“He mine?” The question rolls off the tip of my tongue before I can stop it.
“Do the math in your head, Hunter, and just know his name is Huntson,” she whispers.
“Oh shit,” Tanner says in shock.
“What the hell did I miss?” Chaz snaps.
“Seems our brother here’s got a son as well,” Tanner informs Chaz.
“With whom?” Chaz asks trying to hide the surprise.
“Annslee,” I grind out through clenched teeth.
Fuckin’ hell.
What do I do now?
Better yet, why didn’t she fuckin’ tell me her damn self.
“Would you like to come with me?” Connors asks.
Do I?
This is a kid we’re talking about. One that doesn’t even know me and his mom named him after me. I have no doubt about that.
But why?
“Brother, I’d go with Connors if I were you,” Chaz advises.
“Gotta agree, Hunter, if he were mine, I’d be over there in a heartbeat,” Tanner nods his head in agreement.
“Yeah, alright. Seems Annslee and I have some things to discuss. First, though, I wanna see Huntson and make sure he’s okay,” I scoff.
“Okay, then come on, I’ll take you to the room they’re in,” Connors grins mischievously.
Shaking my head, I follow her out of the room with my brothers both calling out to me, “Good luck,” and “Keep your cool.”
I’ll keep my cool for now considering, I’ve got a lot of shit swarming around in my head; however, I’m reserving the fuckin’ right to lose it later when I can speak with Annslee in private.
Then I’ll find out what the hell she was thinking in not telling me about Huntson, as well as where the hell she’s been hiding for the past year and some change.
Chapter Three
Annslee
Holding a crying Huntson in my arms, I do the best I can in soothing him. I’m nearly at my wits end when he steps into the room closing the door behind him and Connors.
The ER is setup differently than some of the others I’ve been in. This one has cubicles for some patients, others like Huntson, they have rooms with doors.
“Let me have him,” Hunter says holding his arms out for Huntson.
Heart pounding, I nod my head and let Hunter hold his son for the first time.
Connors moves next to my side and slides her arm around my shoulders as I watch, in silence, Hunter with our son.
“Hey, little man, it’s okay,” he soothes, looking down at Huntson who has now placed his head against his dad’s chest.
Oh my God.
Huntson’s screams begin to quiet down and it’s then I can hear Hunter humming to him. Tears well in my eyes when Hunter starts singing the very same song, I have played nearly every night for Huntson when he goes to sleep.
A world filled with darkness comes
Through the darkness is a light
A voice as sweet as a melody shines through
Becoming known as a dark lullaby.
A lullaby that can only be heard in the dark of night
Can you hear the melody
The soothing sound of a dark lullaby
God I’m a horrible person.
Finally, Huntson stops crying, I take a deep breath.
“Alright, now that we have him calm, I’m going to check his ears. Remember the last time he was sick it was due to a double ear infection,” Connors murmurs, letting go of my shoulders with a squeeze.
“I know. That was my guess as well. My concern was his temp being so high and not going down. Plus, you know he’ll have to be given the antibiotic shot rather than the liquid,” I remind Connors.
“Yep, I remember,” she chuckles, grabs the otoscope and steps up in front of Hunter to look inside Huntson’s ear. “Hunter, I’m going to turn his head to get a look at his other one.”
“Why does he have to have a shot?” Hunter asks.
“He, um, refuses any medications that is orally dispensed,” I whisper, casting my gaze to the floor.
“Not even Tylenol?”
“Nope, thankfully they make pain relief suppositories for infants and children. Logan was the same way until Dragon and Gadget worked their magic and got him to finally take liquids when needed,” Connors mutters answering Hunter’s question. “And yep as I thought, double ear infection. I’ll go order a shot and get Jordan to administer it.”
“Thank you,” I say quietly.
“No problem. Maybe we should look into getting approved for carrying antibiotic shots at the clinic,” she whispers almost to herself. “This would keep him from getting ER bills constantly for a damn shot I can give him there.”
I’m barely able to keep my face from flaring up in embarrassment at Hunter finding out about this. I don’t need him to know about the ER bills or any other bills I have racking up on top of me suffocating me while I do everything I can to take care of Huntson. I’d even started working three nights a week elsewhere to help make ends meet.
I wouldn’t be able to do this if Jordan and Connors didn’t help out with Huntson. Sinner’s Cove might not be something I ever wanted to do but working for Dean isn’t so bad. His wife is extremely sweet. Thankfully, I’m behind the bar rather than on the stage. Sure, I’d make more dancing but I would be tripping over myself constantly.
“Be back,” Connors says as she leaves the room leaving the two of us alone with our son.
“I’m not going to get into it here. But I need a time and an address that would be good for me to come over. Seems we have some shit to discuss,” Hunter mutters deadpan.
Lifting my head, licking my lips, I meet his gaze to find him glaring at me as if I were beneath him right now. Inwardly flinching, I nod my head. “Okay. I’ll write down my address and you can
