“I know. You got me beat, kid.”
“I was ten,” Dr. Wilson interjected.
As if it was choreographed, everyone’s attention turned to me.
“I’ve never broken any bones.”
“Guess you’re not in the club,” Hank shook his head.
“It’s okay, mommy.” Luna put her good hand on my cheek. “You can go to the club with me.”
“Thanks, baby girl.” My eyes teared up. Even though she’d broken her arm, she was still worried about me. How did I get lucky enough to be her mom? I wasn’t sure how I got lucky enough for a lot of things in my life right now.
After Dr. Wilson explained Luna’s break and what the recovery would look like, the three members of the Broken Arm Club discussed their injuries and I had to fight back the tears for an entirely different reason. Not because I was worried about Luna or her injury. It was the opposite actually.
Luna had someone else in her corner now. It wasn’t just Ashley and me who loved her. She had Hank. And when he’d told me last night that he would do anything for her, he wasn’t lying. He’d jumped into action, staying calm, and doing exactly what needed to be done. Like a superhero. He was my superhero.
As I watched the interaction between Luna and Hank my ovaries melted into a puddle of, you guessed it, swoon. There was never any question that Hank was the sexiest man I’d ever seen. But watching him not only comfort Luna but empower her had to be hands down the sexiest he’d ever been.
The next little bit went by in a blur, they had to set and wrap Luna’s arm. She was a champ the entire time. Every time I saw her getting nervous, her lip quivering and crocodile tears forming, she’d look at Hank and he gave her a look, just a look, one that said she could handle it and it wasn’t that scary. Without fail, her little back would straighten, she’d sniff back her tears, and put on a brave face.
I was starting to think I wasn’t even needed when she leaned up and whispered in my ear, “Momma, I have to go potty.” And just like that, I was off the bench.
Within a minute I had her settled on the toilet across the hall from the exam room.
“Just call me if you need me,” I instructed as I stepped out of the bathroom to give Luna some privacy.
In the hallway, I saw that Hank was typing on his phone.
“Is everything okay?”
He finished typing before putting his phone back in his pocket. “Just updating Billy.”
“You should go, seriously! We have everything under control.” I still couldn’t believe that he’d taken us to the hospital without a second’s hesitation and hours later, was still here. I’d kept telling him to leave, but he just gave me the same look which communicated he wasn’t going anywhere.
Hank’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out and read the message. “Billy says they just flipped things around and are serving cocktails and moved the wedding to two, so we have plenty of time.”
“They can’t move the wedding.”
“They did.”
“No.” I shook my head emphatically as I pulled out my phone. I was going to text Reagan and apologize, and then text Cheyenne and Isabella to call in backup to get Hank to leave.
“It’s Firefly.” Hank put his hand over mine as I scrolled through my contacts. He lowered my arm. “No one cares what time they tie the knot as long as there are drinks flowin’.”
“Hank, we’re fine. Really. She has her cast, I’m sure it won’t be much longer, and then we’ll meet you there if she’s feeling up to it.”
He lifted his hand and ran his thumb along my jawline. “I’m not leaving her and I’m not leaving you. Ever.”
His statement had my heart doing backflips. I knew he meant it. He wasn’t going to leave us. Ever. We were his and he was ours.
CHAPTER 48
Hank
“This was not how I wanted to do this.” I rubbed my hand behind my neck as all of my siblings and their significant others stared at me with disbelief.
We were all gathered on the back deck of Billy and Reagan’s home. The reception was in full swing under a tent about fifty yards from the house.
The wedding, although a few hours later than scheduled, had gone off without a hitch. Reagan was stunning in a simple white satin gown and a long veil that stretched miles behind her dress. My brother hadn’t looked too shabby himself. He cleaned up real nice. And as they said their vows, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
Jimmy leaned over to me and said it was all the girls mournin’ the loss of the Panty Dropper. I’d elbowed him and he’d behaved the rest of the ceremony.
I hadn’t planned on doing this now, but since Reagan and Billy were set to leave on their honeymoon in just a few hours, I felt like I didn’t have a choice. They would be gone two weeks and I just didn’t think that that would be fair to everyone to sit on this information.
So after the cake was cut, I called an emergency family meeting. I’d just explained everything to them. The letter. Jerry. The accident. Wayne. Even the pregnancy. I figured, she was who she was, and we should love her for that, not some canonized version. My mama wasn’t a saint, but she was our mama and she loved us.
“So all this time, you thought…” Billy held the letter that I had carried alone all these years in his hand.
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Billy asked.
“Yeah, why didn’t you say anything?” Jimmy reiterated as looked over Billy’s shoulder.
“Yeah,” Cheyenne nodded in agreement, her head moving up and down like a bobblehead. I think she’d indulged during the early cocktail hour. Her words were slurring a little and she was leaning to the right.
“You were eight.” My eyes cut to Cheyenne. “You were gone.” Then I looked over at Jimmy. “You were two.”
“Okay, fine, that was then,” Billy reasoned, “but what about now?”
“Yeah, we’ve all been adults for a while now,” Jimmy pointed out.
I sighed, unsure if they’d ever understand why I’d done what I had. But I figured I at least owed them an explanation. “When it first happened, even I couldn’t face it. I was only thirteen.” I reminded them. “And then after a while, life just moved on. You guys didn’t really ask about her. And you know how Pop was about her. I just didn’t want to hurt him any more than he already was. And also, I wanted to protect her. I just wanted you guys to remember her the way she was, not anything else.”
Billy was quiet for a minute, and then he stood and pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you’ve carried this alone all these years.”
Never one to be left out, Jimmy wrapped his arms around both of us and then Cheyenne joined the group hug.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Reagan was taking a picture.
Uncomfortable with any sort of attention being on me. I patted Billy’s back. “Okay, thanks guys.”
“Nope.” Jimmy squeezed tighter. “You have to take it. You have to take our love.”
Isabella, Cheyenne, and Reagan all started laughing and I pulled out of my littlest brother’s bear hug.