Page 85 of False Promises

Jack echoed my words.

Dahlia kissed both our cheeks before driving away.

I fisted my hand, and Jack bumped it. Like I showed him to do when he wasn’t even two.

“Let’s set up our camp, buddy.”

Hand in hand, we walked inside, and before I could even say a word, Jack ran upstairs to his room and opened his toy chest. Because I kept everything he needed at my place—toys, clothes, favorite snacks—he always felt at home here.

Hours later, I lay on my back, an arm bent under my head, in the low glow light of the lantern Jack and I used for his bedtime stories. His little body snuggled into mine, his little boy’s snores warming up my insides.

And putting to rest all the tension in my upper back.

I grazed his cheek with the pad of my thumb, and he scooted closer, nestling his pajamas-clad self under my arm. Propped on an elbow, I kissed his forehead and turned off the light after pulling the cover over us. And with my legs exiting the makeshift tent, because they were too long and the mattress too short, sleep claimed me.

And for once, it wasn’t haunted by nightmares.

“Up. Up, up, up,” Jack chanted the next morning, shaking my arm. “Wake up.”

Next, his fingers pried my lids open.

“Up, up, up,” he repeated. “Are you awake? I wanna play.”

Faking sleep, I grabbed him, tickled his sides while lifting him over my head.

“Plane. Vroom.” He extended his arms on either side. “Higher.”

Jack laughed again, and every dark cloud hovering over me melted away.

After we ate a copious amount of pancakes, our ritual, we drove to the park and spent the rest of the morning playing around before heading home for his nap.

“Can we sleep in the tent again tonight? Please, Carrrrter,” he begged.

At his request, I lay beside him and sang him one of my songs. My eyelids grew heavy, and with our heads pressed together, as Dahlia and I did countless times while growing up, I fell asleep too.

I woke up hours later, my mind murky, using my fists to chase the remaining traces of sleep from my face.

When I checked my phone, I had six missed calls and two text messages from Savannah. With my thumbs, I typed Sorry, I’m busy, can’t talk right now, as I often did nowadays, and shoved the device in my pocket after turning the ringer back on.

Jack woke up minutes later and sat on my lap.

“How about we play cooks for a night and invite Mama and Nick over for dinner?” I wrinkled my face. “I think the four of us need some family time. What do you think?”

Jack watched me with a sleepy grin and bobbed his head, a smile forming on his lips.

“Okay, come on, we’ll call them, then prep for dinner and dress to impress to welcome them. Sounds good?”

Jack nodded again.

“Great, let’s call them first.” I brought my focus back on him. “Can you tie a Windsor knot?”

His eyes grew big. “No. A wintersor-what?”

“A tie.”

“Oh. No. I never wear ties.”

I ruffled his hair and burst into a fit of chuckles. “Me neither. Let’s draw the line at dress shirt then.”