Yonkers

Y onkers knew that he had to go back home as soon as he heard that his mother's cancer had come back. She had fought and beat breast cancer once when he was just a teenager, and now that it was back, he could be there to help take care of her—even if she insisted that it wasn't necessary. His mother had taken care of him through his good and bad years. When most people had given up on him, his mother did her best to keep him on the straight and narrow.

It took him almost two full days to drive back to , New York, and when he got there, he remembered why he moved to Huntsville, Alabama in the first place. Home had become too crowded for him. He liked the South. The houses were bigger, the weather was warm, and the people were nicer. Being back home for just a few short hours had proven to him that he was right to leave when he did.

His mother met him at the front screen door and pushed it open. He thought that she'd be happy to see him, but the scowl on her face told him otherwise. "Hey, Ma," he breathed.

"I thought that I told you not to come home," she said. He hadn't considered New York home for a couple of years now, but he wasn't about to point that out to her.

"Mom, I told you that I was coming back to help you. I won't let you go through this again without help," he said. The first time she had breast cancer, he was just a dumb kid who thought that his mother would always be around when he needed her. Watching her go through hell changed that for him. He was almost too late to help his mom back then, but he wouldn't make that same mistake again.

"You really didn't have to come all the way back up here. I'll be fine, Christopher." His mom and Wren were the only people still in his life who called him by his given name. Hearing his mom say his name reminded him of the time that he spent with Wren. God, he missed her, but he needed to leave her back in Huntsville—it was the best thing he could do for her. had made the mistake of giving into his feelings for her and taking her when she wasn't his to take. His brother, Blade, had trusted him with his little sister and had betrayed his trust.

"I'm sure that you will be fine, Mom, but I want to be here for you," he insisted.

"Well, then, you should probably come in," his mother insisted. "I can make up your bed and find you something to eat."

He followed his mother into his childhood home and looked around. Not much had changed since he left a couple of years ago. He wondered if that place would ever change. "I came here to take care of you, Ma," he reminded. "You don't need to make my bed for me or make me something to eat. I'm very capable of doing both. In fact, how about you let me cook for you while you sit down and relax? Then, you can fill me in on when your doctor appointments are so that I can make sure that I can get you to them."

"That's not necessary," she insisted. "I can take the bus to my treatments."

"There is no way that I'm going to let you do that, Ma," he said. "Think about all those germs you'll pick up daily. Your immune system will be compromised while you're going through your treatment, and you'll have to limit your contact with other people."

His mother smiled at him and sat down in her ancient recliner. "You have no idea how good that sounds to me. People are overrated," she said. "Fine, I'll let you take me to my appointments, but you can't stay here forever. You have a life to get back to." His mother was wrong. He had no life to get back to and no one was waiting for him back in Huntsville, but he wasn't about to tell her that. When he walked away from Wren, he promised himself that he'd never look back. It was for the best because there was no way that he'd fuck up his friendship with Blade because his unruly dick wanted Wren.

"We can work that out later," insisted. "When is your first treatment?" he asked.

"Tomorrow," she said. "It's stage two now, so they don't want to wait to do treatment. I guess they're worried that it will spread this time, so I'm starting right away."

"Good," he breathed, "it's better to be proactive about things like this." He had no clue what he was talking about. Honestly, he had no idea what any of this would entail. He really didn't have time to do much in the way of research when he was planning on traveling north to take care of his mother. But he planned on doing a ton of research while he was in New York.

She giggled as if capable of reading his mind. "You have no idea what's about to happen, do you, Chris?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Not really, but I'm ready to learn. Just let me help you, Mom," he begged. "I just want to help you."

She nodded, "I appreciate that, Chris. Now, about dinner," she said, "what can you make."

"Anything," he admitted. "I'm actually a pretty good cook now."

"Well, wonders never cease," his mother teased. "How about you go make us some dinner then?" she asked.

"Sure thing, Ma," agreed. He bent over to kiss his mother's cheek as she sat in her chair. "You just stay put and relax."

"Now, that is something that I can do," she agreed.

had spent the better part of the month running his mom to doctor appointments and treatments, watching her get weaker by the day. Seeing her like this broke his heart, but all his mother seemed to care about was his well-being. No matter how many times he reminded her that it wasn't true, she liked to point out that his job needed him and that he couldn't stay with her forever. Working in IT gave him the ability to work from anywhere. Sure, his current government contract was with the Army, and he was reporting to Redstone Arsenal when he was back in Huntsville, but his boss understood the gravity of his situation and told him to take the time that he needed to care for his mother. He learned to work in hospital waiting rooms and even late into the evening, at his mom's home, while she slept. He was making it work, but his mother's worry about him was consuming her.

He didn't miss having to report to base or having to deal with co-workers. Working remotely suited him. In fact, the only thing he missed about Huntsville was his club and God help him, Wren. He missed her most of all, but putting distance between them was for the best. If Blade found out that had slept with his little sister, he'd murder him.

He had just started lunch for his mother, not that she'd eat it when the doorbell rang. She stood from the kitchen table. "I'll get it, so you don't burn my grilled cheese—again," she teased.

"You need to rest, Mom," he insisted.

"I need to eat more than I need to sit in that chair. You make my sandwich, and I'll sit down and eat it after I get rid of whoever is at the door." His mother was always a master negotiator. When he was a kid and refused to eat most of the major food groups, his mother would make him deals that had him eating all his broccoli and green beans.

"Fine, but don't be long," he ordered. "It's almost done."

