Let Love Shine (7 page)

“Those football guys that I told you about…”

“They didn’t touch you?” Anger bubbles deep in my chest and
I clench my fists until my knuckles are white with tension.

“No, it was a group of their girlfriends. They said that I
needed to keep my fag in line and stop him from hitting on their boys.” I hear
her cringe on the word “fag” and I can recall the venomous words that fell from
my father’s mouth the last time I saw him.

“They beat the crap out of me and told me the guys did the
same to Cane. I’ve been trying to call him since after school, but he’s not
picking up his phone. I’m so scared.” Lizzy wraps her arms around her waist, a
vain effort to comfort herself through her returning cries.

“It’s okay, Lizzy. We’ll figure it out.” Even though I want
to believe the words I’ve just spoken, I’m not so sure about how to fix this.
I’m not sure that it can even be fixed.

“You stay in here and I’m going to make a few calls. Try
calling Cane again and call your parents to let them know where you are. And
try his parents too. Maybe they’ve heard from him.” She nods and focuses on the
tasks I’ve just given her. Having something to do seems to help her calm down a
little more.

I call the cops and let them know where we are and what
happened. They’re sending the closest dispatch car and it should be here in
less than five minutes. Next, I call Dylan who is more than a little relieved
at finally having figured out who the caller has been. He’s also on his way and
should be with us in just a few minutes. I call Momma last and let her know
that we might not be there to get Braden in time to put him to bed. Of course,
she’s never put out to spend more time with him, so she gladly offers to help
out and take him overnight.

Sirens blare and lights blaze as a few cop cars pull into
the lot. Lizzy and Cane’s parents are next to arrive. Concern weighs heavily on
all of their faces. In a panicked frenzy, Dylan pulls into the lot last. He offers
whatever insight he can into the calls he received and the information that we
have from the school, including the principal’s number.

By the time Maddy’s final ends, we’re still in the lot and
she’s completely shocked by the scene before her. “Is everything alright?” She
drops her bag to the ground and stands next to me. We both look on as Lizzy
talks to Cane’s parents. Everyone’s eyes are red and puffy from the cold and
the tears.

“It’s not okay just yet, but they’re working on it.” I
explain that the police have already filed a missing person report and have
also called the parents of the football players and their girlfriends to bring
them in for questioning. They’re not too confident that the other kids, or
their parents for that matter, will be all too cooperative, but they have to
start somewhere.

By the time everyone leaves, I’m more than exhausted. “You
did a good thing tonight, Reid. Lizzy was really scared and you helped her. I’m
proud of you, babe.”

Burying my face into her neck, I squeeze her as tight as I
can and let her strength seep into my bones. “I just hope they can find him
before he does something stupid. It’s just not fair.”

Maddy cups my jaw and her teary eyes stare sadly into mine.
“No, it’s not, baby. But you just made it a little bit fairer. Come on, let’s
get you home. I’ll even make you dinner.”

I waggle an eyebrow at her and she swats at my chest. “You
mean you’ll make me cereal, right?”

“Nah, tonight I’ll splurge. You get grilled cheese and
tomato soup. Nothing but the best for my guy.” Her playfulness and sarcasm help
to lighten my mood, just a little, and I have to admit that her bright, smiling
face plants a seed of hope that maybe things will turn out okay.

Watching my two men play trains together on Christmas morning
has to be the highlight of my year. Reid was up so late last night putting
everything together, so of course, Braden knocked it down in all of two
seconds. Reid hooks together two trains and shows Braden how to drive them up
and over the hills and mountains. Braden’s face lights up and he makes
“choo-choo” noises as he shuffles around the waist-high train table. When a
train falls off the tracks and crashes into the floor, driving itself under the
TV stand, Braden says “uh-oh” and throws his hands in the air.

“I got it buddy.” Daddy to the rescue as always.

When he hands the train back to Braden, he sets him back up
at the table and looks at me over his shoulder. Of course, he’s just caught me
staring at him.

His ass was just in my face. Kinda difficult to ignore
that
.

He slides next to me on the floor and I kiss him on the
cheek as I hand him his coffee.

“You look really happy this morning. And Braden loves his
train. You did real good, Daddy.” He drapes an arm around my shoulders and we
share a moment just watching our son drive his trains.

“I am happy.” He gives me a tight squeeze.

I know that part of his happiness has also come from the
fact that we got a huge break on the Cane case the other night. The girls who
beat up Lizzy confessed, under direction of their parents’ lawyers, of course.
They were kicked off the cheerleading squad since the school has zero tolerance
for bullying. Having to do fifty hours of community service barely seems like a
sufficient sentence, but at least they aren’t going to get away with it
entirely.

