A Family Made At Christmas. Scarlet Wilson
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you dare go in there simmering with resentment at Finn’s mother. You’re an adult. Deal with it. Deal with the fact that life doesn’t always give you the hand of cards that you want. Finn will need you to talk about his mum. If he hears resentment or anger in your voice he’ll close off to you. You’ll wreck your relationship before it even has a chance to form.’
‘I thought you didn’t know anything about kids?’
‘I don’t. But I know enough about people. And so do you. You’re a doctor. You deal with families all the time.’ She dropped her hand and let her voice soften. ‘I know you’re angry. And if you are, talk to me. Talk to your brother.’ She stared out of the window at the blue sky above them. ‘My sister and I used to do a thing.’
‘A thing?’
She nodded. ‘If either of us was angry or upset—and it happened a lot—we used to hug it out.’
‘You what?’
She shrugged. ‘Hugging. Physical contact. Scientifically proven to reduce stress and anxiety. To release tension.’
He looked amused. ‘You want me to hug it out?’
The expression on his face was incredulous. She unclipped her seat belt and opened her arms. ‘Why not? You can’t go in there all tense and angry. That doesn’t help you. That doesn’t help Finn.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘And, just so you know, this is a one-time offer.’
His face broke into a smile as he shook his head and unclipped his own belt. ‘I must be crazy.’
‘I’ve heard you called worse.’
He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. Riley Callaghan knew how to hug. This was no gentle, delicate hug. This was a massive pick-you-up-and-swing-you-round bear hug. Just as well they were in the car.
His emerging stubble brushed against her cheek. The waft of soap and masculinity flooded through her senses. That whole sensation of being held by a man, being comforted by someone who wrapped you in their arms, made her catch her breath. It had been so long. So long since she’d let someone this close.
She was doing this for him. Not for her.
So why did it feel like this?
He couldn’t see her face, so she closed her eyes for a few seconds. Letting herself just remember the moment. Feel the heat, the warmth and the comfort.
She’d missed this. Missed this contact more than she’d ever expected to. What she’d done with the best of intentions had turned into something that was kind of overwhelming.
His voice murmured in her ear. ‘Thanks, April.’
‘No problem,’ she replied automatically. Lost in the warm breath near her ear.
After the longest time he pulled back.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘We’re all hugged out.’ She could see how nervous he was. ‘It’s time for me to meet my son.’
* * *
In the blink of an eye his life had changed.
He was a father. His first priority was his son.
April was a godsend.
His first sight of Finn, sitting on the edge of his bed in the foster home, ripped his heart clean out of his chest. Finn was his living image. If he’d sat his five-year-old self down next to Finn they would have looked like twins.
He’d never need a DNA test.
He’d wondered about the photo last night—if it was really a good representation of Finn. If they really looked that alike. Now he knew.
The foster carer was possibly the greatest human being he’d ever met. All preconceived ideas were swept out the window in a matter of seconds. She was used to taking kids in crisis situations and was very experienced. She even ran rings around the po-faced Ms Cummings.
She was warm and friendly. She knew Riley and Finn hadn’t met before and had already made a little list of things Finn had mentioned in the last few days. That included things from home he wanted, a list of clothing he would need, the contact details of his school and a few names of friends of his mum’s.
April stayed in the background, just accepting the lists with a gracious nod and leaving Riley to ask all the questions that he wanted.
It hadn’t taken much to notice the slight tremor in Finn’s hands. Riley had sat down on the bed next to him and spoke to his son for the first time. He’d never been so terrified in his life. Not when he’d been serving, not when he’d been retrieving military casualties and not when he’d been stranded on a battlefield with virtually no equipment. This was a whole new ball game.
Somehow it felt good that April was there to have his back. She didn’t interfere. She just stayed in the background. That hug in the car had done weird things to his mind. Her body pressed against his had sent a quick flash of a few thoughts he’d had about her in the past four weeks. The vanilla scent that had drifted up his nose had taken him to a whole other place. One where April wasn’t permanently dressed in her physiotherapist uniform.
Today was the first day he’d seen her in something else. She was wearing a dress. A dress. He hadn’t thought of April as a dress sort of girl. It was dark, covered with assorted pink butterflies, finishing just above her knees, which were covered in thick dark tights and knee-high black boots. She’d wrapped a pink scarf around her neck and was wearing a black military-style jacket.
She even looked as if she had a little make-up on. Either that or her lashes were darker than normal and highlighting those blue eyes. He’d never seen April outside the work environment and somehow it felt as if he’d been missing out.
April Henderson looked good. But then he’d always thought that.
And she’d been right. He’d needed to leave his resentment at the door. One look at Finn told him that.
Finn was charming. Polite, well mannered, and the first thing he told him was that he was going to be an astronaut. Riley smiled. He remembered having the same ambition. His little voice shook when he spoke about his mum and Riley wrapped his arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. ‘I’m sorry, Finn. I’m sorry about the accident. But I’ll look after you now. I’m your dad. I didn’t know about you before, but I know about you now.’
He’d pulled Finn up onto his lap. ‘If you want to, we’ll go and get some of your things. You can bring whatever you want.’
‘I can go back home?’
It was like staring into his own green eyes, but these little eyes were laced with uncertainty. Riley tried to keep his voice steady. ‘You’re going to stay with me now. But your mum’s house will stay as it is for now. We can collect your clothes, your toys, some photographs and anything else you want.’ He ran his hand over his son’s brown hair. Finn had the same little kink in his hair that he did. ‘I know some people who will be so happy to meet you. Your uncle Dan has just flown out to Afghanistan. But he’s already sent me a message for you. And your gran and granddad will be really happy to meet you too.’
Riley’s mouth was running away with him. He could see the tiny tremble in Finn’s hands. It made his heart ache. Should he squeeze him harder? He wasn’t quite sure.
‘I have a gran and granddad?’ Finn’s eyes widened. ‘I never had those before.’
Yes, you did. You just didn’t know it.
He resisted the temptation to say the words out loud. ‘Well, you do now.’
It wasn’t just Finn’s hands that were trembling; it was his voice too. Riley had spent his life as a doctor seeing things that affected him deep down. He’d wished a million times he could change things for the patients he worked with. But he’d never wished he could change things more than he did right now. He’d do anything to take away the hurt in Finn’s eyes.
Finn