Mason stays by my side until the two hunters finally show up. When that happens, he quietly excuses himself.
The nurse then ushers in the two men. They are both rather tall men, but one is significantly younger than the other. The older one has a neat graying beard and the younger one is a cutie.
I can't help but get some butterflies when I see him.
Robin immediately goes over to them and hugs them, babbling about... well I don't know. They seem happy to see him and return the friendly hug. The younger one actually picks Robin up and tickles him a bit, much to my boy's squealing amusement.
I stand up from my seat on the bed. "You're the men that found my boy?" I ask, my eyes flicking between the two of them.
The older man takes off his baseball cap, revealing his head of graying hair, and nods. "Yes, ma'am. Poor kid was scared half to death when he found us. Running through the forest like he seen a chupacabra."
The younger man shakes his head and steps forward, reaching out a hand. "I think what my uncle means is, 'Yes ma'am. We're glad to see him safe with his mama.'" As I take his hand and shake it, he smiles kindly. "Hi. I'm Jeremy."
"September." I reply just before the other man reaches out to shake my hand next.
"And I'm Kip," he says with a grin.
"Nice to meet you both," I say. "I wasn't aware that people came that close to hunt."
"Close?" Jeremy asks with a confused look.
"To the house. Where we were held." I shrug. "It's weird that nobody ever stumbled upon the place..." I add, knowing that people probably had, but just didn't think anything of it. Or worse, Michael got them.
Jeremy nods. "We usually hunt somewhere else, but decided to try a new place this year." He sets Robin down and ruffles his hair. "Lucky we did, though."
We lock eyes for a long moment. I've never seen a brown so light and warm. Then Kip clears his throat. "Jerry. Remember the thing we talked about?"
Jeremy blinks and glances over at Robin. "We uh... We wanna do something nice for Robin this Christmas. So, we wanted to invite the two of you to Christmas dinner."
I look down as I scoop Robin up into my arms. "Whatcha think, baby?" I ask, bouncing him on my hip. "You wanna go over to Jeremy and Kip's for Christmas?" Just as the words leave my mouth, I suddenly remember. Robin doesn't know what Christmas is. The only holiday we really celebrated was a birthday here and there.
But it's okay because Robin just throws his arms up and yells "YEAH!" Apparently he doesn't care about the reason, he just wants to spend more time with these men.
"We'll be there." I say with a slight chuckle.
Jeremy beams. "Great! We'll be making ham and turkey and I make a mean chocolate pie."
"Can't wait," I say, pushing some hair behind my ear.
Kip goes on and on about their Christmas traditions. The movie marathon, the domino tournament, the cookie baking. He doesn't hold out on the details of each thing.
"Alright, Kip," Jeremy finally cuts him off. "We shouldn't spoil every little surprise for these two." He glances at the clock. "We'd better get going. Don't wanna waste any more of your time, ma'am." He nods to me. "When it gets closer to Christmas, give us a call." He reaches into his back pocket and pulls a card out of his wallet.
I take it from him and look it over. "Harding's Brewing Company?" I read off before looking up at him.
"We brew our own beer. It's really good. Especially the fruity stuff," he answers with a smile so bright it could light up any room.
I flip the card over and his number is scrawled on the back in the messiest handwriting I've ever seen. But, hey. At least it's legible.
"That's really cool," I say, setting the card on my bedside table so I don't forget it.
Both men hug Robin again and I'm comfortable enough to give them each a hug as well. Both men seem thrilled that I want to hug them before they leave.
Once they're gone, I settle back down on the bed with Robin.
Not long after that, Mason returns. He brings me two huge burritos for lunch. I had lost my appetite when talking about Michael, but it comes right back when Mason opens the brown paper bag. He tries to take my mind off of things by telling me about all the things I missed while I was gone.
Of course, there is a stack of movies he wants to show me when we get settled, but the first thing we're going to do is go see his mom. Apparently she missed me almost as much as Mason did.
In an attempt to get on my son's good side, Mason brings him a doughnut with lots of sprinkles. Robin doesn't know what a doughnut even is until he bites into it. The treat doesn't last long after that, and he makes Mason promise to bring him another one tomorrow. With a laugh, my friend agrees to do just that.
I am about halfway through my second burrito when a nurse knocks on the open door. "Excuse me, may I have a minute with Miss Walker."
Mason frowns, but nods. He asks Robin if he wants to go down to the vending machine to get a drink. When I give Robin the okay, he takes Mason's hand and they leave.
"I wasn't sure if you wanted to hear this with other people in the room." She turns and closes the door behind her. "Everything looks good. You're just going to need to keep eating and you'll be feeling better in no time. But there are a few other important things we need to discuss."
I raise my brows. "Yes? Like what?"
"Miss Walker. I know that your situation is... complicated. To say the least. But after running some tests, we discovered that... Well..."
Her face gets a little panicked before she finally says "You're pregnant."