Colt held Cole in his arms after cleaning him up, no sense putting him back in his seat. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time he held one of them and ate at the same time. Hell, after their mother died, he had an infant and a 2-year-old with recent trauma. Everyone needed held and he didn’t have the luxury of grieving. He had to be strong for his children. He couldn’t fall apart, so many a night held hold them. He’d hold Cole in one hand and Colton in the other as Colton ate, then, after putting Colton to bed, he’d feed Cole his bottle and rock him in the rocking chair in his nursery, before putting him to bed.
It was only after Colton was sound asleep and didn’t need held, slept next to, red to, taken potty and whatever else not to be in his room, that Colt could go sit in his office and well…even then, Colt couldn’t grieve. He had to work. Someone had to make money and he was forced to push everything down. It took weeks of bottling things up for Colt to finally snap. He and Abel were in different gangs, different lives…everything. But Abel had stepped up for him after Phantoms murdered his wife in cold blood.
It was one thing he could say for his brother. While he was dead loyal to his gang as Colt was, he was loyal to his brother too, even with all their problems. But the night he finally tracked down the three men that did it….he drug them home to his basement and that was where Abel found him torturing them to within an inch of their sanity and perhaps even a little bit of his own slipping away in the process. It was a graphic and horrible sight. Something neither brother spoke of again after it was over.
But the truth was, it was Abel that was finally able to help Colt grieve because honestly, he had to. It was literally tearing him apart, making reality cease to exist. He thought of nothing else but revenge and to torture those men. Never mind that his traumatized toddler was upstairs and what if he woke up? What if he came down there instead of Abel and found him? What then? Colt had been furious, going after his brother, cussing him out, screaming at him, threatening him and even having pulled a gun on him. And while Abel defended himself, he let Colt get out his rage until finally he broke down and just…cried.
That harsh outward front that everyone saw, the calm, collected man there for his children crumbled and he cried because the woman he lost had been his world. But, as Abel had pointed out before, he had stood by him. He’d let Colt get his revenge and then the two had gone back to how it always was. The rift being there because of the different sides they were on. But in being there during that time, Abel had helped him more than anyone else had during that time.
His thoughts turned back to Zoe as she spoke to him about Colton’s birthday and then spoke to Colton asking him what he wanted. Even began trying to guess it. Good luck with that. He’d been trying to guess what that child wanted since he was born and really, he failed miserably at it. He just knew that buying enough gifts would mean at least one would hit the bullseye. 1 out of 20 was still a win in his eyes considering at 4 he was a terror when he didn’t get what he wanted, even if he didn’t even know what he wanted.
Baby? Zoe questioned him and Colt was about to argue and say that wasn’t something he wanted his son to have, not because he was anti boys having baby dolls but because he didn’t see that ending well. But then he said sister. Worse when asked where he’d get it, he pointed to him and Zoe, which obviously was the last thing she likely wanted to have happen to her.
“Buddy that’s not how it works.” Colt said quickly as he sat up, keeping Cole snuggled against him, carefu not to disturb his son, god forbid he wake a sleeping 2-year-old. He went to the store with his mother for Cole? “Buddy….” He started but what did he say to that? Especially when he said that he had to kiss her and pick up a baby from the store and to go do it now?