Coming Home

Chapter 23

“Thank you,” he said as I handed him a mug and settled in next to him.

I nodded as I snuggled deeper into the couch, trying to get warm. Earlier on, I had started a fire in the fireplace and it was still blazing. I had made sure to secure the gate around it so the boys couldn’t get hurt. The movie that I had been watching with the boys, Aladdin, had somehow restarted and was playing on the television. It was at the part where Aladdin and Jasmine sing “A Whole New World” and I started singing quietly along with it. My body had started shivering slightly due to the cold and I felt Cayden wrap his arm around me, pulling me closer to his warm body. Even though I still hadn’t come to a decision when it came to Cayden, I allowed myself to curl against his side, absorbing his warmth.

“Are you nervous? About the game, I mean,” I asked a few minutes later as we sat in silence watching the movie and drinking our hot chocolate.

“I want to say no, but I’d be lying. Coach has been working us so hard and I’m so afraid I’m going to do something to screw up and then I’d never forgive myself. Everyone would hate me,” he said, keeping his eyes on the TV.

“I wouldn’t hate you, and neither would the boys,” I said softly, turning to my head to look up at Cayden.

Cayden turned his head to look down at me, a small smile on his face. He opened his mouth to say something but seemed to think better of it and clamped his mouth shut. His hand that had been holding onto his hot chocolate before he chugged the last of it came around and he started drawing mindless patterns on my arm. I knew I was probably getting myself into something that I wasn’t quite ready for yet, but I couldn’t help it. This was Cayden, the guy I had been in love with ever since I could remember. Just when I thought that he was going to lean down and kiss me, he turned his head back to the TV.

“Mom called me earlier. I guess Dad and Marc have a business meeting early Saturday morning so both of our parents are coming to the game tomorrow night and then our moms want to know if it’s okay to take the boys for the weekend. They say they miss them and want to take them off our hands,” Cayden said, one arm still wrapped tightly around me while the other one continued to draw patterns on my arm.

“Yeah, Mom called me a couple hours ago. I told them I had to talk to you, but that I didn’t mind letting them have the boys for the weekend.”

“Why do you have to check with me?” Cayden asked, surprised, looking down at me.

“You’re their dad, Cay. Plus, I didn’t know if you wanted to spend time with them since you’ve barely seen them lately,” I answered with a shrug.

“Thanks Kenzi, but I think we should let our moms take them. Kasper’s already told me that he was going to kidnap them and take them to his mom’s tomorrow night so we could go to the party after the game,” he said with a grin.

“I can see Kasper doing that. I’m glad the boys will be with people that they know,” I said, snuggling into him more.

He was so warm and I had such a feeling of contentment when I was wrapped in his arms that I couldn’t help but take advantage of it while I could. I was so tired and my mind was foggy and I didn’t have the strength to move away from the safety of Cayden. I had gone so long without it that I was doing everything in my power to take advantage of it.

“Come on. Time for bed,” he said as he stood up and scooped me into his arms.

He carried me to my room and laid me in my bed. I had already changed into my pajamas earlier on so all he had to do was tuck me in and then leave. When he laid me down and went to pull away, I wouldn’t relinquish my hold on him. For some reason I had been plagued with nightmares ever since the whole Tyson incident. They weren’t just about Tyson; some of them included stuff from the past. I didn’t want to suffer through them again and I knew having Cayden beside me would keep them away.