Chapter Nineteen
You almost killed your dad this evening.
Even if Aimee were just joking. Kyle felt guilty.
He didn't think that his dad would have such a strong reaction to the thought of him joining the military-or jump to that conclusion so fast. If Kyle was going to do that, his parents wouldn't have found out this way. In fact he had meant to throw out the brochures but forgot in his rush to get to the bowling alley. Yet that intense reaction was a sign of his father's love and desire to protect him, not just his young siblings. Still Kyle was shocked his father would panic like that. He had never seen him lose his cool.
The young man saw his dad in Hunter's nursery sitting in the rocker. His baby brother putting a particularly valiant fight against sleep. "Hey," he said, taking a seat in the armchair in the room.
"Hi. How'd you do tonight?" Horatio asked.
"Better than Andy. Not as good as Pop," Kyle said. "Mom told me about earlier. I didn't mean to freak you out."
His father smiled. "Don't worry about it, son."
That was all that needed to be said. Both knew how each other felt.
"Stop that," Horatio told his wife softly, lifting her chin up with his finger.
The two were in the shower together. Horatio didn't like that Aimee were uncomfortable with her body after giving birth. She had lost any weight she had gained, which wasn't much after Hunter was born. But this time she was left with stretch marks, even if they were "barely there" compared pictures she saw online. Yes, they had faded since giving both but they were still there. The suggested cream was working but Aimee still wished it would work faster.
"I know you don't see them, or care, but I do," she said, kissing her husband. Not that she wasn't proud to have carried and given birth to three children, they were worth any marks.
"No, I don't see them. I see the love of my life who gave me three beautiful children and loved a boy who wasn't her own when she didn't have to.
Tears mixed with the water from the shower, ran down Aimrr's cheeks. Horatio kissed her again.
How was she so lucky to get a man like this?