I finished getting dressed as he called Mason. He explained what was going on, and they each agreed to call another of the brothers. It was like watching the ultimate phone tree. Rather than one of them calling all of them, they each called another until everybody knew what was happening.
“What’s the plan?” I asked when he was done calling Tyler. “What do they think?”
“They’re just as shocked as we are. We don’t know what to think, but we’re going to get together at Mason’s house. Do you want to come?” he asked.
“Definitely.”
We got to Mason’s house right around the same time Tyler and Jesse were arriving. Jesse’s eyes widened when he saw me get out of the car.
“Amanda!” he said. “I had no idea you were back in town.”
He came toward me and greeted me with a warm embrace. Tyler did the same, telling me how happy he was to see me again. In that moment, I knew for sure they knew Tom loved me. That told me so much, and I felt my heart swell.
I glanced over at Tom. We were sharing a secret. But it would have to wait for us to share it with everybody. Right now, we needed to handle this situation. Then we could tell everybody the good news.
Within a few minutes, all of the brothers were at the house and we were inside. The men were talking, their voices overlapping with each other and getting more animated as they went. Ava and I looked across the room at each other, and she gave a sideways nod over to the kitchen. I agreed and followed her in there.
Ava laughed when we got away from the room. She shook her head as she pulled out a tea kettle and filled it with water, then set it on the stove.
“I hate when they do that,” she said.
“Do what?” I asked.
She went to the cabinet and opened it to take out a big wooden box of tea that she set on the counter.
“Have conversations like that. I mean, with so many of them it makes sense that they would have to talk over each other sometimes. But listening to them is like listening to a conversation that’s been condensed. Like if they each took their turns talking it would take far too long for them to say everything they want to say, so they have to layer it all on top of each other to save time,” she said.
“Do they do that a lot?”
“All the time,” she said. “Anytime there’s something really important for them to talk about and they feel rushed, this is how it ends up. I have this vision that they started doing it when they were really young and just got so used to everybody talking at the same time that they were able to understand it. Almost like some siblings, especially twins, have their own language.”
“I feel like there’s so much I still don’t know about them. You’ve known the family for so long. I feel like I’m just kind of showing up and I’m behind everybody,” I said.
Ava shook her head. “Don’t feel that way. Yeah, I’ve known the family for a long time, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get to know them. You’re lucky.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
The kettle started squealing, and she pulled it off the heat, then went to another cabinet for mugs.
“You don’t have all the gross images of those boys when they were kids and teenagers in your head when you look at them,” she said.
I laughed. “I guess you’re right about that.”
The baby monitor on the counter let out the sound of baby Robert waking up. He let out something that sounded close to a cry but was more like he was just calling out for his mother. There were even a few times when his babbling sounded like he was saying “mama.”
“Let me go get him. I’ll be right back. Why don’t you look through the tea bags and pick a flavor you like?” She lowered her voice slightly. “Make sure it’s one of the decaf ones.”
She smiled at me and left the kitchen. I went over to the wooden box of tea and searched through the various flavors. I ended up settling on peppermint. Just as I was unwrapping it to put it in my mug, Ava came back in with Robert. He was giggling and smiling as she murmured to him and nuzzled her face in his chubby little neck.
“I think someone is ready for a snack,” she told me.
She put the baby in his highchair and set a small bowl of applesauce in front of him. Using a spoon with a thick rubber coating on it, she fed him little bites. My heart warmed and a sense of excitement and happiness filled me. It wouldn’t be too long before I had a baby of my own in my arms. Now that I told Tom and knew he was happy about it, I could really let myself relax and look forward to all of it.
“He’s so adorable,” I said.
Ava grinned. “I can’t believe he’s almost eight months old. It doesn’t feel like it could possibly be that long since I had him. At the same time, I can’t imagine not having him. Obviously, I know there was a time before him and that he hasn’t always been here, but there are a lot of times when I can barely remember what it was like not being a mother. Like, I’ll think of a memory and wonder where he is.”
I poured water into the mug and took a sip. “This is good.”
“What flavor did you choose?” she asked.
“Peppermint. I hoped it would help the nausea,” I said.
“You’re feeling sick? Here, let me get you my go-to remedy,” she said. She put together a plate of buttered saltine crackers and a glass of ginger ale over lots of ice. “Try this. I found that hot things sometimes made me feel worse, but really cold ginger ale and buttered crackers fixed it every time.”
I tried a few bites of it. The crackers were strangely delicious, and I couldn’t get enough of the ginger ale. After a few sips, I was feeling much better.
“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll definitely have to remember this. I really appreciate all your help.”
“Of course,” Ava said, making her own cup of tea, then going back to Robert to keep feeding him. “We’re going to be sisters soon.”
I laughed. It was sweet of her to say and obviously what I wanted. But since we still hadn’t really talked about what we were or the future we might have together, all I could do was hope.
37
Tom
“You have got to be kidding me,” Mason said.
“What?” Jordan said, his eyes scrunching nearly shut and his mouth locked open like a bass on a hook.
“H-how?” Matt asks, as confused as the rest of the brothers, but trying to get past the shock.
“Fuck how,” Jordan said. “How do they know it’s true? Why should we believe them?”
“Because they caught him and he confessed, that’s why,” I said, trying to calm my little brother down. He was pacing and obviously in shock. More than any of us, Jordan had been absolutely sure it was Danny and was the most adamant that we needed to intervene when the cops wouldn’t.
“Confessed? What, did they beat him up first?” he asked. I let the words hang in the air for a moment before I shifted in my seat. He was angry, and I was sure the majority of that anger was now being directed at himself and he was lashing out.
“Do you really believe that?” I asked.
Jordan’s shoulders slumped, and he collapsed into a chair, putting his head into his hand sideways so he could still look at me.