Free Jack Who? (Silver Strings G Series) by Lisa Gillis Page A

even her closest friend and family of their liaison, before his face clouded.
    “You should have told. Me.” The words were stony and spoke of the lack of an entirely different revelation. It must have marinated all day, and now he took issue with not having been informed of the pregnancy years ago. Her response formulated, then slipped away, then almost came together again, but her brain seemed incapable of any thought except Tristan in that room. Maybe it was the same for him too because he said, “Never mind. Let’s just get through today for now.”
    There it was again. Us . Even if it was in contraction form.
    “Mr. and Mrs. Duplei?” A medical assistant clipped bracelets around each of their wrists after informing them that visiting was about to begin. Printed on the laminated bracelet was Tristan’s name, birthday, doctor, and other information. The visiting system was organized by room and space, so that only one patient’s family at a time crowded each room.
    Tristan was still asleep, and again she fussed maternally over him while Jack stood around the foot of the bed seemingly infatuated by his tiny look-alike. Once they adjourned back to their chairs, Jack offered to find something to eat, but she declined.
    “Go ahead if you want.” She knew he must be hungry, but he shook his head and leaned it back against the wall. Taking in the shadows beginning to form beneath his eyes, she wondered if they stemmed from the stress or fatigue. “When did you get here? To Biloxi?”
    “This morning.” Even his voice seemed wearier than earlier.
    “You flew in this morning?”
    “Had meetings all day yesterday. New album stuff. So I left LA last night at 11:37.” He spoke in exact flight time then grimaced. “Then, of course, two hours is lost to the time zone difference. So it was around four when I checked into the hotel.”
    Biting her tongue before it could ask where he was staying, she slouched more comfortably, leaning her head back also. The silence stretched, and he looked to be dozing. Although she was too keyed up to do the same, it felt good to close her eyes.
    “Marissa?” He said her name quietly, possibly in case she was asleep.
    “Mmh?” Without moving anything except her eyes, she glanced and found him doing the same.
    “Tell me about him...”
    Caught off guard, she stared at the repeating wallpaper print. There was nothing she loved more than to talk about Tristan. She always tried not to be one of ‘those’ mothers at work, or wherever, boring others with every detail of their child.
    Her parents liked listening to every little story of his latest escapades. Olivia generally lived each adventure, and the two of them would laugh together. But, nothing had ever been as pleasing as the idea of telling her son’s personality traits and glories to his father.
    “He’s the best kid in the world. So sweet and smart. And funny. He says the funniest stuff on purpose. Anything good, he is.” Letting her mind drift, she tried to come up with specifics.
    “What are his favorite things to do?”
    A smile curved easily on her lips as she briefed Jack of the shows he watched, the books he liked, and the games he played. Of Hot Wheels cars and helicopters. Of Tiggy his fake pet and Bally his real pet. Of drums and karaoke.
    “He likes to sing?” Jack’s head popped up from its rest on the wall.
    A proud maternal smile twitched her lips. “He’s actually really good. You would be surprised.”
    “Why surprised?” Jack taunted, and a teasing glint lit his dark gaze. “You listened to the CD I gave you, right?”
    That one sentence had so many hidden implications whether he meant it to or not. An inference that any child of his would be born with music pumping through their veins. An internal acceptance of Tristan as his son.
    “I listened to more than the CD. Even downloaded a couple.” The confession naturally spilled out in this close easy moment, and she watched his brows slightly lift