The Things We Leave Unfinished by Yarros, Rebecca (phonics reading books .txt) 📕

Jameson rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d say I would have been here sooner had I known, but I wouldn’t have.” He’d never leave his squadron in the sky.

“I’m just glad I got to see you. I wish I could have met your Scarlett and my great-nephew, but maybe we can get the Germans to agree not to attack when I come back next month.” His uncle flashed a smile that closely resembled his own.

“I’ll get right on that,” Jameson said as flatly as he could manage before cracking a smile. “So where do you go from here?”

His uncle arched a brow. “Don’t you know? That’s classified.”

“Don’t you know? I named my son William Vernon.” Jameson lifted his own brow in response. How easy it was to be with him again, as though the last two and a half years hadn’t happened. As though they were at home on the porch, watching the stars come out in the Colorado sky.

“I heard something about that.” His uncle grinned. “I’ll meet up with the rest of the ATC pilots up north, and we’ll head back tonight. It’s hard to believe that sixteen hours make the difference between being in England and hitting the east coast.”

Sixteen hours, Jameson thought. The entire world could change in just sixteen hours. “We’re grateful,” he said, looking his uncle in the eye. “Every bomber you guys ferry over here from the States is needed.”

“I know,” he replied, his face falling. “I’m proud of you, Jameson, but I wish you didn’t have to be here. And I definitely wish you weren’t raising my great-nephew where bombs fall on sleeping babies.”

Jameson let the back of his head fall against the leather and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m trying like hell to get them out of here. She’s been through the medical exams, we have all the paperwork in order, and they’re entitled to citizenship…as long as my government hasn’t revoked mine.” Scarlett’s appointment for her visa was next week. It was already May, and he knew chances were the quotas had already been filled, but he couldn’t give up hope.

“They haven’t revoked your citizenship,” his uncle promised. “America is in this war now, for better or worse. They’re not gonna punish those who were brave enough to fight before we were provoked.”

“We booked her passage. She has to have her travel arrangements before they’ll grant a visa, but that doesn’t mean she’ll actually get on the ship.” Scarlett had made her feelings all too clear when it came to leaving him, but that had been before the latest barrage of bombings.

“I know some people at the State Department,” his uncle said quietly. “I’ll see what I can do to help move that wheel, but sticking your family on a ship with all those U-boats prowling the Atlantic might be a bigger gamble than letting them sleep in their own beds.”

“I know,” Jameson said softly, running his hands over his face. “I love her more than I love myself. She is everything to me, and William is the best of both of us. If I can’t even save my own son, then what good did I do coming here? What was it all for?”

The two men sat in silence for several moments, both knowing that neither option was safe. Then Jameson realized there was one.

“I need a favor,” Jameson said, turning in his chair to face his uncle.

“Anything. You know I love you like you’re my own.”

Jameson nodded. “I’m counting on it.”

His uncle’s eyes, the same mossy green shade as his own, narrowed slightly. “What do you have in mind, Jameson?”

“I want you to help me get my family out.”

…

“Thank God!” Scarlett exclaimed as she raced into Jameson’s arms.

He kissed her before he said a word, lifting her in his arms in their living room. He kissed her over and over, pouring his relief, his love, and his hope into it, until she melted against him.

“I’ve done the wash, and you have a clean uniform in our bedroom,” she said, her hands cupping his cheeks.

“I’ll put it on in the morning,” he assured her with a smile.

Her eyes lit up. “You can stay the night with us?”

“I can stay the night with you.” He would stay every night that was humanly possible between now and the date he’d discussed with his uncle.

Her smile was brighter than he’d ever seen, and she kissed him soundly in reply. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you,” he whispered before kissing her again.

“I want nothing more than to carry you upstairs and make love to you until we’re both limp,” he whispered against her lips.

“That plan is brilliant,” she replied with a smile. “With one exception.”

That exception was currently crawling their way, drool spilling from the corner of his lips.

“He’s teething,” Scarlett explained with a slight grimace.

Jameson let go of his wife, only to scoop up his son and hug him tight. “Are you getting new teeth?” he asked before blowing raspberries on William’s neck.

…

“Of course he is all smiles for you.” Scarlett rolled her eyes. The way Jameson looked at their son stopped her heart. It was equal parts love and awe and only served to make her husband even more attractive.

Jameson’s face fell and took Scarlett’s stomach with it. “He won’t be in a minute,” he said softly.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“We need to talk about something,” he said quietly, then dragged his gaze to meet hers.

“Tell me,” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Your appointment is next week, right?”

Her chest tightened, but she nodded.

“I know you agreed to go to the States if something happened to me, but what do you think about going sooner?” He shifted William in his arms protectively, at odds with his words.

“Sooner? Why?” she whispered, her heart breaking. It was one thing to know that William wasn’t safe here, but it was another for Jameson to send them away.

“It’s too dangerous,” Jameson said. “The raids, the bombings, the