"I don't know where you got your bossy side from," she said, shaking her head at him.

"I learned it from the best," he teased. "You were a good role model, Ma."

She chuckled and shouted for the person at the door to, "Hold their horses," as she made her way to the front room. could hear his mother talking to another woman and from the sound of their conversation, his mom was asking the person at the door a million questions. turned off the burner and moved his mother's grilled cheese sandwich to a plate before walking out to the front room.

He froze in his tracks when he found Wren standing on his mom's front porch. He looked her up and down and damn if she didn't look good—even in her overly baggy t-shirt and leggings.

"What are you doing here?" he breathed.

"I've come to find you," she said. "We need to talk, Chris."

His mother looked between them and sighed. "You should come in and sit down. You look about ready to drop." He wondered what his mother was talking about. Wren looked great, but when he took another look at her, he could see how tired she was. It showed in her dark eyes. His mother was right, she did look about ready to drop.

"Chris just made some grilled cheese sandwiches; can I get you one?" his mom asked.

"That would be great," Wren said. "Thank you for your kindness." His mother breezed past him, telling him not to mess things up under her breath on the way to the kitchen.

"Blade said that he heard your mom is sick," Wren whispered. "Will she be all right?"

He shrugged, "We don't know yet. She's in the middle of her treatments. She had breast cancer when I was a kid and well, it's come back again. This time is proving a bit trickier, even with all the new medications." Wren surely didn't come all the way to New York to ask about his mother, right? "Why are you here, Wren?" he asked, cutting right to the point.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want to see me. You left without a word, and I haven't seen you since our—" She didn't finish what she was about to say, but he knew exactly what she was going to say next.

"Our night together," he finished for her.

"Yeah," she breathed. "I worried that you hated me or something because I thought that I'd at least see you around town. I even went to Savage Hell a few times with Blade and Trixie hoping to see you there." He had kept his distance from his club and especially Blade. There was no way that he'd want to tangle with his friend if Wren spilled her guts to her best friend Trixie about their night together. Trixie and Blade were married now, and if she told her new husband about and Wren, he'd have some explaining to do.

"I just got busy," lied. "Work really picked up after the first of the year."

"I see," Wren said. He could tell by the look on her face that she didn't understand or believe any of his lame excuses.

"So, why are you here?" he asked again.

Wren stood and ran her hands down to her tummy. "To tell you about this," she said. He looked at her belly as if seeing it for the first time, and back up at her.

"You're pregnant?" he asked.

"Yes," she squeaked, "I'm five months pregnant, give or take a week or so. It happened during our one night together. The baby is yours," she said as if he needed clarification.

"I figured since you came all this way to tell me about the baby. I mean, you wouldn't get into a car and drive up here to tell me that some random guy had knocked you up, right?" he teased. From the scowl on her face, Wren wasn't in a joking mood.

"It's a girl if you are interested in knowing that. I just thought you should be aware that she exists and will be here sometime in September." Wren stood from the sofa and started for the front door.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Oh, I assumed that your silence meant that we were done discussing everything," Wren said. "I'll just give you some time. You have my cell phone if you need to reach me."

"Where will you go?" he asked.

She shrugged, "I'll have to find a cheap hotel somewhere around here and then, I'll head back to Huntsville in the morning. I can't take much time off work." felt panic like he never had before in his life—not even when his mom called to tell him that she was sick again. All he could do was watch Wren leave and that was when he realized that his mother was standing in the room, staring him down.

"Are you seriously going to let her just leave?" his mother asked. "She just told you that she's pregnant with my granddaughter and you're just going to let her go stay in a crappy hotel and then, drive all the way back down to Alabama. She looks like she barely made the trip here in one piece."

"I'm in shock, Ma," he insisted, "what do you expect me to do?"

"I expect you to do the right thing and go after her," she said. "She can stay with us until you figure out how to use your words again." His mother was right. He couldn't just let her leave, but convincing Wren to stay might prove trickier than just asking her to.

"Fine," he growled. pushed his way out the front door and shouted for Wren as she was about to get into her car. She turned and looked at him and God, she was crying. He hated it when women cried. He never knew what to do.

"Yes," she said, swiping at the tears that were spilling down her face.

"I, um, I don't want you to go. You can stay here, with us. We need to talk about this," he said, nodding to her tummy.

"This is our daughter," she said, rubbing her hands over her belly. "And if you don't want to be a part of her life, tell me now. I can take care of her on my own, Chris, I just thought that you had a right to know about her."

He didn't even have to think about his answer. He wanted to be a part of his daughter's life, and Wren's too, if she allowed it. "I want to know her," he whispered. He reached out a hand to touch her belly and when she took a step back from him, he let it fall to his side.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not ready to let you touch me again, Chris. You left me—you just left." He got it. He fucked up and it was going to take some time to fix what he had done, but right now, he had the time if Wren was willing to stick it out in New York and give him a chance.

"Will you stay for a little bit? My mom has another spare room that you can sleep in," he offered. She looked conflicted as she weighed her options. Wren finally nodded, and pulled open the trunk of her car, handing him her suitcase.

"I'll stay for a little bit—just until we get things worked out. But then, I'm heading back to Alabama. I want to have the baby there, with a doctor that I know and trust."

"That's fair," agreed. "Thank you for agreeing to stay, Wren." She breezed past him and walked back into his mother's house. Yeah, none of this was going to be easy, but he already knew that Wren was worth every bit of trouble that she was about to give him.

Lost in - https://books2read.com/u/4AL020