The football guys, on the other hand, well it looks like
they will. I mean without Cane coming forward to say what happened, there isn’t
much that anyone can do.

“Where’d you go?” Reid looks at me as I’m lost thinking about
where Cane is. I don’t want to bring it up, being Christmas and all, but I can
still see the worry on Reid’s face, the lines of tension creasing the corners
of his usually bright blue eyes.

“Nowhere. I was just thinking of how happy I am too.”

We sit and watch Braden for a few more minutes before the
phone rings and Reid gets up to answer it.

“Hey, Dyl. Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too.”

Braden chooses this moment to start throwing a mini-tantrum,
his cries making it somewhat impossible for Reid to talk on the phone. After I
hear him ask Dylan to hang on a minute, he turns to me. “It’s about Cane. I’ll
be right back in.” My stomach twists in knots as I watch him walk down the hall
to our room.

In the few minutes that he’s in our bedroom, I create all
kinds of crazy scenarios about where Cane is and what happened to him. Most of
them are just too scary to focus on for more than the briefest of seconds. Even
though I try to distract myself with Braden, driving trains and making silly
faces, I can’t shake the feeling that something horrible happened.

I shoot up from the floor when I hear Reid walking back out
to us. “What did he say? What’s going on?”

“He’s okay.” On those two simple words, I see the weight
fall from his shoulders, the lines around his eyes smooth, instantly.

I band my arms around his waist burying my face in his
chest. “Oh, Reid. That’s amazing. Where is he? Did he come back home?”

Reid pulls me over to the couch holding me in place on his
lap. “Cane ran away to his aunt and uncle’s house. Took the train there in the
middle of the night. It turns out that he came out to them over the summer and
they said if he ever needed anything, he could go to them, so he did.”

I lace our fingers together and run my thumb over his wrist.
“Was he hurt?” I ask tentatively, not sure if I really want to know the answer.

“No, thank God,” he sighs a deep breath of relief. I know
this is what was keeping Reid up at night, wondering if Cane was safe. “The
guys never got a hold of him, but he’s too scared to come back. Dylan just
heard from Lizzy this morning that Cane moved in with his aunt and uncle and
he’s going to finish out the school year in the new district.”

“Reid…that’s…really good news.” A tear streaks down my
cheek, shed in happiness that things turned out the way they did.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great actually.”

We sit together for a few more minutes, not saying anything,
enjoying the sight of our innocent little boy.

“There’s still a few more presents under there.” Reid tips
his chin towards the tree and pulls me down to the floor. Since I’m never one
to argue about getting gifts, I go all too willingly.

“This is for you, babe,” he smirks as he hands me a
not-so-perfectly wrapped box. I give him the stink-eye playfully mocking his
sub-par wrapping skills. “Don’t look at me like that. He helped,” he adds,
pointing at Braden who is still blissfully unaware of anything other than his
trains.

I can tell by the wrinkles and crumpled corners exactly how
Braden “helped.”

I shred through the paper and actually gasp as I uncover the
book hidden under the wrinkled paper.

“Oh, Reid. It’s beautiful.” I trace my fingers over the
hardcover image of Braden as newborn, swaddled in a pale blue blanket. I
remember taking the picture the morning after that first night. Reid laughed at
me then, saying that if I woke him up, he was my responsibility. I just
shrugged and snapped away. I knew that he wouldn’t be this tiny and this
peaceful forever and I wanted to capture that moment. And now, my sweet man has
captured it forever.

“Do you like it?” he asks cautiously, which is ridiculous.

“I love it, Reid.” I can’t manage more than that as I start
flipping through the pages. Reid has captured the entire journey of us becoming
a family right here in these pages. Early sonogram pictures, to my growing
belly, the baby shower and then the three of us in the delivery room, just
moments after Braden was born.

It’s the history of our little family.

“Thank you, baby. It’s the best gift ever,” I mumble against
his lips as I wrap my arms around his neck. I catch a glimmer of something in
his eyes as he smirks at me. I ignore him and hand him the last of his gifts
from under the tree.

“Here, open this one.” I slide a small box to Reid and smirk
at him. Like the dork that he is, he actually shakes the box when it’s fairly
clear that nothing more than an envelope is stuffed inside of it. Braden is
crawling around the living room vrooming a new car he opened earlier. Like his
daddy, the boy loves his cars.

Reid rips at the shiny, red wrapping paper and laughs aloud
at the gift inside of it. “
You
got
me
cooking lessons? This is
some kind of joke, right?”

“I didn’t get them for you, you ass! I got them for me, but
seeing as you’re the one who has to deal with my cooking, it really is a gift
for you, smart ass.” I stick my tongue out at him and laugh when Braden starts
mimicking me.

