Ticket Home

The next day I woke up in such a good mood. It's going to be Jimmy's last day amongst his peers and our last day in California. The movers only had my bed left to load, but I didn't have to worry to much about that. Bryce was also kind enough to offer his hotel to us. I was thankful, that meant we didn't have to sleep on the floor and the hotel was only a few blocks from the airport.

I decided to take the day off and ordered farewell cupcakes for Jimmy's classroom. My little man was beyond excited for his cupcakes. "Mommy! Can I have two chunk-lets?!" Not wanting to spoil his mood, "Yes baby, you can have two chocolate cupcakes." But not surprised, he settled for one. I knew he wouldn't have the stomach to reach for the second.

We ended our afternoon with preschool. I gave his teachers a hug goodbye, and they handed me a referral letter for Jimmy. I happily accepted, thinking to myself, what in the world would I do with this. We stepped out of the building, I looked down at the papers, attached were his grades and a letter expressing how bright he was. This put a smile on my face.

My last errand was work, to drop of the car. Jimmy always enjoyed going to work with me, he loved spinning in the chair. Bryce and I crossed paths, he waived me down, "Hey Kera! Hey little man! I didn't expect to see you both so early."

I gave Bryce a warm smile, "Since it was Jimmy's last day in school, I took the day off to spend it with him." Jimmy surprisingly spoke up, "Mommy brought cupcakes and I had a part-ee."

Bryce tousled Jimmy's hair, "I bet it was really fun!" He then looked at me, "So how's everything else going so far?"

I let him know I was turning in the company car and dropping of my last stack of work documents. I also let him know I was turning in my vacation request. Normally, the company automatically provides two weeks off when transferring out of state, but I was hoping to add on my vacation.

Bryce reviewed my request and kept a hold of it. "I'll hold onto your vacation request. If you submit it now, it'll go through management here. If you wait til we get back, I can submit and approve."

I looked at him and already I'm blushing. "Thank you Mr. Finn."

He looked turned on when I called him Mr. Finn. We stood in the lobby for a few more minutes talking. "I'm almost done wrapping it up here, if you don't mind waiting 10-15 min we can swing by your condo together and pickup your luggage and head to the hotel?"

I thought it was a great idea. I let Bryce know I'll be waiting across the street at a sub shop for lunch. "Have you eaten? Want anything?"

He expressed he was starved. I gave him a giggle and we parted ways. It was a easy walk and the wait line was short. I ordered the submarine sub, it was the biggest sandwich on the menu. Jimmy and I didn't eat much so I purchased one more sandwich to share.

Bryce found his way to Jimmy and I. We decided to eat outside the sub shop. After we were down, we hailed a cab, picked up my luggage and headed to the hotel. Jimmy passed out on our way to the hotel, Bryce offered to carry him and the luggage. My heart stung a bit, out of no where I envisioned Kane carrying his son. Bryce looked behind and notice my eyes glossy. He frowned, "What's the matter."

I took a deep breath, really hoping I didn't get caught having a moment. I shook it off and let him know it was nothing. Bryce was persistent, and finally I opened up a little, "I never thought I'd see Jimmy in someone else's arms other than mine."

He put the luggage down, wrapped his hand around my waist and kissed my forehead, "Hey, I'm here for you and Jimmy. I knew exactly what I was getting into. I won't hurt you. If we don't work out, I still wanna be here for you and Jimmy"

I felt horrible and guilty. I had this great man in front of me, but I was still thinking about Kane. I felt defeated. I could only chuck up, "Thank you."

We finally made it to his room. He went into the main room and tucked Jimmy in. When he came out he went behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, "You and Jimmy can take the bed, I'll take the couch."

I was surprised, this 6' tall man legs would be dangling. I could only imagine the discomfort, "I couldn't! Jimmy and I could comfortably fit on the couch and the ottoman is long enough for Jimmy to sleep on."

Caring as he was, he wouldn't give in. "I don't even know where to start by thanking you!"

He sat down and pulled me on top of him. His chest was firm, and the warmth of his body had me melting deeper in his arms. I raised my head, looked into his eyes and kissed him. He took advantage of the kiss and pulled me back, begging for entrance inside my mouth. I gave in and felt himself become stiff. "You turned me on when you called me Mr. Finn. I'm really trying to hold back."

I smiled at him, "I understand." Keeping my mind off of lust, "What would you like for dinner?"

He gave me a low chuckle, "Mmm, besides you, nothing else comes to mind."

I shook my head, my face already red. We ended up deciding on takeout, Thai cuisine. Jimmy woke up from his nap on time for dinner. We sat around the ottoman, it warmed my heart seeing Bryce interact with Jimmy. I'm sure this was all confusing for my boy. It's always been the two of us, so I understood Jimmy's point of view. It seemed as Jimmy wanted to enjoy Bryce company, but he still had his guard up.

We finished up dinner, Bryce shouted, "Movie night!" I picked up Jimmy and gave him a big mama bear hug. "Just one movie, you and I have to be up early to go on the big plane!"

Jimmy was over the moon when I mentioned our flight. Then Bryce wrapped his arm around us, "I'm glad you brought that up! I went ahead and canceled your tickets and purchased first class for the three of us!"

I looked at him in shock, "B-but the company only covers economy seats. Wait the three of us"

He chuckled, "I paid out of pocket. I wanted Jimmy to enjoy his first time on a airplane. The flight is the same time, just different seats. I also wanted to be there with you, incase you needed help or just wanted my company."

I was frozen for a moment, and finally recomposed. "You are an amazing person. I don't know how I got so lucky, thank you!"

The three of us sat on the couch leaning most of our body weight towards Bryce. He seemed to be enjoying this time. The movie was finally over, Jimmy was already snoozing. I went for Jimmy, but Bryce volunteered to put him to bed. "I miss having a little one around. My son's already to cool for hugs and I love yous, ha."

I chuckled and sat back down.

He came right out and sat next to me. He got himself comfortable and leaned on the couch, pulling me towards him. "You have no idea how light you are. I love everything about you, your long brown hair, big brown eyes, beautiful soft fair skin."

At this point the tip of our noses were touching. He gave me a peck on the lips. I turned my head placing it against his chest.

I was curious how this man could be divorced and single. Curiosity got the best of me, "What happened to you and your exwife?"

"We just grew apart. I met her freshman year of high school. We started dating sophomore year and then throughout high school. We got pregnant our freshman year of college. Eloped right after Ryan was born. We were happy the first few years, but she started resenting our life. I started at the bottom of my career, always trying to better myself, I started working from day to night. She'd make side comments on how she was the mistress and work was my wife. Looking back, I see now how she was begging to be heard, but I was to late. She was already done with me. She ended up finishing college, met her husband and so far living a good life. But I will admit it was hard seeing another man take care of your own kid. It took awhile for the three of us to figure out how to coparent, but we managed."

I looked at him, raised my eyebrows, "It seems that you've changed."

Bryce gave a small chuckle. He explained it took him many years to learn how to balance his work life and personal life. He opened up a little more. He carried the regret of leaving his son while he pursued his career in Nebraska.

To my surprise, he also admitted while he was here in California he'd take off and spend as much time with Ryan as possible. I was amazed, his son only lived 45 min away from work.

Tonight I learned a little more about him. I drifted to sleep in his arms. He wrapped around me a tad tighter, making me feel warm and secure.