Parker and I talked a lot about children through the years. Her decision not to have any more if she could help it. My futile attempts to move on from Linc so that I could have a family. All of it.
“Does Nox know?”
Parker sniffled. “No.” She sobbed, and I felt a dam burst in my friend’s body. “What the fuck am I going to do, Kennedy? I don’t think I can do this again. What if something happens to the baby? To me? Who’s going to take care of Nox?”
“Okay, that’s it.” I let go of her and stood up so fast I almost got taken out at the knees by the swing, but I managed to catch myself before falling face-first off the porch. “You have to snap out of it, and I don’t know how else to help except to give you tough love.”
Parker stared at me with wide eyes for a second before she burst out laughing.
“Oh shit,” she gasped. “You’ve got sex hair. Like really, really bad, Kennedy. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before now.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved my hair up into a bun with the hair tie I almost always kept on my wrist before sticking my finger in her face. “Zip it, smart-ass. I’m over here trying to be the voice of reason. No giving me shit about my hair.”
Parker wiped a tear from her eye and nodded. “Scout’s honor.” She held up her hand like Spock, and I couldn’t even pretend to be serious after that.
“Seriously, Parker.” I tried not to laugh. “Remy loves you, and you love him. You’re not in the same position you were when you got pregnant with Nox. You chose him, and he chose you. You’re a family, and you’ve got my great grandmother’s ring on your finger. The man is gonna marry you. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
I leaned over and rubbed my bun in her face, just to annoy her for bringing up how messy it was, and she tried to push me off her.
“Go away, you parasite.” She groaned pitifully when I got up and then sat down practically on top of her, squishing her into the side of the swing.
As soon as I did, the back door opened and Linc walked out with Remy and Nox behind him. They all watched us like we were crazy, but I didn’t move. Until the wood underneath us creaked loudly and then gave out, taking both Parker and me down to the porch in a mess of wood and metal.
Literally the highlight of my life would forever be the fact that I got Parker out of the way and took a back full of wood to keep her from getting injured.
“Look!” Nox yelled. “Auntie Kenny’s like a superhero.”
That broke whatever spell was keeping Remy and Linc frozen in place. In the next instant, Linc was shoving debris from the swing off my body and Remy was picking up Parker as tenderly as he could.
Linc held me gently, probing my back and neck for any signs of injury. “Are you okay?”
When I looked up at him, I couldn’t exactly move my neck because he was holding it in his hands with a firm grip. So instead, I glared up at him and waited for him to take the hint and let me go. It took a few seconds, but he did it. In the meantime, Nox had jumped over the side of the porch and was running around the backyard like someone had given him an energy drink.
“I dropped my coffee,” I muttered murderously.
The offending cup had splattered on the porch, thankfully away from us, but it didn’t make anything easier. I’d barely had a chance to drink any of it.
“I’ll get you more.” He moved and pulled me into a kiss, ignoring the groan of displeasure from Remy. When the kiss ended, Linc narrowed his eyes at my brother. “Go away if you don’t like it.”
Remy wasn’t rattled, and he shrugged. “You’re the one who’s got to deal with her for the rest of her life, not me. I’m just sayin’ if you do it all the time, Mom and Dad are gonna expect to hear they’re having a grandkid sooner rather than later.”
Parker, behind Remy’s back, turned as white as a sheet and shook her head as innocuously as she could.
My subtle nod was the only indication that I gave that I knew she didn’t want Remy to find out even accidentally.
“Hey,” I said suddenly. “I have an appointment tomorrow for girl stuff. I was hoping you’d go with me. You know, to make sure that my IUD is still in place and all that good shit. No one wants a crotch goblin running around accidentally.”
Remy made a gagging noise. “Stop being disgusting. Why would I go with you?”
“She’s talking to me, Remington.” Parker knocked him out of the way playfully. “And yes.” The thankful expression on her face answered the silent question I had about whether or not I was being too pushy.
Needlessly, I turned to Linc to offer an explanation, albeit quietly. “Gotta make sure my birth control is up to date and all that shit.”
“Gross,” Remy complained some more.
“Go away if you don’t like hearing about it,” Linc told him mercilessly. “I had years without her where you told me to pull my head out of my ass and take her. Now that I did, you don’t want to know that we’re being safe?”
My irritation at Remy vanished in an instant. “You’ve been sticking up for me with Linc?”
Remy and Linc both froze, and the slow-motion way that they turned in my direction reminded me of a possessed doll trying to scare me in the middle of the night. And then they both gulped audibly, and I saw matching expressions of fear.
“Y-yeah,” Remy stuttered, looking more like a ten-year-old child than the older brother that put fear into the hearts of criminals and lesser men. “I did.”
I threw myself at him, which he clearly didn’t expect since he almost dropped me on my ass. He caught on pretty quick when I burst into tears and had my arms wrapped around his neck like a monkey, and he held me up against him in the tightest hug I’d ever gotten from my brother.
“What’s wrong, Kenny?” He tried to move me off him, but I wasn’t budging.
I might be almost twenty-six, but my brother never stood up for me like that. At least, not that I knew of.
“No-nothing.” I cried even harder, my eyes closed and pressed against Remy.
“Can someone help me out here?” He started to sound panicked, but that didn’t stop me from using him like a tissue. “Come on, Linc. Why’s she cryin’ like this?”
“Be-because.” I sobbed, my breath catching in my throat. “You stood up for me. With the man I l-love.” Stuttering on my tears, I took the comfort that only my big brother could give me.
“You broke her, Linc.” Remy pried me off him slowly, wincing and complaining when I didn’t let go easily. “You broke her and now you have to fix her.”
His words caught me by surprise.
Linc didn’t break me. Not at all. Linc was the only one who stood a chance of putting me back together again.
I let go of Remy, turning to see Linc staring at me with an inscrutable expression.
“Go away, Remington,” I snapped at him. “And take your family with you.” I winked at Parker and blew a kiss at Nox as they left.
Once Linc and I were alone, standing next to the destruction of his porch swing, I coughed lightly.
“I love you too, Kennedy.” His eyes locked on mine and I had to bite my lip to keep from saying anything. “I love you. And I know you’re not ready to tell me what exactly happened with Royal. I know he hurt you, and I fucking promise… I will fix what he broke with tacos and sex.”