The Soldier's Surprise Family by Jolene Navarro Page B

his face, hiding his eyes. The baby appeared to be asleep. She looked too small for a ten-month-old.
    Anjelica watched as Sharon and Garrett approached the little boy. The small body froze, becoming unnaturally still. He didn’t look at them directly but from the corner of his eye.
    Anjelica held her breath. She couldn’t even imagine what either were thinking. Would the boy trust Garrett? Would he be healed from this ordeal, or was he permanently wounded?
    * * *
    Garrett went on his haunches so he was eye level with his son as Sharon introduced them. After a brief smile the young women handed him the car seat with the baby inside, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Rio.
    He studied the features of the little boy. Wayward curls framed the small face. Each feature perfect and delicate. He was so tiny. His own father’s words buzzed across his brain for a moment. Telling him he looked more like a pretty little girl than a boy. His father would laugh in front of his football-watching buddies and say the dog made a better son. He narrowed his eyes. No, he wasn’t going there and his son would never be shamed like that.
    Body locked in place, Garrett didn’t make a move, not even daring to breathe as he looked at the miracle that sat before him. A boy who looked like him, a boy who was part of him. How could he not have known?
    So much time already lost. How could this wounded little guy who didn’t know him ever trust him? All his son knew was that a man now calling himself his father had abandoned him, had left him behind.
    The boy continued to ignore him.
    â€œHi there. My name is Garrett River Kincaid, just like yours. I knew your mother. We went to school together.” Nothing. “I’m your father and I’m here to take you home.”
    Mini Garrett made a whimpering sound and moved closer to his sister. Garrett sat in a chair and pulled the blanket back from the sleeping baby. “It’s gonna be okay. Your sister is coming, too.” Garrett had no idea what to do. He looked at Anjelica. Back against the door, she was still standing on the other side of the room.
    He looked at the boy, who was fiercely trying to cover his sister. The easiest and fastest action would be to pick them up and put them in the truck, but he remembered being a kid and not understanding what was going on around him. It had been terrifying.
    Pulling a chair closer to his son, he looked to Anjelica. “Why don’t you join us?” As she slowly moved to them, he turned back to his son. “I want to introduce you to the woman that is going to help take care of you and your sister, but I don’t know what name you want to use.” The boy didn’t acknowledge anyone in the room but kept his gaze on his sister.
    â€œYour mom called you River? She always loved my middle name. Did you know there was an actor she liked with the same name?” The boy’s lips stayed taut as he focused on his sister. “What about Garrett?”
    A heated glare briefly made contact with Garrett under the dark curly hair that hung across the boy’s forehead. Garrett fought the urge to brush it back. He was pretty certain that the boy wouldn’t be comfortable being touched. “Okay, I’ll take that as a no. I’m told your grandmother called you Rio. That’s clever, using the Spanish name for river . Do you like Rio?” No response.
    Frustrated, he looked to Anjelica for help. She shrugged and leaned forward to look at the infant. No longer sleeping, the baby girl blinked at them. “¿Puedo recoger, Pilar?” Without taking her gaze off the little boy, she patted Garrett’s shoulder. “I asked if I could hold his sister.”
    Garrett grinned. “Yeah, I speak poquito Spanish.” He measured about an inch between his thumb and index finger. In simple Spanish, he reassured his son that Anjelica was a nice lady who loved babies. “She has an abuelita