Jack was in bed. Leaning back against the carved headboard he had a copy of Quarter Horse News in his hand, and he looked up with a smile when Riley entered the room.
"She sleeping okay?" he asked.
Riley nodded, and then because he didn't know how else to word it, he simply said, "Mom and Jim. I need to tell them their son is a daddy. How the fuck am I going to do that?"
Jack simply passed him the phone. "Call them and invite them for breakfast," he said patiently. Riley held the handset tight and worried his lower lip with his teeth. "Riley?" Of course Jack would wonder why Riley was hesitating.
"How do I tell them? What will they think?"
"You are their son, and it will be an easy journey to acceptance for them."
Riley listened to Jack's words, contemplating the fact his husband had such a lyrical way with words. Sometimes Jack opened his mouth and the lazy drawl of cowboy came out; other times he said the most amazingly insightful things that just tied up all the indecision that plagued Riley and threw them in the trash. Riley often thought he was married to two different men. He loved both sides of Jack.
Jack wasn't reacting to this anywhere near the way Riley imagined he would. At dinner Jack had already been planning on which ranch to go to for the pony and had agreed to put up shelves for the two bags of books Hayley arrived with. If Jack could accept everything so easily, then what was stopping Riley from feeling like he could do this? And why the hell was he hesitating about how to tell Jim and his mom exactly? He should be able to handle this.
"Jim is going to kill me," Riley muttered. He had found out Jim Bailey was his real father when he needed a blood transfusion. Jim had always known he was Riley's father. They had made inroads into reconciling those two facts, but he still didn't call him Dad. Dad was still Gerald, a man Riley had hated. He couldn't associate the word Dad with Jim and the easy relationship they had. Dad was a meaningless word to Riley, and he wished he could get away from feeling like he was going to be no better at fathering than Gerald had been.
"He's not going to kill you."
"Mom too." Riley's relationship with his mom was stronger with every passing day, and he'd laid a lot of how he felt about her at Jim's feet. She had changed so much. Still Texas aristocracy, daily, she was softening at the edges a bit more. Jim made his mom happy, and she deserved that. Added to this, Jim was now officially courting Sandra, which kind of put Riley's world off balance. Okay, so he still wasn't calling Jim "Dad", but there'd been too much water under the bridge for Riley and Jim, and too much time had passed. Would it be the same for Hayley and him?
"I don't know what to say to them." Riley couldn't think of where to start to explain to Jack.
"How about 'Mom, Jim, I'm a dad, and I want you to meet my beautiful daughter, Hayley'." Jack obviously thought he was being helpful or Riley needed the mood lightened. Riley had to make Jack see what was in his head.
"Do you know," he began carefully, "when Jim was the HayesOil attorney, he had to deal with five separate paternity claims against me from three different women in the space of two years. Women I had never even met, let alone slept with." Riley sat down heavily on the bed next to Jack.
"Money breeds that kind of thing," Jack said in an offhand way.
Riley bristled at the accusation he heard in Jack's voice, and he rounded on his husband in an instant. "What?" he snapped, "me fucking around?"
"No, jeez, Riley, calm down. I meant people will do anything for money." Jack placed a hand on the base of Riley's spine and began a small circular motion, patiently letting Riley know he was there and supporting him. Riley sighed and leaned back slightly into the touch.
"None of them were true. To contact Jim now and admit I am actually a father…"
"I don't see what you… Wait, are you worried he'll be disappointed?"
"Yes." That was exactly what he was thinking would happen. Dad or not, Jim's respect meant an awful lot to Riley.
"Just tell him the truth. Lexie was the one that got away and you didn't know anything about Hayley." Jack made it sound so easy.
"Easier said than done," Riley muttered. Jack kept up with the gentle press of fingers on his back. Sighing, Riley connected to his mom's number, and she answered the call on the third ring.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Mom."
"Riley. Hello, darling. Is everything okay? It's late—"
"Would you and Jim come to breakfast tomorrow? There's something I'd like to talk to you both about." Well, it wasn't exactly "I'm a dad", but at least he had a time and a place set in his head for the big reveal. He was hiding behind Hayley. Jim and his mom couldn't be sorry for what happened or think less of Riley once they met the gorgeous child, their granddaughter. Could they?
"Of course we can. What's wrong? Is it Eden?" His mom sounded worried, and he heard the rumble of Jim's voice in the background.
"Riley?" Jim had clearly taken the phone from Sandra, and the use of his name held an urgent question. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. I'm just inviting my parents to breakfast."
"At midnight?" Jim sounded skeptical. Riley wasn't winning this one at all.
"Just try to get here by nine. I have something I need to tell you."
There was a brief pause at the other end of the line, then Jim said, "Okay, son, we'll be there."
"Nine?"
"Nine."
Riley ended the call and breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had a reprieve of nine hours and the chance for sleep. He climbed into bed then pulled the magazine from Jack's hands but didn't then lean into kiss or initiate anything. He just needed sleep, and he needed to know Jack was there. Jack seemed to get the message and leaned over to turn out the light. Riley sighed and pulled Jack close for a hug, but sleep eluded him even as Jack's breathing changed to the rhythm of slumber. He tried relaxing each muscle in turn, inhaling his husband's scent and the cool Texas air, but it was a long time until sleep finally chased him down.
Sleep didn't last long.
* * * *
"Riley."
"'M 'sleep," Riley replied.
"Riley." This time Jack's voice was more insistent and pushed along by the tempting scent of coffee. Riley managed to force open his eyes.
"Whattimeisit?"
"Just after six. I brought coffee." Riley groaned. He'd probably only been asleep a few minutes. Or at least it seemed like it. "I'm out with Taylors; she's restless again."