17. Zack

ZACK

Courtney helpsme move to the living room and get settled on the couch with my knee all propped up and supported. She"s babying me a bit, but I won"t complain.

The door opens, and Sawyer and Emerson come walking in. "Hey, Dad!" Sawyer comes running over to the couch and gives me a big hug. I"ve missed him so much this past week.

"Missed you, buddy," I tell him before letting him go.

"Hi, I"m Courtney." She introduces herself to Emerson.

"Nice to finally put a face to the name." She and Emerson shake hands, and it"s so surreal to have these parts of my life finally colliding.

"Sorry for the lack of introduction."

"We won"t hold it against you forever. You get a pass because of your condition."

"Thanks, I guess." I roll my eyes at Emerson. She knows I"m just messing with her, just as she"s messing with me.

"I gotta run, as we have reservations. It should be a couple of hours, but I can shoot you a text when we"re on our way back, if that works?"

"Works for me. How about you, Sawyer?"

"Yep. Bye, Mom." He runs over and gives her a hug goodbye, then shuts the door after she walks out.

"What are you craving for dinner?" Courtney asks him.

"Pizza!" he declares.

"That"s easy enough. Do you have a favorite place to order from?" she asks me.

I pull up a pizza place app and hand my phone over so she can put in the order. "Our favorite should be listed in the history, so do that plus whatever you want. When you get to the payment screen, my card should be saved in my account."

Courtney taps at the screen a few times, then hands the phone back to me. "Should be here in about thirty-five minutes," she tells me, then turns to Sawyer. "How"re your games going?"

"Good, we keep winning! And I"ve scored a lot of goals. I"m going to be better than my dad someday." I love his confidence, even if he is a little cocky about it.

"That"s awesome. Maybe Jax and I can come watch you play sometime. He loves watching your dad play, so seeing you would be awesome!"

"Sure, maybe Mom can tell you when we play again."

"I have your schedule, as well," I interject.

"I"ll take a look at it, and we"ll make a plan to come watch you," Courtney says.

We hang out until the pizza is delivered, then gorge on the cheesy, greasy goodness.

Courtney"s phone rings, and she answers it. "Hey, yeah, that"d be great," she says to whoever she"s talking to before rattling off my address.

"That was my mom and dad. They are done and offered to drop Jax off rather than me having to go get him since they"re still out and about."

"That was nice of them."

"They should be here in ten to fifteen minutes."

"Are you staying here?" Sawyer asks.

"Um, I"m not sure. With your dad needing help, I might," she tells him.

"I don"t want him to be alone. I was worried," Sawyer says, and my heart melts at my son"s kindness.

"That"s sweet of you," Courtney says, and Sawyer"s cheeks blush at her compliment. He"s not usually the gushy type, so I"m glad I got to witness this.

The past fewhours ended up being just what I needed. Some time with my son, and time with Courtney and Jax. The boys kept us well entertained with their jokes and just the random things kids say. The boys feed off one another. I sat back and just soaked in the time together, and it made me realize what life could be like going forward. How we could stitch together our families and make our own pieced-together family.

"I don"t want to go to Mom"s tonight. I want to stay now," Sawyer says after I tell him that his mom texted saying they were leaving dinner.

"I"m fine with you staying. Do you want me to tell her not to come?"

"Yes."

I call Emerson. "Hey, Sawyer has changed his mind and wants to stay. We"re having a great time, so do you mind if he comes back tomorrow?"

"I"m glad that it"s been a good time. Tomorrow is perfectly fine. Do you need me to plan on coming to get him?"

"I"ll text you tomorrow, and we can work it out."

"Sounds good. Have a good night," Emerson says.

"Mom"s good with you staying until tomorrow," I tell him.

"Yes! Can Jax and I have a sleepover in the den?" he asks.

"I don"t see why not."

"Where can I find some pillows and blankets for them to set up in there?" Courtney asks.

"There"s a chest in there with some, and if needed, we can grab two sleeping bags out of the closet in the garage with all my camping gear."

"You camp?" Courtney asks, her eyebrows pulled up to her hairline in shock.

I chuckle. "Yeah, Sawyer and I go every summer."

"Learn something new every day," she muses.

"There"s still a lot to learn about me." I smirk at her, hoping she gets the innuendo.

I know she does when she rolls her eyes.

"Can we turn on a movie in the den?" Sawyer asks.

"Spider-Man!" Jax calls out as he follows Sawyer.

"Sounds like a good plan," Courtney tells the boys as she follows them to the den. I grab my crutches and eventually follow them. By the time I make it into the area, Courtney has made makeshift beds on the floor with blankets and pillows.

"Why don"t you go get ready for bed before we start the movie?" I suggest to Sawyer.

