"I think... I think I was so in love with the idea of saving myself that I didn't realize I was letting myself drown. "

"And now?"

"And now you're my lifeboat."


It was only meant to be a favour. Only meant to be for a few weeks. 

Yet when Stryker Odello finds himself a Daddy for a scarred little boy, he finds the darkness that swamped his life cracking and splits of light shining through.

High functioning alcoholic at best, meeting the needs of the little proved more challenging than he first anticipated. 

Broken and distrustful, getting through to Jamie Sinclair was a hard feat.

Both damaged from the past, hurt and cautious, could they learn to let go and figure out how to love again? 

Or was life's only joy to direct a tragedy?

His Little Boy

Bamboozled, he tried to figure out what had just happened. It seemed like he had won, but he knew that she wasn't the kind to lose. He felt as though he should be scared. Very scared.

/"You know,/" he said to Jamie, pulling a face and trying to cheer his little boy up. /"With a mother like that, it's easy to see why I am the way that I am./"

/"I like you da way dat you are,/" Jamie assured, blinking up at him through sweet eyes.

/"You're only saying that because you want an ice cream./"

A grin split Jamie's painted face. /"Nilla?/" he asked, tilting his head cutely.

So, of course, his Jamie got a vanilla ice cream.

Stryker assured Jamie that he could buy whatever he wanted. He promised him that nothing would be too much. It showed how sweet his baby was because he used that offer, but not for himself.

Chapter52