Instead of killing me, he laughed in my face and then we made an agreement.
One I’m not proud of, but one where I wouldn’t tell you who I really was to you, and he wouldn’t ban you from coming around.
Oh, and he wouldn’t kill us, either.
It was selfish, I know that, but I finally had you in my life and the risk of losing you again was too great. So I kept you in the only way I knew how and I am so so, so sorry Abel. My baby. My boy. Just know that I love you with all my heart and that I did everything I could to be a good grandma to you and protect you from the evil of your father.
You are so different from him. You are a good man. You made my heart and life so full and I would go through all the hard times all over again, as long as it all ended the same way.
With family.
My eternal endless love, forever and always,
Grandma Grace
“Holy shit,” I said, covering my mouth. My eyes threatening to spill the tears that had been forming during the entire time I’d been reading Grace’s letter.
When I’d taken it from Bear, I thought he was pissed or upset, but when he lifted his head all I saw was pure unadulterated joy. “I have a grandma,” he said, sniffling and wiping the corners of his eyes.
“And it’s Grace,” I said, feeling his happiness.
“And it’s Grace,” Bear repeated, pulling me onto his lap.
“You have a grandpa too! Some guy named…” I looked back down at the letter.
“Joker.” Bear laughed. “You know I met him before. A long time ago. There was something off about him. No one wanted to talk to a little prospect, but he took the time. He was nice too, and trust me, nobody is nice to prospects. Said some shit to me that stuck over the years.”
“Maybe he was there checking up on you,” I pointed out.
“I think that’s exactly what he was doing.” Bear held me tight and for a moment we just sat there, content in each other’s arms.
“Are you ready now?” Bear asked after a while. He lifted me up off the chair and set me down on my feet.
“Depends? Where we going?” I asked, standing up and taking his hand. Bear dragged me over to the driveway.
“I’m taking you for a ride,” Bear said, gesturing to his bike. Before I could think of what he was asking, he was already shoving a big round helmet with a plexi-glass face guard onto my head.
“I bet you are,” I said, my words muffled through the helmet. “But where are we going?”
“For fuck’s sake, Ti, always with the questions,” Bear said, and although his words were angry, I could tell he was trying to hide a smile. “Can’t you just do what you’re fucking told for once?”
“I could, but where would the fun be in that?” I asked, sticking out my tongue and inadvertently licking the inside of the helmet. I couldn’t see through the face guard because the helmet was too far down on my head. Bear must have seen his error because he pulled it back up until I could see his beautiful face looking down at me and laughing as he adjusted the chinstrap. He tapped the top of the helmet when he was done and it echoed in my ears.
“Where’s your helmet?” I asked through the enormous fishbowl surrounding my head.
“Right here.” Bear lifted out a small black helmet that looked more like a plastic jock strap and set it on his head. His hair poked out the side when he secured the strap.
“How come you get to wear that small one and I look like I’m preparing for a moon launch?” I asked.
Bear chuckled. “You’re precious cargo, baby. Gotta protect what’s mine,” he said smoothly, lowering his voice in the way that made me swoon like an idiot and want to offer him up anything I had in order to hear it again.
Damn him.
“Have you cleaned this thing? I don’t want to catch some oral venereal disease from any of its former wearers.”
“Baby, trust me, no one has ever worn that before,” he said through a laugh. “I had Wolf pick it up this morning just for you.” He winked because he knew exactly what he was doing to me, and I melted like the girl I was at the thought of him sending out his new VP just