“This is a terrible time.” Mrs. Houston shook her head, her dark eyes solemn.
“I only just met Darius and Jayden today. There’s such love there. Such a deep bond.”
“There was from the start.” Mama Houston smiled, even through her sadness. “My boy thought I didn’t know. Kept him and Darius a secret when they first started going out.”
Although Sera didn’t want to assume, not every family welcomed gay children and their significant others. While it flew in the face of what she’d expect from this family, you never could fully know what someone went through.
Which made the continued explanation that much more special, Sera realized.
“I know my children, and I’ve always given them all my love and told them to share that love with others. To be careful with others’ hearts and ensure others were careful with theirs. But my Jayden was scared. Of the relationship. Of his feelings. Of the fact that this might actually be real.”
And as the woman wove her story, Sera was astute enough to see a reflection of her own behavior in Jayden’s all those years ago.
Even more, she recognized the fear Mama Houston spoke of with bone-deep understanding.
She’d recognized it after the night she’d spent with Gavin all those months ago.
Their night had been extraordinary, their connection even more so. And instead of staying and, at minimum, seeing if he wanted to continue talking, she’d fled.
“Did you convince him?”
Mama Houston smiled at that, one that reached all the way to her eyes and broke through that haze of sadness. “It took longer than it should have, but he got in line quick enough. Love has a way of doing that, you know.” Mama patted her knee. “You’ll see. And you and Gavin will figure it out, too.”
“Oh, I don’t—”
There was another gentle pat to her knee. “You don’t have to have it all figured out tonight. Or tomorrow. Or the day after. But that baby’s going to have a way of solidifying all the things you’re not quite ready to talk about. And then the two of you can figure out where you go from there.”
Gavin walked back into the waiting room with Kerrigan, and their eyes caught and met.
Then the two of you can figure out where you go from there.
It was good advice. Wise, even. But she wasn’t sure she and Gavin had the same base of love and understanding as Jayden and Darius had. Or if they were destined for the same.
Oh, they had attraction. And something that could blossom into a real friendship, which would be important toward building a stable future for their child.
But love?
“Thank you for that. Especially given all that’s happening.”
Mama Houston reached over and squeezed her hand once more. “It’ll all work out, sweet girl. It will.”
Sera nearly responded when a doctor came into the waiting room, her expression grim. Her gaze was unerring as it found Jayden and was full of a compassion that left Sera with a distinct sinking in her stomach. “Mr. Houston?”
Jayden stood, his attention on the doctor as he crossed to the entrance of the waiting room.
Sera watched it all play out, even as there was an odd awareness already filling her mind.
That grim look.
The compassionate yet resigned expression in the doctor’s eyes.
And the seeming lack of air in the room.
“Mr. Houston. I’m sorry to tell you that there were complications. Your husband succumbed to his injuries.”
Sera felt the collective wail of grief wash over the room. And without thinking, she wrapped her arms around Mama Houston and pulled her close, the grief that was an expression of love rising up around her in an overwhelming wave of pain.
Chapter 10
Numb.
Gavin had felt it once before—this absolute base functioning and little else—and had believed he’d never go through it again, but he’d been wrong.
So very wrong.
Because this evening he’d gone to have drinks with his good friends, and now he was taking Sera home in the knowledge he’d never speak to one of them again, all while another would be broken beyond repair.
Sera had been more than willing to stay at the hospital as long as was needed, but it had become evident that while he, Sera, Kerrigan and the rest of the department who’d gone to sit vigil were welcome, the family needed to be alone.
Jayden would have need of them in the coming days, weeks and months, but for the moment, he needed privacy and his family. So as a unit, his brothers and sisters in arms, they’d stood before him, paying their respects before leaving him to the open maw of grief.
Sera had gently fussed when they’d first come in, asking Gavin if he needed anything, but he just shook his head, taking a seat on her couch after asking if he could stay for a few minutes. She’d been quick to let him know he could stay as long as he needed before disappearing into the kitchen and returning a bit later with a steaming mug of tea that smelled fruity for herself and a bottled water for him.
“Can I get you anything else?”
He shook his head, trying to find the words that were rolling around inside of him. The ones tied to big emotions he normally kept hidden.
Which was why what came out next was as much a surprise to him as it was to her.