twitched with a smile as he plopped the food onto the plates.

“You look beautiful,” he said.

“Shut up,” I said.

“Oi! You’re not allowed to say that,” Oliver said.

I stuck my tongue out at him, and he giggled. King dished up the French toast, and I poured an unhealthy amount of maple syrup onto mine. Oliver made a face at me, because he didn’t like maple syrup and preferred strawberry jam.

We were eating for a minute or two when I heard a key slot into the front door. My eyes widened and went straight to King, whose brow was furrowed curiously at the sound of someone entering my house, someone who had a key. It wasn’t at all what he thought, though. I heard Elaine’s light footsteps sound down the hall before she stepped inside the room. She often stopped by unexpectedly, but since she’d visited just yesterday, I didn’t think she’d be back so soon. When I saw the bunch of flowers she was holding, I knew she’d come just to drop them off. Every once in a while she liked to bring me flowers. King turned in his place to see who’d come in, and his fork clattered loudly to his plate.

“Oliver,” said Elaine, her voice laced heavily with emotion.

“Mum,” he breathed, so quiet it was almost a whisper.

She looked to me, and I knew instantly that she hadn’t intended to intrude. She lifted the flowers weakly, as though to prove her visit was innocent. And then her eyes filled with tears. Seconds later King was standing, taking long strides towards her and pulling her into his arms for a tight embrace. They hugged for a long time, the flowers getting squashed between them.

Oliver looked at me, his mouth open and his eyes big. He clearly sensed something important was happening, but he wasn’t sure what. The long silence was broken when he whispered, “Why is Granny Elaine crying?”

I didn’t know how to answer, but then I heard Elaine’s soft chuckle as she pulled back from King and turned to face him. She stepped forward and ran her hand lightly over Oliver’s hair. “Because this is my son,” she answered gently. “And I haven’t seen him for a very long time.”

I watched Oliver as his little brain put two and two together. “You’re his mummy,” he said finally, and Elaine nodded. King had come to place a hand reassuringly on her shoulder.

“I belong to her the same as you belong to your mum,” he explained.

“Oh,” said Oliver. “I’d be sad, too, if I didn’t see my mummy for a very long time.”

His words made us all choke up, and I stood to go grab a plate for Elaine and some coffee. It gave me a chance to settle my emotions. She sat down at the table, talking to Oliver mostly. I got the sense that she really wanted some alone time with King, so once we’d finished eating, I made a suggestion.

“How about Oliver and I go out for a couple of hours? Give you both some time to catch up.”

Elaine nodded like it was a good idea, but King looked a little more hesitant. I knew it wasn’t because he didn’t want to spend time with her, but more because he didn’t want to talk about all the painful things they had to discuss.

“I don’t want to go,” my son complained grumpily. “I want to stay here with Oliver 2!”

In any other situation, his grumpiness would have annoyed me, but no. The fact that he’d grown so attached to King made my heart do wild flip-flops in my chest.

“Oliver 2?” Elaine asked, her lips tugging into a smile.

I sighed and smiled back at her. “He thinks it’s crazy that they’re both named Oliver. Don’t ask. Do you mind if he stays? I have a few things I need to take care of anyway, and it’ll be easier if I leave him here.”

“Of course not, you know I always love having him.”

And that was how I found myself grabbing my things and making my way to the front door. King followed me out, leaving Elaine and Oliver in the kitchen. Then he placed his hand to the small of my back, and my body gave a little shudder.

“Don’t feel like you have to leave,” he said quietly, his touch warm.

I turned and looked up at him. “You and your mum need to talk. I’ll only be gone a couple of hours.”

“Yes, but this is your house….”

I quieted him by placing a finger to his lips. “No buts. Seriously, you need to talk to her. Get it all out. If you put a DVD on for Oliver, he’ll be quite happy to sit and watch it. He won’t give you any trouble.”

“It’s not about that. You know I love him.”

Without thinking, a soft sigh escaped me. “God, I love that you love him.”

“Well,” said King, leaning closer, voice low, “I love that you love that I love him. And I love you, too.”

I shot him an amused scowl. “Don’t try to sweet-talk me.” My hand moved from his mouth to his jaw, my touch a caress as my expression sobered. “How are you feeling, though? Any headaches or nausea?”

His mouth firmed as he swallowed. “Honestly? Yeah, a bit of both. But I’m handling it.”

“Yeah,” I breathed, ready to burst, I was so proud of him. “You are.”

His strength in dealing with all this as well as feeling like shit from quitting drinking continually amazed me. He backed me into the wall and bent to press a kiss to my jaw. “I’ll miss you today.”

“I’ll miss you, too. Now, I’d better go. Otherwise, I might drag you back upstairs to bed.”

His answering chuckle vibrated through my chest as I slipped out the door and headed for my car. It was only when I was halfway down the street from my house that I realised I had no clue where I was going.