Hold (Gentry Boys, #5)(42)

“Well she apparently took that money and went to go see a lawyer. She had him draw up papers terminating her parental rights and giving us full custody of Jacob.”

Truly handed me a fat envelope. It was full of papers that had lots of small, typed paragraphs. At the end were signatures and a notary stamp.

“What’s this?” I asked, holding a plain white envelope that had fallen out of the larger one. It was sealed and labeled, simply, ‘Jacob’.

“A letter. Mia addressed it to Jacob. She said I was free to read it if I wanted but I haven’t.”

Carefully I replaced all the contents of the envelope. I folded the flap forward and tossed the whole thing on the coffee table. When things calmed down I would have to find a lawyer to tell me if all this was completely legal. But for now, Meridian Lee had signed over her child, quietly packed her belongings, and left, ignoring the tearful pleas of her sister.

“Creedence?” Truly whispered. I stared into the anguish in her eyes. She already knew what I was going to say but it was still important that I say it.

I slid my arm around my wife’s shoulders and cupped my other hand around Jacob’s small head. He stirred and smiled in his sleep.

“We’ll raise him,” I said with certainty. “We will love him and treasure him as we would love any son of ours.” I felt the light touch of his hair on my palm. “Because as of right now he is our little boy.”

Truly closed her eyes for a moment. Several more tears squeezed out. There were still things that needed to be settled. But it was pretty obvious that Mia wasn’t coming back. It was obvious this had been her plan all along. I couldn’t despise her for it. At least she recognized that she was unable to care for the kid and so brought him to people who would. That was a hell of a lot more than my own mother ever did for me.

Truly opened her eyes again. “Creedence Gentry, for all your periodically sullen moods you are the most loving man. The best one I’ve ever known.”

Jacob pushed his fist in the air, opened his mouth in a wide yawn and then was awake all at once. Truly set him against her shoulder. His dark curls branched out riotously from his head and his face was still flushed with sleep. He blinked at Truly and then at me before breaking into a toothless grin.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Truly said softly and kissed his chubby little cheek. “How’s our boy?”

Our boy.

Yes, he was. And suddenly all the doubts I’d ever harbored about whether I would be a worthy father just evaporated. I looked at that sweet baby in my wife’s arms and my usually stubborn heart thawed out and threatened to start beating on the outside of my chest. I might have shed a few tears of my own if I’d been the tear-shedding type of guy.

I held out my arms and Jacob lurched in my direction. Truly allowed me to take him. I held him in my lap, supporting his body since he was still too wobbly to sit on his own. My hand covered his small back and a string of drool escaped from his lips as he stared at me expectantly. I’d never understood what it meant to feel vulnerable in the company of someone so helpless until I held my nieces for the first time. Now I was feeling it all over again as I held my son.

“Jacob Gentry,” I said out loud. It didn’t matter that there was still paperwork and lawyer bullshit to hammer out before it would be his legal name. As of right now that’s who he was.

Jacob kicked his legs and let out a full belly laugh.

Truly rested her head on my shoulder and touched his face. “Jacob Gentry,” she said.

The baby laughed again and we laughed with him. Even though someone who knew more about babies that I did would probably insist he had no idea what the words meant and couldn’t understand the significance of the moment, when I looked into his thrilled face I knew that was bullshit. He understood that he was happy and surrounded by people who loved him. That was everything.

“Jacob Gentry,” we said together and he threw back his head and shrieked with joy.

“Listen up, little guy,” I said. “I will do my damn best every single day to be the kind of dad you need. You can count on it.”

Jacob seemed to be paying close attention. He had a look on his face that was remarkably serious for a four-month-old.

Carefully I cradled him close to my chest, beside my heart. “As soon as you’re old enough,” I promised him, “I’m going to teach you how to play a guitar.”

The three of us sat there on the couch for a long time, just enjoying the new feeling of being together. Then Truly announced that she was going to whip up something special for dinner and started bustling around the kitchen. I switched on the television, flipped around until I found a baseball game, and then moved Jacob to the crook of my arm so he could face toward the television, not that he seemed especially interested. He plucked at the hair on my arms and idly tried to chew on my shirt.

At one point a glint of fabric caught my eye and I looked up to see Truly peeking from around the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen. She had her hand to her lips.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“Truly.” I held my hand out to her and she walked to me slowly. She took my hand and kissed the palm.

“We’re a family,” she choked out.

I pulled her back down to the couch, beside me and Jacob. Gently I pushed a lock of thick black hair out of her face.