And like every other night, Cam was going to allow Gannon to take his mind off the crazy shit taking place in the world. Even if just for a little while.
Four
Three days later …
ROAN WAS EXHAUSTED.
Liam had been unusually fussy for the past few days. He often wondered if the little boy realized his mother was gone. Or maybe he sensed all the mourning that was taking place. Then again, he might've picked up on the tension, because there was certainly an overabundance of that.
They had buried Cassie this morning, which had been far less stressful than Roan had originally anticipated. At least until they'd arrived at the funeral home. With so much help, putting it together had taken little effort. Cam and Gannon, Dare and his fiancé, Noah, Teague and Hudson, and even Milly and AJ had been front and center, helping him through it all without so much as a single question.
Well, no questions after he'd shocked the shit out of everyone and introduced them to Liam. Rather than wait, Roan had gone to the marina the morning after they'd found Cassie. Figuring it was easier to rip the Band-Aid right off rather than drag it out, Roan had asked Cam to ensure Dare and Teague-the other partners in the marina-as well as Hudson, their mechanic, would be there.
Cam had delivered not only them but he'd managed to snag Noah, telling Roan that this was a family and if one of them was there for him, they all were.
Dare had pretended to have a heart attack, but he'd also been insistent that Liam call him My Favorite Uncle. Teague, who was doing so much better these days after his suicide attempt several months back, had kept a safe distance from the baby, but Roan could tell the guy had absolutely no experience with kids.
Big, bad Hudson Ballard-Teague's other half-had wanted to instantly teach Liam how to fix a boat and had actually gotten into a silent argument-full-on jerky sign language included-with Noah about it. Noah, of course, insisted that Liam was going to grow up to be a firefighter.
Roan had felt so much relief that they'd accepted him and Liam, that they forgave him for being so secretive without so much as an accusing glare, he'd had to slip into Cam's small office and fight off the tears he'd been overwhelmed by for the past few days.
Liam's introduction to the vibrant and chipper Milly-Gannon's administrative assistant/best friend-hadn't come until this morning when she'd surprised him by showing up at Cam's place before the funeral. When she offered to keep Liam, Roan found that he couldn't refuse. Partly because Milly told him that he couldn't refuse.
Because Roan knew his father and stepmother were not happy that Roan was Liam's legal guardian, he had agreed, hoping to limit the drama at the funeral. It had worked, and now Daniel and Lydia were sitting in Cam's living room, oohing and ahhing over their grandson while Roan let them spend time with him.
"Eva head back to Ohio already?" Cam asked, his voice low enough not to carry into the living room.
"Yeah." His sister Eva had been at the funeral and the gravesite, but she was back on a plane to Ohio, where her husband and two kids were waiting for her safe return.
"Where were the husband and kids?" Cam leaned against the counter, arms crossed over his chest.
Roan cocked one eyebrow. "She said they didn't need to be subjected to this."
Cam grunted. Clearly he felt the same way Roan did. Eva was Cassie's sister. Her family should've been there to support her and the rest of the family. Since Roan knew that Eva and Cassie had never been close, he sort of understood. He didn't particularly like it, but he got it.
Cam turned, placing his hands on the counter, his gaze following Roan's. "You cool?"
Roan nodded. As cool as he could be. Right now, he was fighting the urge to snatch Liam up and clutch him close to his chest to ensure no one tried to take him away. These were Liam's grandparents, for chrissakes. It wasn't like they would do anything to hurt Liam on purpose, and they all knew that taking the little boy from Roan right now wouldn't be in anyone's best interest.
"You should go in there."
Yeah. Roan had been hoping to avoid that. He knew Lydia wanted to talk about Liam, and Roan would do pretty much anything to avoid that.
"Suck it up, buttercup," Cam said, his tone teasing before sobering quickly. "We're right here. You don't have to fight this battle alone."
Knowing Cam was behind him on this, Roan forced his feet to carry him into the living room.
"Roan," Lydia prompted as soon as he appeared in front of her. She glanced down at Liam. "We were wondering what your intentions were for Liam."
"Intentions?" Roan wasn't catching on.
"Where will you be living? Who will you be living with?" Her eyes flicked up to him briefly. "That sort of thing."