"You do the same, Jax. You can use the stuff in your bag from Grandma"s and Grandpa"s."

Both boys scamper off and do as asked. I"m not sure how well the teeth brushing goes based on the laughter coming from the bathroom, but at least they"re getting along.

"How"d we get so lucky?" Courtney asks as she leans her head on my shoulder. We"re sitting side by side on the couch waiting on the boys to return.

"Good parenting usually leads to good kids. We both have both going for us."

"Thank you for everything," she says. "Jax has never been so carefree. I love seeing him so comfortable around you and Sawyer."

"Thank you for sharing him with us," I tell her as the boys come running back into the room. They are both dressed in pj"s and have huge smiles on their faces.

"Why do you both look guilty?" Courtney asks.

"We brushed our teeth and got ready, like you said," Sawyer says.

"Alright, giggle butts. Time to get into your blanket forts and get ready for the movie. Then it is bedtime," Courtney instructs. Once the boys settle, she gives them each a hug and kiss on the cheek.

I already have the movie pulled up, ready to hit play once they are settled.

"If you need anything, come get me," Courtney tells both of them.

"Night, Mom," Jax tells her.

"Night, boys," she replies. I make sure the movie is playing before I leave the room. I find Courtney in the kitchen, packing up the few slices of pizza that are left over. Once the food is put away, she starts loading the dishes from earlier into the dishwasher and then moves to wipe down the counters.

"You don"t have to clean my house," I finally interject.

"I can"t sleep with a dirty kitchen. It has to be cleaned up before I can sleep." She shrugs.

"Are you ready for bed?" I ask once she"s finished.

"Yes and no. I feel like I should stay up until they fall asleep, but I also don"t know how long that will take. Someone needs to turn off the TV when the movie ends."

"It"s on a timer. After a little bit of nothing playing, it will automatically turn off. I purposely had it set up that way."

"That"s pretty smart."

"We can go watch our own movie in the living room, then head to bed afterward."

"That"s the perfect plan. Can I get you anything? Meds? Ice pack?"

"I"ll take both, just the anti-inflammatory for now. The narcotics will knock me out again."

"You get settled on the couch, and I"ll be back in just a few minutes."

I do as she says, getting settled on the couch. I pull up one of the many streaming apps I have and start flipping through the options. Courtney returns with my meds, water, and an ice pack. She hands me the meds and water, and I knock the pills back. She then gets the ice pack settled around my knee. The cold instantly chills my body.

"Sit, I need to hold you again," I tell her. She does and snuggles into my side just like I"d hoped she would. "What do you want to watch?" I ask.

"Something funny. I"m not in the mood for sad."

I chuckle and hand over the remote. "You pick, then. I"m good with funny." She sorts through the romantic comedy section, finally picking How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

"This okay?" she asks as the opening credits start.

"Yep," I tell her. I don"t know if I"ve ever watched this one from start to finish, and if I have, it"s been years, seeing as the movie is from the early 2000s.

Once the movie ends, I turn the TV off. Courtney fell asleep on my shoulder, and I don"t want to move her, but nature calls, so I need to get up. Also, sleeping like this all night will give her one kinked neck come morning.

"Court, sweetheart, wake up," I whisper as I shift to cup her face.

She stirs, then bolts upright, stretching her neck as she does.

"Sorry for falling asleep."

"You can use my shoulder as a pillow anytime," I tell her before pressing my lips to hers. "I need to go to the bathroom, then bed."

"I"ll go check on the boys, then meet you in the bedroom."

"I look forward to it." I wink before we both stand. She waits to make sure I have my feet under me with the crutches before she takes the warm ice pack back to the kitchen. I make my way to the bedroom, then the bathroom as quickly as I can.

When I come out of the bathroom, Courtney is standing next to the bed, pulling one of my T-shirts on over her naked body. My own body instantly responds to seeing her standing there like that"s her side of the bed and where she belongs. Naked is even better.

"You could just leave that off. I wouldn"t complain," I tell her as I come over to the bed.

"Nice try. Not with kids that could need me at any moment of the night."

I slip a hand up the shirt, cupping one of her breasts. My thumb grazes over her nipple, the peak already hard and giving away her arousal.

"I can"t get enough of you," I say as I lay her back on the bed and kiss her. I deepen the kiss, needing to show her just how much I need her, how much she means to me, and how much I love her. I pull back when that thought hits me. I love this woman.

"What"s wrong?" she asks, worry written all over her beautiful face.

"Nothing, nothing at all. I just have this inexplicable need to make sure you know just how much you mean to me, how you"ve changed my life for the better, and most importantly, I need you to know that I"m head over heels in love with you."

"I love you, too," Courtney whispers.

My lips crash back against hers. If it weren"t for this fucking knee injury, we wouldn"t be getting any sleep tonight.