Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(78)
“And she said yes!” David said, clapping his hands. “And you had fish, and she had a steak!”
“That’s right. We did. Here’s the thing, champ, one day you’re going to meet the person that you know you want to spend the rest of your life with. The one you want to have a family with, and who you would give up everything you own for, if only to make them happy. There should be a spark, something about this person that makes you feel like, if you don’t get to see or talk to them every day, your life won’t be complete. That’s how I felt about your mom when I first saw her. And on that first date, in that restaurant, I knew if she didn’t marry me, I wouldn’t be complete. She completes me, your mom. I would never hurt her. Not ever. We might fight and yell, but I have never and will never put my hands on her in anger. How could I do that to the woman who is like the other half of my soul?”
Dave hoped to start undoing any damage del Rio might’ve caused in his son by desensitizing him to violence and devaluing women. He didn’t know if it was working, but David was watching him with a rapt gaze that seemed piercing in its intensity. “How’d you lose Mamá?”
The question was painful, but Dave made an unspoken promise to himself and to his son right then and there never to lie to him. “You know what? I’m still not sure how I lost her. But I do know that it was painful. Every day she was gone was more painful than the last. I didn’t know where she was or if she was hurt. I didn’t know if anyone was feeding her or making her feel unsafe. I missed her, champ. Every day, I missed her more and more. My heart felt empty without her. I looked everywhere for her. I got all my friends together to help me. It took a long time, way too long, but I finally found her. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I found you too. You were a surprise, one of the best surprises of my life.”
“I was?”
“Yeah, champ. Because me and your mom talked a lot about wanting to have a baby. We wanted a son or daughter to love and to complete our family. But she got lost before we could do that.”
David studied him, and Dave could see his little mind whirling. “I know you’re not my real papá,” he said after a long moment. “Del Rio said Mamá didn’t know who my real father was, and that he didn’t want anything to do with me.”
Dave put his finger under the boy’s chin and gently forced him to look him in the eyes. “I’m your real papá,” he said firmly. “I love you, and I love your mamá. That’s what makes a family. Love. Del Rio doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s mean and a bully, remember? His goal in life is to make other people sad. Would I be here if you weren’t my son? If I wasn’t your real papá?”
He could tell the boy was confused, but eventually he shook his head.
Dave lowered his head until his forehead rested against David’s. “Finding you and your mom is a miracle, son. I haven’t been happy since the day I lost your mom, and now that I’ve found her and you? I’m twice as happy. We’re going to go to Colorado and live happily ever after. You’re going to go to school and get even smarter than you are now. You’ll have a ton of friends and grow up to do amazing things. I just know it.”
“And you’ll always be my papá? Even when I’m bad? You won’t send me back?”
“No, David. You aren’t ever coming back here, not unless you want to. You’re my son. Mine. I’m not leaving you or your mom. Ever. And you can’t be bad. It’s not possible. You might make some decisions that aren’t the right ones, and you might mess up, but that doesn’t make you bad. Understand?”
David nodded.
Feeling as if he needed to lighten the mood, Dave pulled back and said, “So . . . your mom said that she’s been teaching you numbers. Want to show me what you’ve learned?”
David smiled so big, Dave swore the air around them brightened. “Yes!”
“All right then, champ. What’s one plus one?”
David held up his hands and showed one finger on each. “Two!”
Dave widened his eyes and exclaimed, “Wow, you are smart, just like your mom said.” The smile on his son’s face got even bigger, if that was possible. And Dave swore he’d spend the rest of his life doing everything in his power to keep that smile on his kid’s face.
An hour or so later, Dave had moved him and David out from under the tarp. His team would be coming soon, and he wanted to be prepared. They lay on their backs, side by side, and gazed up at the stars.
“I don’t know much about the constellations,” Dave apologized to his son, “so I can’t point them out, but I can tell you one thing I know for sure.”
“What?” David asked.
“The stars saved my life.”
“Really? How?” the little boy asked in awe.
“I was really sad about your mom being lost and that I couldn’t find her. I just knew she was scared somewhere, and I couldn’t be there to help her. It was the most painful thing I’d ever experienced in my life. I went to my bar, the one where I met your mom, and climbed onto the roof. It’s flat, a lot like the one we’re on right now. I lay down and stared up at the stars, like we are now. I was missing your mom a lot, and I asked her to show me a sign that she was still alive. That she was okay. And you know what happened?”