Synergy: Restitution (Synergy Series #3) [BWWM]

Chapter 4 'Memphis'

Travelling with a baby on a plane was certainly a new experience for Jason. He always assumed Dee would be around to experience her baby's first flight, but here he was, without her. Dee hadn't stopped panicking since he'd picked him up from hers an hour ago, and he'd already received a text from her telling him, not asking, to let her know as soon as they arrived. They were only going to Memphis to see his family, but the way she was acting, they were off on a country wide backpacking trip together.

Rio was a little bit like a time bomb waiting to go off just lately. He was teething again, and the pain could catch him off guard at any time of the day or night. Jason never knew when it was coming; all he could do was soothe him the best he could. He felt for him, he really did. Toothache was a bitch as an adult, let alone when you're that small and it's happening all at once. Poor kid.

It was times like these that Jason appreciated his lifestyle. The fact that he could travel on his own jet, and not have to sit in between a dozen people rolling their eyes as a crying baby stepped onto the plane. Rio ended up surprising him though. He handled the flight with ease, as soon as they were up in the air, he hardly heard a peep from him, and Jason was thankful for that. He was still getting used to the whole 'lone daddy' situation.

The flight was over before they knew it, and Jason was elated that Rio had remained happy and content all the way to his Memphis home. It was clear to see as they pulled up that everybody was here from the amount of cars in the driveway. He didn't expect anything less from his family, but aside from the usual cars he knew so well, there was one or two he didn't recognise.

"Oh my God, he's so little!" a familiar, but almost forgotten voice said from the doorway. Jason was pulling his bag from the back of the car, as he balanced Rio on his hip, and though he couldn't see who the comment was directed at, he had a feeling it wasn't him. He sure hoped not. He turned to face the doorway then, as he pulled the trunk door shut. It was his cousin Melissa, who was standing in waiting. It had been forever since he'd seen her in person.

"Hey Mel," he smiled, as he made his way over to the door. She smiled back, as she tossed her sleek brown hair over her shoulder, but her attention was fixed on somebody else.

"Hey Rio," she cooed, talking to the little person in Jason's arms. He supposed he had to get used to that from now on. He was no longer the most important person of the Taylor clan.

"Nice to see you too," Jason joked to his cousin, as he handed her Rio to hold. He knew the drill. There was only one thing people wanted when they cooed over a baby.

"Sorry J," she apologised, laughing at her reaction. She'd seen so many pictures and videos of her cousin's son, but she'd never had chance to meet him in person. Today was a big day, for them all to be together, and she was glad she went to greet them at the door. It now meant she was first on what would end up being a pass around for the baby.

**

Rio had been passed around more times than the Frisbee his younger relatives were playing with earlier in the day. He was a luxury to them, a gift. Everybody wanted a piece of him, and Jason couldn't blame them. The kid was amazing. As a result of the excitement, he'd ended up exhausted, restless and teething, and so Jason had called it a night once everybody headed home.

Jason thought back to the conversation with his granddad earlier in the day, as he watched Rio finally sleeping peacefully in his crib. "What're you up to tomorrow?" he'd asked him, as Jason got closer to hear him over the background noise. His family could be a noisy bunch when they wanted to be.

"What're you thinking pops?" Jason had asked.

"How about a spot of early morning fishing?" he'd asked, placing a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Give the kid a real Memphis day out."

It was their favourite pastime whenever Jason came home. He'd spend mornings fishing in the lake, afternoons playing golf in the sun. He wasn't with the rest of the world behind a computer screen. For him, life was about being outdoors and enjoying the natural beauty of things. He was old-fashioned, he guessed.

Though Jason was soothed by the sound of Rio's soft breathing from the crib at the side of his bed, he still couldn't sleep. He'd been laid awake for the past few hours, just watching Rio and thinking things over in his head. He rested his arms behind his head and gazed up to the ceiling, playing over everything that had happened over the last weeks and months, trying to make sense of it as he had every night since.

It was 3am when Rio first stirred, and Jason hadn't slept a wink. He walked over to the crib in the dark and bent down to pick him up, laying his weight over his chest and nestling his head into the space between his shoulder and neck.

"Alright," he said, his tone low and soothing. "Alright."

He swayed gently from side to side and rubbed his fingers over the tufts of hair on the back of Rio's head, moving slowly around the room and trying to soothe him, their shadows dancing on the wall.

He dug deep into the over flowing bag Dee had packed the day before, and retrieved the teething gel from it. After placing some onto his pacifier and popping it into his mouth, he sighed as his son spat it back out onto the bed.

"Okay, okay," he said, carrying the pacifier with him to the seat at the window." You wanna shout about it?" He settled down into the chair and lay him over his bare chest, stroking his head in an attempt to calm him.

"You mad?" he asked, looking down to his son's small clenched fists and chuckling slightly.

"I get it," he said, resting his head back on the chair. "You're mad at daddy for bringing you all this way."

"All the way through the sky," he continued, motioning his spare arm off into the distance in a streamline position. "To this place with all of these people you don't know. And they all want a piece of you but you just wanna chill." he said, moving forward to rest his forehead on Rio's, gazing into his sad eyes. He seemed comforted by his dad's speech, his cries a mere whimper now. Jason put his finger in between Rio's clenched fists in an attempt to relax them.

"You look like your mommy when you're mad," he joked, as he wiped the remaining tears away from Rio's face. The room was quiet now.

After a few minutes, a buzzing interrupted their serenity. It was a text from Dee, at three in the morning.

'How is he?'

Jason looked at the message for a moment before unlocking his phone and typing his response, the ring of the pacifier still wrapped around his finger.

'Out like a light. Stop worrying.'

"I think mommy's missing you," he said, locking his phone and throwing it behind him onto the mattress. "You miss her?" he asked, stroking his back and chuckling lightly even in spite of his silence. "I miss her too," he said, looking out into the night from the window.