“And they don’t know?”
“Of course not, Silly.” Sam threw his head back, and he looked like he was laughing. “Yesterday, Josh told me that Darrel freaked out because Josh worked a double shift. Darrel went to Josh’s work with food, coffee, and a blanket, and he kept sending messages to remind Josh to get some rest.”
“But that’s nice, isn’t it?”
“It is but wait till you’re together with Caden for a couple of months.”
“We’re not together.”
For a second, Sam just stared at me, and then I could tell he burst out laughing because he fell over and was holding his stomach. Confused, I watched him and waited until he calmed down again.
“You two are so together, Henry. I have learned something about Daddies. They never back down once they’ve found their perfect Boy.”
“I’m not perfect, I’m broken, and my family…” Sam grabbed my hands to stop my signing. He motioned to his lips.
“You have a wonderful Daddy and us, Henry. You’re special, not broken.”
“There’s nothing special about me.”
“Oh yeah?” The look on Sam's face should have scared me, but instead, I felt weirdly happy about it. Maybe Caden was right, and Sam could be my friend. “I know that you are Lucian Holston and Little Boy Blue, so don’t even try to tell me that you’re not special.”
“Those are just books.” I shrugged.
“Josh and I already talked about making a couple of fan pages on Facebook for you.”
“No.” The mood changed in an instant from light and teasing to thick and scary. “You can’t do that. Nobody knows that I’m Lucian Holston or Little Boy Blue.”
“Relax, Henry. I was just kidding. Josh and I will keep your secret. As I said before, we will all help you to be safe.”
The panic left when I saw the sincerity in his eyes. Sam really meant it. Surprisingly, I believed him. “Thank you, Sam.”
“We’re a family, Henry. There is no need to thank me for it.” Reaching over the stuffie, Sam squeezed my hand before he laughed. “Now tell me all about how perfect Caden is.”
Chapter 16
Caden
Checking the lasagna, I tilted my head and listened for any distressing noises from the blanket fort. Occasionally, there was a low murmur, but nothing alarming. Whatever they were talking about, they were probably signing. When I turned around to grab the ingredients for the salad dressing, I caught Jakob watching me.
“What?”
“You do realize that it’s just Sam in there with him?”
“I know that Sam is with him. Why?”
“Because I can see you going all Momma Bear over there.”
“Excuse me?” Did he seriously just call me a Momma Bear? But I had to admit that maybe Jakob had a point. I glanced at the blanket fort again and sighed. Yeah, perhaps I was overreacting. “I’m worried about him.”
“I know. But Sam is only trying to befriend him, not murder him.”
“Yeah, not like his brother or his father.”
“Wait…what?” Jakob walked over to me and took the bottle of olive oil out of my hand.
“There is a reason why I asked you to come over today.” Sighing, I leaned against the counter and looked at the blanket fort again. “Henry needs more people in his life. He needs friends and someone that knows about his past and his family. Someone he can talk to and who supports him. To show that he doesn’t have to deal with it on his own.”
“I think I missed something. Deal with what alone?”
“Henry had a visit from the FBI agent who saved his life yesterday. His brother has a parole hearing coming up, and there’s a chance that he will walk.”
“Oh, shit.”
Well, that wasn’t the most eloquent reaction, but exactly how I felt. “Yeah. Oh, shit.”
“But no one knows that he’s alive.”
“It doesn’t matter. Henry is still terrified.” I nodded towards the small breakfast nook, and Jakob followed me there. We sat down, and I made sure that I had a good view of the blanket fort, just in case Henry needed me. “Henry finally told me about his family and his upbringing. I hate to say it, but I think he has a right to be scared. The fact that he is gay is low on the list of his offenses against the family. According to his family, he’s a traitor, and I don’t even want to know what they will do to him if they ever find out that he’s alive.”
“Sam put a little alarm system on the files. If someone investigates them, he’ll get an alert. Sam doesn’t know, I know. He thinks that he was so sneaky.”
“Sam put an alarm system on files for the FBI?” I was equally impressed and worried. “One day, that could get him into trouble.”
“According to Sam, he didn’t technically hack into the FBI,” Jakob answered, but then grimaced. “But he did. I never thought that my greatest fear as a Daddy would be possibly losing my Boy because he gets arrested by the Feds. Or taken away by the CIA.”
“At least you know a good lawyer. It’s not like they’re going to send him to Guantanamo.”
“Gee, thanks. You sure know how to comfort a person, Momma Bear.”
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you needed comfort.”
Jakob glared at me, but then turned his head when Sam laughed in the blanket fort. I waited to hear Henry as well, but nothing. Sighing, I stood up and went back over to the counter to finish the dressing.
“You know, a wise man once told me that it’s tough to be the strong Daddy. Daddies need a support system, too.”
“A wise man? That sounds so much like something Des would say. He should have it copyrighted or tattooed on his forehead since he says it so much.”
“Okay, it was Des, but he’s right, you know.” Jakob followed me and began to cut up tomatoes, and I grabbed the olive oil. “You said on the phone that you wanted Henry to have friends he could
