"I only got one crib," Jax said, walking backward to Abel's room. "Think they'll both fit?"

Think you'll look at me like I'm not some kind of monster and trust me to put my sons to bed?

The fact that both Thomas and Tara referred to him as Daddy was a balm to his fear and confusion. Whatever had happened in those years between, she still thought of him as the father to their children, thought of Abel as her son. It was what he'd always wanted, delivered in the most warped and twisted package. They must have shared a life together, had all these memories that he couldn't even guess, and then it must have gone so sour in ways he couldn't even guess.

"Seems to me..." he tried to smile and it faltered. "Mommy could use some rest too."