Crazy Love (mxm)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The second she left, I sighed a very long sigh of relief.

"Wow, sexy, way to screw me out of furniture," James teased, winking. I gestured to Ronan and he covered his mouth in an 'oopses' expression. "Ronan! How do you like preschool? We have to talk all about it, don't we?"

"I made a fwend!" Ronan gushed. All three of us sat on the couch and Ronan went on and on about his new best friend, Olivia, who he thought had the coolest toy dog in the entire world. He concluded his rant with, "An-an Daddy tay yet puppy!"

My phone buzzed. I reached for it and made sure to remind my son, "Um, no, I didn't just say yes to a puppy," I clarified. "I said maybe. That's a lot of work."

I pulled out my phone and saw that it was a text from Dillon. It said, Carter!!!!!!! ok so I was in target with hen and we saw the cutest little outfit for ronan. its like got little tiny mickey mouses on it and it comes with little slippers with the ears on the toes? anyway I bought it. can I drop it off tomorrow?

"Can, um— Daddy!"

I looked up from my phone. "What, baby?"

"Can Game do work, um, for the puppy?" Ronan asked with big blue eyes filled with hope.

James snorted. "The kid has had me back for a handful of minutes and he's already putting me to work. Although, if you really need an extra hand with a puppy, I think Dillon would pee his pants with happiness if you wanted him to puppysit."

I smirked and handled James the phone. "Speaking of. He's such a wholesome person. I know technically Dillon's older than me, but he kind of makes me wanna wrap him in a fuzzy blanket and protect him from the world."

James snorted when he read the text. "Holy crap. Can I text him back, 'this is why we struggle with rent sometimes' or would that just be rude?"

"Give it!" I laughed, taking back my phone. "I'm going to thank him and invite him and Henry for dinner or something. And you're gonna be there, because I love it when you and your brother hang out."

James groaned and hugged Ronan. "Ronan, save me! I don't like family bonding!"

"Oh no!" Ronan gasped.

"Too bad," I chuckled, typing up a quick message to Dillon. "I already invited him. Maybe my mom can meet Dillon. She'd probably knit him a million sweaters."

James shivered. "Probably. Old women love Dillon."

"Daddy! Game!" Ronan shrieked. "Pway wed wight gween wight?"

I smirked at James. "I bought him a game that plays red light green light. He hasn't stopped playing it for a week. Yeah, peanut, I'll turn it on."

I grabbed the box and set it to the random setting. Ronan squealed with delight and ran to the designated 'start' area. He hollered at James and I long enough to convince us to do it too.

James met my eyes right before the machine told us to go. "I'm not holding back."

The machine flashed its lights. "Sneak toward the finish line!" it commanded.

"Wait, wha—?"

Ronan and I tiptoed toward the machine and James grumbled from behind us. When the machine told us to stop, Ronan took the time to point at James and yell, "Go fastew!"

"Faster," I emphasized.

Ronan stuck out his tongue at James. "Go fasterrrr."

"How dare you?!" James yelped, running at Ronan and lifting him up. Ronan kicked and yelled, but his fuss didn't hide the wide smile and his occasional giggles.

The toy kept shouting out random instructions, but Ronan was too busy giving James attention to notice. I watched their play fight and felt a wave of relaxation come over me for the first time in a month.

Things were going to be okay. Any idiot could see that these two dinguses loved each other. I should never have made James leave in the first place.

My heart twisted with the memory of getting that call from Dillon. I'd been so worried I thought I was going to have a panic attack. It was like the fear I'd felt taking Ronan to the hospital, except I had been mostly sure that Ronan was going to be fine. Hearing that James was in an accident showed me that bad things could happen whenever.

James and I were going to work through our problems as a team. I would support him every single step of the way in his journey to stay sober. And he would definitely support me throughout raising Ronan.

Of course, there was still that old fear that James would begin to hate the responsibility and leave. But I needed to learn to trust him.

And, judging by the way they were tumbling all over each other and laughing, he wasn't anywhere near making that choice right now.

James hopped off the couch and gave me a kiss. "You look like you're all caught up in your thoughts," he teased, with that bright smile of his. "Thinking about taking advantage and running to the finish line?"

"No, Daddy!" Ronan yelled, hopping off of the couch and bolting for the machine. He flopped to his stomach and slid right past it.

"Ronan wins!" I cheered.

"He's the fastest boy in the whole world!" James added. Our cheers encouraged him to do some sort of ridiculous victory dance.

I turned back to James. "I was thinking about how happy I am to have you back. I know I've said it a million times already, but I really missed you."

James' expression melted into one of adoration. When he looked at me like that, it made me melt a little inside. That was probably always going to happen, no matter how long we stay together.

"I missed you too," he said, pulling me in to him. "But you'll never have to miss me ever again, okay? This is a forever thing for me."

I didn't think it was possible to love James Folan any more than I already did, but he proved me wrong in that moment.

I stood on my tip toes and kissed him. "Me too. I love you so much."

"Hey Ronan?" James asked, forcing Ronan to stop dancing with the machine aggressively. "Do you think I should date your daddy?"

Ronan dropped the machine hard enough to leave a dent on the floor. He jumped up and down with his arms in the air. "Yeah!"

We both laughed at his hyper antics.

"I still don't think he knows what I'm talking about, but that's a better answer than the first time," James mused.

"Huh?"

He smirked at me. "Never mind. I'll tell you later. Hey, want to watch...what did you call it? Oh, right! Haikyu exclamation point exclamation point?"

"You're so mean to me!"

I chased James with a pillow, fully intending to beat him for being rude, and Ronan joined in. Ronan kept screaming, "CASH GAME!" which even I had a hard time understanding. But it didn't matter, because my precious little nugget of a son was having a great time.

And when we finally caught him by shoving him onto my bed and beating him with pillows, James managed to tug us both down into one giant, giggling puppy pile. Ronan curled up on James' chest and I wrapped my arms around both of them.

In that moment, we really felt like a family.

-

The End :)

I can't believe it's over. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you so much for leaving votes and comments, and sticking with this story even when it got sad!

I love you all!

-Aubrey