I knew who it was. Everyone else did too, but I added to Helen, “My mom’s dead, so I had hoped to have a relationship with my significant other’s mother. You did try at times. I’ll give that to you, but then it all changed, and you stopped. I kept trying. You began ignoring me. I blamed myself. Now, seeing and hearing all this, I know it was never me. It was always you. It will always be you. And I’ll be following Sam’s lead from now on. If she freezes you out, so will I. I’m going to have her back just like she had mine. Malinda is Mom enough. She’s ten times the mother and grandmother you are.” That figure moved up behind me, skimming a hand up my arm, brushing some of my hair back, and I felt his lips touch my neck before Logan spoke, “We’re doing a family Christmas party on Monday. You’re not invited, Helen.”
Logan took my phone, putting it in his pocket, and his hand found mine, lacing our fingers. He began walking back to the Escalade, tugging me with him. I saw that Heather was already inside.
That’s when Logan had the last word.
“See you in court, Tate.”
34
Taylor
Christmas was tomorrow.
Yesterday was a Kade family war because Tate was in jail. The new paternity tests were sent in. Helen was all sorts of regret. Analise was flying in but not staying with James. She was checking herself into a mental health facility because she stopped taking her meds. That facility was an hour from here.
Malinda was still livid.
David was quiet.
James was remorseful as well and a little bit weepy.
Mason, who was already back in Boston, led the fight from an iPad propped up on the table, but he didn’t tear into anyone. Logan was also quieter than usual. He sat by me, keeping a hand on my leg. I knew he wanted to touch my stomach, but Quincey and Samantha had both started giving me thoughtful looks, so he stopped doing that.
Instead, like right now, as I was standing and looking out our window, I felt him come up behind me. A hand touched my hip, moved under my shirt, and slid around to the front of my stomach now. He fit himself right behind me, pulling me back to half lean on him.
“Merry Christmas Eve.” He kissed my bare shoulder.
I reached up, catching his head, and slid my hand to the back of his neck. He stayed where he was, his head half bent over me, his mouth moving down my throat, and I groaned, tipping my head back for him.
“You feel better?”
My stomach clenched up just at the memory. After dinner, I went right to the bathroom and stayed there most of the night. Logan covered for me and came up to keep me company an hour later. He sat on the floor, rubbed my back, brushed my hair back, gave me a new washcloth when I needed it. For someone who worried about having kids, he was already setting the partner bar pretty damn high.
I nodded. “I’m better now. It comes and goes. The weirdest smells set me off too.”
“Can I do anything for you?”
I released his neck, and as his head straightened, I leaned my head against his shoulder and grinned up at him. “You’re doing it.”
We stayed there, Logan holding me as I stood in his embrace.
“Your brother will be back after Christmas.”
“Yeah. Sam’s happy here. She likes being around Heather.” He paused a beat. “Mason’s happier too.”
“His job is in Boston.”
“His job is up for renegotiation soon.”
Logan was stiff behind me, and I looked up at him again. “What are you thinking?”
His eyes found mine. “Talked to my boss. They told me I could work wherever I want if I’m considering opening up a firm wherever it is.”
“And you know I can get a nurse job anywhere.”
“Your dad is here or close to here.”
“Nate’s not here.”
“Nate’s not far away. Matteo too.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
He shrugged against my back. “It’s a ways off, but you never know for the future.”
There’d been a couple of other conversations between the girls, but they were few and far between. It’d been a while since the topic came up again, but now it was from Logan.
“I’ll go wherever you want to go. I mean it. You. The dogs. Him or her.” I pressed on Logan’s hand over my stomach. “You’re my family. I go where you go.”
His gaze grew somber, darkening. “Thank you.”
35
Logan
I had a kid coming. I couldn’t stop thinking about him or her.
Would I be enough?
Shit was different when Taylor told me. All the fears, concerns got swept away because the kid was here, and it was like the clouds opened up above me, and fuck, like a rainbow came down. It was cheesy like that, but I was a changed man.
Everything was different.
“Coming in.” Sam’s warning was a split second before she moved in behind me, at the kitchen sink, and hip-checked me to the side. She deposited a tray of dishes into the sink before grinning at me. Then frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” It was the truth.
I had everything, literally everything.
“Logan?” She raked a hand through her hair, her eyebrows dipping down. “You’re freaking me out. What’s going on with you?”
“I never thought I’d feel this.”
“Huh?”
I wasn’t paying her attention, but I knew she looked at me like I had grown an alien head. Or an alien dick. Either worked for me. But I kept on, “When you moved in, I was so angry. That anger’s been in me all this time. Not because of you, but I first felt it when you moved in. Over the years it’s been chipping away, but it's still with me. It’s better when I’m with Taylor. I’m calmer, quieter. She lets me be that way. With you and Mason, it gets stirred up again. I never know why, but it’s gone.”
I looked.
Sam’s eyes were wide and almost bugging out. “Are you feeling okay?” She touched the back of her hand to my forehead. “Feverish? Is this post-marriage flu?” Her frown turned to a grin. “That’s usually code for something else, you know.”
“It’s not totally gone, but I never thought I’d feel as complete as I do right now.”
There was silence.
Then a soft, “Huh. And I thought I was just coming for more eggnog.” She whacked my arm with the back of her hand. “If I knew marriage would do this to you, I would’ve made you take Taylor to Vegas years ago. It’s good to be happy, Logan. You’re due, not that you haven’t been happy this whole time, but it’s time you let yourself accept it.”
I was nodding, my throat swelling up, and blinking because I didn’t need my sister to have more reason to tease me. Me crying would be a reason.
Too late.
Sam was blinking back her tears, and I raised an arm. “Come here.”
She pressed into my side, and I hugged her. “Is there such a thing as marital hormones?”
Sam barked out a laugh. “No. That might be the bourbon in the eggnog. I swear that Malinda adds another shot every year we do this.”