“Get over here.” Reid grabs me and hauls me onto his lap.
“You know that I would eat cereal and soup for the rest of my life. As long as
it means that I get to eat with you, I don’t care about the food.”

“That’s sweet and all, but you deserve better. And now,
thanks to Kitchen Divas, you’ll get it.” I wiggle my ass in his lap. “Then
there’s always dessert, too.” Another wiggle makes his jaw tighten and his
fingers dig into my hip.

“You’re evil, woman,” he chides me mockingly as he starts
tickling my side.

“Stop! Reid!” The second the word “stop” is out of my mouth,
he’s got me pinned beneath him. “What? You want me to stop?” He just tickles me
more, clearly not intending to stop.

I can barely speak through my laughter. “Reid! No…not my
feet…Reid, I’m serious.”

“Ohhhh, look at you, big talker. Now, you’re serious, huh?
Well, so am I!” He changes tactics once again, straddling my hips and locking
my arms at my side. It’s pointless to try and buck him off me; besides, he’ll
just enjoy that too much.

Just when I think he’s about to stop, he pulls my shirt up,
exposing my belly. “Oh no you don’t!” I shoot him a serious look to which he
just arches an eyebrow. God, why does he look so freaking sexy when he does
that.

With a slowness that belies his intent, he lowers his mouth
to my belly button and blows the loudest, wettest raspberry. “Come on, B! Help
Daddy get Mommy!” And wouldn’t you know it, the little bugger listens and
crawls over to where Reid has me trapped.

Braden’s pudgy little fingers pinch and tickle at my belly
and he tries his hardest to blow some raspberries, but all he manages to do is
drool on me.

When I’m red faced and barely able to breathe, Reid lets go
of my hands and helps me stand. He lifts Braden up and all three of us stand
there as our bubbles of laughter subside.

“I’m gonna get you back. You just wait and see,” I threaten.

“I can’t wait to see you try, Mrs. Connely.” He counters
with another sexily arched eyebrow and an innocent peck to the cheek.

“Cocky bastard.” I swat him playfully on his chest.

“Listen to the mouth on you!” He switches Braden to his
other hip, before asking him, “Can you believe Mommy has such a dirty mouth?”

“Me?” I gasp and poke him in the arm. “You have the
filthiest mouth ever. His first word is probably going to be F-U-C-K at the
rate you say it around here.” I spell out the letters just to prove to him that
he’s worse than I am and then stick out my tongue for added insult—and to up
the maturity level, of course.

“Can I make you breakfast, now that we’re done with the
presents?”

“I doubt you can, but it’ll be fun to watch you try.” He
turns to Braden and holds up his hand to high-five him at my expense and Braden
actually manages to hit him on the hand this time—of course, Reid’s been
practicing with him. They’re teaming up on me already, but I can’t deny that I
love my boys to death.

Making my way into the kitchen, I decide on scrambled eggs.
They’re fairly easy to make and fairly difficult to screw up. Toast, on the
other hand, is apparently my archenemy. Those Kitchen Divas are going to have
their work cut out for them.

Over the clanging of the pan and the cracking of shells, I
hear Braden and Reid cleaning up the wrapping paper that’s strewn about the
floor. I catch of glimpse of Reid handing Braden a wad of paper and showing him
how to slam-dunk it. When Braden actually makes it into the bag, Reid claps
wildly and tosses Braden in the air telling him what a good job he did.
Watching Reid with Braden, witnessing the man I love and the child I gave birth
to become best friends brings tears to my eyes. It’s the most perfect thing to
see on Christmas morning.

Of course that bubble of perfection is broken, when Reid
hands me the tied up bag of wrapping paper claiming that he needs to go change
my son’s stinky ass—funny how when he smells, he becomes
my
son. I slide
my slippers on and wrap myself in my grey, wool pea coat to take the trash out
to the dumpster.

I nearly trip over my own two feet as I step out the front
door. Mouth agape, bag dropped to the floor, I’m completely speechless as I
stare at what I assume is my new car. It has a giant red bow on top of it and
everything. The sun’s rays sparkle and dance across the shiny, black exterior
of the Nissan Murano. Still frozen by both disbelief and the cold, I jump a
little when I feel Reid’s jacket-covered arm snake around my waist from behind.

“Merry Christmas, baby.” I simply stare at him in shock as
he dangles the keys in front of me.

He hits a button on the key-fob and the engine purrs. “Reid,
you didn’t have to…”

“I know I didn’t
have
to, but I
wanted to
. So
I did. Well actually, we did, right, buddy?” I’m just now noticing that Braden
is outside with him, all bundled up of course. The freaking garbage was just a
diversion. Smooth. I’ll have to give him credit for that one.