My Dreamy Old Husband

Anna tried her best to keep herself from falling apart, but she was still shaking all over. Her trembling hands were stained with Cade’s blood, which still felt warm on her skin.

She thought about the time when Cade was kidnapped as a child. The men who had taken him wanted to throw him down to his death right before her eyes.

Anna remembered distinctly the fear that gripped her when she saw Cade’s little body being lifted high above the ground, about to be brought down to his death at any given moment.

She could still picture the scene clearly, as if it had been ingrained into the deepest recesses of her mind. The memory still haunted her to this day.

Just then, a strong pair of arms encircled her, pulling her into a comforting embrace. Cooper held her close and murmured, “It’s okay. He’ll be alright. Nothing’s going to happen to him.”

There was an intense ringing in her ears. Her lips trembled, and she found herself unable to word out whatever it was that she was thinking.

Then, an urgent voice resonated next to her, saying, “We’ve removed the bullet and he’s no longer in danger, but he’s lost a lot of blood. He needs a transfusion immediately, but we’ve received too many patients today, and right now, we’re short on supply for blood type A.”

Cooper answered hurriedly, “That’s my blood type. Let me do the transfusion.”

“Are you related to him? Do you have any contagious diseases?”

“I’m his stepfather. We’re not related by blood, and I have no contagious diseases.”

“Then follow me, please.”

Without a second thought, Cooper hastily traipsed after the nurse.

It didn’t take long for the transfusion to be done, and after Cade woke up, the three of them made their way back to Ronney City.

Cade recovered well enough upon their return. There was color in his cheeks now, and he looked happy, too.

Cooper had given him a blood transfusion.

He beamed at the thought—Cooper’s blood now runs in my veins!

This means that I’m practically related to Cooper by blood.

He couldn’t be happier or more honored about this.

However, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed at the same time. It would be perfect if Cooper were my biological father.

about this, I’m sure he’ll

as if Cooper’s blood had done something magical to him—like it had brought forth an incandescent glow from within

it seemed as if Cooper and the Yard twins had

be his own, albeit subconsciously. He felt protective

stepfather’ felt like a declaration that

had accepted her sons as his own. She had been worried all this while that Cooper

be an important aspect in Anna’s life, but so were her

at ease. Cooper wouldn’t hurt her kids, and instead saw them as

happened next. A week after the transfusion, Cade began to experience inexplicable symptoms. He’d been resting in the hospital when he came down with a fever, and he

and began to consult

Cade’s condition came to light; his medical report returned

probability of this happening was 0.01%, but when it did happen, the fatality rate was at

this disease, Anna grew faint. She stumbled and collapsed into Cooper’s

in utter disbelief as he stared at

suggest that blood relation between the donor and the recipient could increase the risk of the

His eyes then turned to the papers clutched in his hand, and he read the report once more in bewilderment. His mind was completely blank, save for the snippet of the conversation from the hospital

to him? Do

stepfather. We’re not related by blood, and I

sway, and he would have buckled under his own weight had Anna not

likely guess in mind, though it was bold for even either

been the past, Cooper and Anna would have been overjoyed if whatever they’d guessed turned out to be

now, they

later, the

out that Callum and Cade were indeed

were Cooper and Anna’s biological

know the cause behind this mishap, but what he did know was that Cade was his biological son, which was why he had developed chronic GvHD after the blood

transported back to the nightmarish moment when he watched Sophia rot away in his

up the DNA test results and bent his head, letting the tears roll down

and Cade were his

had only just reconciled with them, and now, he was

one side, Callum and Anna

eyes were rimmed red as she thought about Dana’s text message, and her mind began to put

was what Jordaine meant when she said she