Joke’s on You by Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,2

“I haven’t been able to find him again. When I deployed the next time, my ex was gone, and so was my son.”

That caused nausea to well up and fear to intrude.

Delanie would never do that, would she?

***

It took me a day and a half to get home.

I arrived at the hospital in my dirty clothes that I’d had on for patrol two mornings ago.

I smelled to high heaven, and I was fairly sure I still had sand in places there shouldn’t be sand.

Feeling my heart in my throat, I clutched onto the tiny little t-shirt that I’d gotten from the store on base before being deployed, and knocked on the door.

A loud ‘come in’ that was most definitely not from Delanie sounded.

I entered, shocked to find the room completely full.

My brother Bourne was there. My mom. Dillan. Hell, there was even a couple from church.

There was also a man in the corner of the room holding my kid that I’d never met before.

Jealousy burned in my gut that everyone had gotten to hold my son before me.

My dad. My mom. My brother. Hell, even the fucking gym’s owner got to hold him before me.

That really fuckin’ irritated me, but I had nobody to blame but myself.

I stepped into the room and my eyes didn’t stray from the baby that was in the man’s arms.

“Booth.” My mother came up to me, wrapping her arms around me tightly. “You made it.”

I hugged her back, my eyes still entirely focused on the baby.

“Yeah,” I rumbled.

She tugged on my hand and led me over to the baby.

She reached for him, but the man glared.

“Sorry, but this is my grandson. I just got him,” he snapped.

Why was he even there? The last I’d heard, he’d had nothing to do with Delanie from the moment that she got pregnant.

“Dad,” Dillan snapped. “That’s Asa’s father. Don’t start. You promised that all you wanted to do was see him and you’d leave.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re the little asshole that thinks he can get my daughter pregnant and not be there for her?”

Before I or anyone could reply, Delanie was there.

She took the baby from her father’s arms, offered him a glare, and placed him into mine.

My breath hitched as I stared at the small baby that was the perfect mini Booth.

“Fuck,” I whispered.

“Language,” David Gunnarson snapped.

I wanted to punch him in the throat.

I chose to step away from him and turn my back on him instead.

Delanie ran her finger over Asa’s nose.

“You went with my name suggestion,” I said softly.

“I did,” she agreed. “It’s a good name.”

I’d had a friend in bootcamp that had suffered a heart attack. He’d been eighteen. His name was Asa.

And since I’d been the one to see it happen, and perform CPR on him for fifteen minutes before the medics arrived, Asa’s death had made a large impact on me.

Hence the reason for the name suggestion.

“How was the labor?” I asked quietly.

“How do you think the labor was, boy?” David snapped.

I stiffened then.

“I’d like to hold him again before we go, dear,” the old lady from the church said.

“Of course you can, ma’am,” David said, sounding so sure of himself that it almost amused me.

“Dad…” Dillan hissed.

I’d had enough.

“Can y’all get out, please?” I rasped.

The old woman that’d come from the church honestly looked like she’d swallowed sour watermelon.

My mother and brother gathered their things.

My mom placed a kiss on my cheek.

My brother hugged my head hard.

Then they were both gone.

“You, too,” Dillan ordered as she cleaned up around the room. “Get out now.”

David looked like he would like to take a belt to Dillan.

“You can’t talk to me like that, little girl,” David said.

“No, but I can.” The nurse came in. “Mom and Dad need some privacy. Please give it to them.”

He looked like he’d swallowed some of the same sour watermelon that the old lady had.

“I’ll wait outside,” he snapped, pointing at Delanie.

“No, you won’t,” Delanie said. “My mind won’t change. It’s done. You’ve had your hold. You’ve met your grandson. Now it’s time for you to go. Remember? You didn’t want me to have the baby in the first place. Then you disowned me when you found out that I was going to have the baby whether you wanted me to or not. Then you just show up here on the day that I have him and think that I’m going to be okay with it?”

David hissed out an annoyed breath, looked at Dillan then Delanie, and