A Heart's War (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 5) Read Free Page B

mug on the counter, I put one hesitant foot in front of the other and moved toward the living room.
    My parents’ backs were to me when I entered. Paxton straightened his stance, as he looked my way.  “Mom.  Dad.  I-” His eyes stayed on me.
    “Paxton, what-?”  My mother turned around to see what her youngest son was looking at.  Her hand flew to her mouth on a gasp while the other reached blindly toward Dad, clutching his shirt.
    “Hilda, what’s the…?” The man’s voice faltered as he turned to see what had gotten his wife in a fit, his face losing its blood.  “It can’t be.”
    “T-theo?” Mom whispered.  “But-”
    “We buried you,” Dad supplied.
     
    Let me explain.  When the chaplain delivered the news of my death to my family, everyone had been told that I’d perished with the rest of my unit when my Humvee was found in a smoldering pile of rubble.  The only thing left had been my dog tags.
    “Is it really you?”  My mother looked at me as if I were a feat of magic about to disappear before her very eyes.
    I took a few steps toward them, unable to control the wetness that began to ease itself down my cheeks. My parents sported mirroring teary gazes.  “Mama, it’s me. I swear.”
    The woman hiccupped, her knees giving way as Dad helped ease her down into the chair behind her.  Paxton tended to her while Dad took the necessary steps, grabbed my shoulders and looked at me from top to bottom before crushing me in his embrace.  Arms trapped at my sides, I stiffened, not quite sure what to make of it.  My brother was right.  This wasn’t the man I remembered.
    “God damn, I thought I’d lost you,” he said on a broken sob.
    Never in my life have I ever seen my father like this.  In my arms, the man shook as if the years had made him soft.  Frail, even. This was new, and unsettling, to say the least.
    “I’m sorry, Dad,” I croaked, my arms winding around him, holding his shaking body in case he collapsed.  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t come back or send someone to let you guys know that I was safe.”
    Dad’s voice cracked when he said, “We’ll deal with that later, son.”  His hands grabbed hold of the sides of my face, giving it a subtle but abrupt shake. It’s as if he couldn’t bear to let me go just yet.  Releasing me, he wiped the back of his hand across his eyes and looked over at Mom.  “Your mother needs you.”
    Mom was in shock, a shaking shell of herself.  She was mumbling…her words indecipherable, her head shaking from left to right in disbelief.  It wasn’t until I crouched down so she could see my face that her rambling stopped.  Her eyes met and held mine as her hands reached up and clasped both of my cheeks.  “Theo?”
    “It’s me, Mama.” My lips quivered as I tried to smile for her.  “I’m back and I’m never leaving again.”
    I never expected what came next.  “I’d have two minds to whoop your ass right now, boy!  Don’t you ever scare me like that again, do you hear!” I couldn’t help the boisterous laugh that escaped me.  Yes, my tiny spitfire of a mother still had it in her. Smacking me in the arm, her humored gaze softened.  “I thought a part of me died the day they came and…”  Not finishing, she threw herself into my arms, knocking me to the floor onto my ass and sobbing into my chest as I cradled her on my lap until she calmed.
    “My baby’s back,” she repeated over and over, peppering my face with kisses, her arms holding on for dear life.  Much to my surprise, I felt my father kneeling in behind me, surrounding me in a parent sandwich.  “He’s back, honey,” Mom whispered.  “He’s really back.”
    “I know, sweetheart.”
    Mom sniffled.  “Thank God for second chances!”
    The bittersweet mood was broken when Jasper interrupted our moment.  “Daddy, I’m hungry.”
    Within seconds, Dad snorted a small laugh, Mom giggled, and when I looked up, my brother was shaking his head, a