And Tanner had Cecelia in his arms.

I’d noted all this distractedly, seeing as this growing family of friends was literally growing and it was mine, meaning it was Ethan’s, and that was a birthday boon he wouldn’t really understand, but it was his all the same.

But mostly, I was about my kid.

We’d all come into the kitchen after Rocky and Dusty got Peggy on her way. Though, obviously, the rest of us got there first since Rocky and Dusty were getting Peggy on her way.

It was just that Ethan was a little freaked.

Which was making him stubborn.

“I get that,” I replied. “But you got a bunch of people in the other room who wanna watch you open presents, and I, for one, got a craving for R2-D2’s innards.”

I was trying to make a joke, lighten the mood.

Ethan saw through it right away.

“Was Dad there?” he asked.

“Kid, come on,” I replied softly. “We’ll talk after the party’s over.”

“Mom, that’s crazy, her bangin’ on the door like that. Who does that?” Ethan asked me.

A woman whose husband vanished.

“Son—”

Feeling sudden movement, I turned to see Merry, who’d been standing beside me in my face-off with my kid, was now crouching.

“Look at me,” he ordered after he got low.

Ethan stopped scowling at me to look at Merry.

“You can hack it?” Merry asked.

Ethan’s back straightened, but his gaze on Merry didn’t waver.

“I can hack it,” he announced.

Merry looked up at me.

I sucked breath in through my nose.

I had not shared all of Trent’s problems with my son. For instance, he didn’t know his father had used drugs. So he obviously didn’t know how much he had used them either. He also didn’t know his dad had been in trouble with the law. Not once, not several times.

He just knew the things I couldn’t hide—Trent was absent, and when he wasn’t, he was a loser.

I didn’t know what Merry intended to say to my kid.

I just knew I trusted him.

So I nodded.

Merry turned back to my boy.

“Your dad wasn’t there, Ethan. Your dad has problems. He’s got to keep a tight handle on those problems or they’ll get the better of him. He left Peggy without telling her what’s happening with him and she doesn’t know where he is. We can’t know, but this gives indication he’s lost hold and his problems got the better of him. She’s worried, trying to find him, and she thought he would be here. He isn’t, so we couldn’t help her. There’s not much we can do to help her, but I’ll see about doin’ what I can when I’m at work again.”

He shuffled forward, reached out, and curled his hand around the back of my son’s neck.

Then he kept talking.

“It’s important to point out these are not your problems, bud. These are Peggy’s problems. They’re your dad’s problems. Life works out in crazy ways sometimes and it seems your dad gave you and your mom one good thing: when he took off, you guys learned how to manage on your own. So when trouble hits for him, you just keep on rollin’. Now, your mom needs you to keep on rollin’. Can you do that for her?”

“He did to Peggy what he did to Mom, just later, didn’t he?” Ethan asked Merry.

“We don’t know. We just know what I told you,” Merry answered.

“He did to Peggy what he did to Mom,” Ethan muttered.

Merry gave his neck a visible squeeze and light shake, swaying Ethan gently.

“You gonna keep on rollin’?” he asked quietly.

Ethan looked at Merry.

Then he tipped his eyes up at me.

“We’re done with him, Mom. That’s it,” he declared. “He does that to you and me, then he gets Mary and Tobias and does it to them. And even if Peggy is crazy, he did it to her too and that isn’t cool. So even if he does try to come back some day, we’re done. We don’t need him.”

“Your call, honey,” I said softly. “It’s always been your call. And it’ll be your call if something happens and you change your mind.”

He stared at me a beat before he turned back to Merry.

“I’m ready to keep on rollin’, Merry,” he stated.

Merry gave him a grin.

“That’s my boy.”

My heart fluttered.

My son’s chest visibly swelled.

I heard Mom clear her throat.

“Right, I’ll grab the ice cream,” Rocky said.

“Everyone back in the living room,” Dave ordered.

People moved. Merry straightened.

I kept my eyes to my kid.

He felt them and looked up at me.

“You good?” I whispered.

Ethan nodded.

“Let’s go, buddy,” Colt called.

Ethan looked at Colt.

Then he followed his uncle into the living room.

* * * * *

“Holy cramoly!” Ethan shouted, yanked what was inside the envelope out, turned his eyes to Merry, lifted his hand straight into the air, waved it around, and screeched, “Colts tickets! Holy cramoly! I can’t believe it! That’s soooooo awesome!”

He popped up and raced over legs and laps, pushing through bodies until he made it to Merry.

Once there, he threw his arms around Merry’s middle and gave him a big hug.

Even now a big boy at eleven, he didn’t let go and only tipped his head back, my little man smiling huge up at my big man.

“Thanks, Merry! The greatest present ever!” he yelled.

Merry grinned down at my kid and ruffled his hair.

“Glad you dig ’em, bud,” he muttered.

Ethan jumped up, seeming to forget he was still attached to Merry, which meant his jump jolted Merry. This made Merry’s grin turn into a smile.

Then he let go and whirled my way.

“Mom! Isn’t this awesome?” he asked me, waving the tickets.

“Totally, kid,” I answered.

“Ready to ruuuuuuuumble!” Ethan shouted before he shoved his way back to the coffee table, the dissected R2-D2, and more presents.

I was squatting close to my boy, taking notes so Ethan could write thank-yous, shoving spent paper and bows in a trash bag, and finishing up my piece of cake.

I was also allowing myself to enjoy the latest boon.

This being, when life threatened to knock my kid sideways, it had always been me and mom who had to scramble to make sure it didn’t knock anything in him he couldn’t get rid of. Anger. Bitterness. Sadness. Regret.

I looked to Merry to see him watching my kid tearing into his next present, and he had the look on his face that he sometimes had when he looked at me, but modified.

Even modified, it was soft and warm and perfect.

That was my boon.

Because my man dug my kid.

And me and my mom had another member on our team to make sure Ethan didn’t get knocked sideways.

And he was a ringer.

Chapter Twenty-Three

People Like Them

Garrett

Thursday Afternoon

“Yeah. Thanks, man,” Garrett said into his phone. “Later.”

He disconnected.

Colt and Sully were standing next to Mike’s desk, talking to him about a case they were on.

But when Garrett got off the phone, all eyes came to him.

“That was Roy from northwest district,” Garrett said to their unasked question. “Had reason to be chatting with one of his sources. Trent Schott is on the street, scoring.”

“Fuck,” Colt muttered.

“You got a vicinity, you offer Ryker a marker, he’ll find him for you,” Sully suggested.

Garrett looked at Sully. “Schott isn’t my job. His wife isn’t my job. Cher and Ethan are my job. Promised them I’d ask around, but Ethan wants nothing to do with him. We know he’s using. If Cher wants, she can tell Peggy. Anything else is up to her.”

Sully grinned. “You just don’t wanna owe Ryker a marker.”

“There’s that too,” Garrett muttered.

That was when they all grinned at him.

Garrett ignored them and reengaged his phone.

He called his woman.

He gave her the news.

He found out while having a drink as she worked that night that she’d told Peggy. She’d also told her kid. She reported that Ethan cared but pretended he didn’t.