Fearless In Love(10)

He didn’t nod, didn’t agree, simply said, “They grow up fast.”

She wanted to smooth the line from his forehead and tell him that Noah would always need him, that the note of I can do it in his son’s voice would never change that fact.

But the part of her that wanted to touch him was all woman, so she kept her hands to herself. “They do grow up fast,” she agreed. “One minute they’re toddlers, then the next thing you know they don’t want you to hold their hand at the bus stop anymore.”

“Susan warned me. I didn’t believe her.”

“I met her at the youth home in San Jose, right?”

“Yes, Susan and Noah’s grandfather Bob were both there.” The tension in his face softened with love. “She’s Daniel’s birth mom, but she and Bob took all of us in and made us family, so Noah calls them Grandma and Grandpa.”

Ari knew the basic Maverick story, since Daniel wasn’t the type to hide his past or the seedy Chicago neighborhood he’d come from. Daniel and his sister, Lyssa, were the biological kids, but his mom had raised all the Mavericks since they were in their early teens. Ari could see the adoration shining in Matt’s eyes when he spoke of the man and woman who had taken him in. He’d been lucky to find them. Though she’d heard there were good people like Susan and Bob in the foster care system, she’d never met any of them personally. She had been lucky to find lifelong friends, however. Rosie and Chi would always be her sisters of the heart, just as the Mavericks were Matt’s brothers even without blood tying them together.

The water shut off and the shower door opened. “You doing okay, Noah?” she called out. “I’ve got your jammies.”

As Matt watched her progress to the bathroom door, her heart beat faster, her breath came quicker, and her skin warmed from more than the shower steam.

She handed the pajamas through the door without opening it, giving Noah some big-boy privacy. A couple of minutes later, she asked, “Ready?” and he made an assenting noise. Sitting on the edge of the bath, she toweled his hair dry. It was thick and needed little more than ruffling to bring up the curls. “Almost dry. Brush your teeth, then you get your story.”

When Noah started to put his toothbrush away after only a few seconds, she urged him to do more. “Your teeth will look like a dinosaur’s if that’s all you do.” He scrubbed a little harder.

“Why don’t you read Noah his story tonight?” she suggested to Matt. She didn’t want to force too much change on the little boy all at once, and she also wanted to hear Matt read, to watch him the way he’d been watching her.

Reading had been the lifeline that got her through dark days. And tonight she wanted to bear witness to Matt sharing his love of books with his son.

The sight would be all the more poignant after the emotional story Matt had told her at dinner. His pain was almost something she could touch, and she’d envisioned him wanting to charge to the rescue only to have little Noah rescue himself. She wasn’t sure Matt saw it that way, but eventually, with her help, he would. Noah was an amazing little boy.

And his father was an amazing man.

Matt hauled Noah up and slung him over his shoulder, making his son squeal with delight all the way to the bed. Ari settled into a wicker chair by the window, curling her feet beneath her as she watched father and son.

Matt’s big body dwarfed the twin bed as he leaned against the headboard with Noah nestled into him and the book open between them. He flipped a couple of pages. “Here we are. The fearsome giant has come down from the mountains into the village.” He deepened his voice. “Gregor the giant roared while the villagers ran. His footsteps were a great thumping that toppled all the vegetables on the grocer’s cart.”

Noah pointed at the page. “He doesn’t look very mean, Daddy.”

Matt glanced down at Noah tucked beneath his arm. “Maybe he’s not really a scary giant. Maybe he stubbed his toe on the way down the mountain and that’s why he roars.”

“Look.” Noah tapped the book. “He’s on one foot, hopping because his toe hurts.”

They studied the illustration, then Matt began to make up their own story. “What if Gregor the Giant actually wants to ask for help? But why would a giant need a tiny villager’s help?”

Noah gazed up at him. “Because…” He bit his lip, thinking. For all his energy, Ari could see that he was also a pensive child—cerebral, as Matt had put it earlier. According to Daniel, Matt had been the same. “I know!” Noah finally said. “He needs help because his little boy is sick.”