Page 57 of Brinley's Savior

We’d told him that the room was off limits as we had worked on it at different times when Zander wasn’t there. I was seriously proud of my son because he listened and hadn’t even attempted to breach the door.

“Well, we can now.” I turned the knob and pushed open the door and watched my son’s eyes bug out for the second time that morning.

“Happy Birthday, Bud,” I said.

Then Brin leaned down and hugged our son. “I hope you like it.”

Zander gave her a tiny squeeze and unleashed himself from her grasp, running to the middle of the room where he spun in circles. “This is awesome!” he shouted, happily.

“So I assume that you like your new room then?” I asked.

He climbed the ladder to the top bed of his new bunk bed and a small shudder ran through me. Watching him go up each step brought on a wave of fear. What if something ever happened to my son? I couldn’t lose him like I lost my sister. My stomach twisted. It was a very small ladder, but that didn’t seem to matter when the past came floating back. Then, Zander flopped himself down onto his back and yelled, bringing my focus back to him. “I love it! Now Dexter can come over and we can each have a bed.”

Zander and Dexter had become fast friends. I loved that for my son. As I watched him take in the room and thought about the sleepovers he would be having, a wave of sorrow washed over me.

I felt Brin lean in and rest her head against my arm. When I looked down at her, she was watching our son with a smile on her face, but then she glanced up at me.

“I miss him too,” she said. Somehow she knew I’d been thinking about Luke. While we had talked about him, we were still both struggling on that front.

Luke and I had many sleepovers through the years growing up. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat thinking back to those days and hearing Brinley’s sad tone at the loss of a truly spectacular friend.

“He was the best,” I whispered. “I let him down. But now isn’t the time to talk about that.”

The moment was about our son and when I looked back at him, his laughter and glee were contagious. “Let’s go join him,” I said.

Brin pulled her head from my arm and I missed the contact immediately. She was starting to warm up to me and maybe the idea of us too. At least I’d hoped so. When she touched me on her own accord, it felt amazing.

Like I’d won the lottery.

We both walked further into the room together and I asked Zander, “What do you like best about the room?”

“Everything, duh,” he said. His little tongue came out and he cocked his head as he rolled his eyes. Clearly he thought I was dumb for asking.

I had to admit Brin and I had done a damn good job with the room with some serious help from Landon. “Maybe I need a room like this,” I mumbled.

“You’re a goof,” Brin said in response.

The mural Landon had painted that resembled the scene on Zander’s cake was remarkable. He was seriously talented. A forest scene with many trees, Army men lurking behind their large trunks, a river running through the middle of the scene, darkened sky above, and some animals in the mix made it all look so real. I couldn’t thank him enough for what he had done for Zander.

Then Brin and I found the bunk beds, camo bedding, a couple of bean bags, a toy chest loaded with new toys, a dresser, lamps, and a small desk with a chair. Everything matched and blended so well.

“Daddy, will you be the first to have a sleepover in my new room?” He slid down the slide on the opposite side of the small ladder that took him to the ground and ran up wrapping his arms around my legs.

My heart swelled at the request.

“I sure will. As long as your mother is okay with it?” I looked at Brin. “You mentioned the girls wanted to do a sleepover soon, so what if I stayed here with Zander so you could go to that?”

“That’s perfect, Mommy. We have a sleepover and you go to one too. Okay?”

Brin hesitated. I knew she wanted to go, but had said she didn’t know about leaving Zander, and having never gone to a sleepover with girlfriends before, she wasn’t sure she would know how to act even though she’d become closer to all the ladies. But I knew she would say yes not wanting to have her son miss out on something he wanted.

“I think we can work that out,” she told him.

“When?” Zander immediately asked her.

“Soon, I promise. Now how about that breakfast?” she asked, smiling.

I hated to put a damper on the morning we had so far but I had to meet with the guys today. “I have to go into the office soon.” Brin’s smile fell and a worried look entered her eyes. Exactly what I wished I could have avoided.