Everything goes eerily quiet as Emery rushes out the door after Ashlyn. Brandon, the dumbass who started all this by asking a stupid as shit question, is literally twiddling his thumbs while still planted on the couch. Hasn’t he gotten the fucking hint? Ashlyn left. That’s his cue to go.
As the yelling outside gets a little louder, I grab my phone and turn on one of Hollis’s favorite YouTube videos to drown out the noise. I can feel the eyes burning into my skull, but I can’t seem to look at them. My focus, right now and always, is Hollis.
“Is it true?” my mom asks quietly.
I’m thankful for the way she doesn’t say the words, since we haven’t told Hollis yet. I know lying to her isn’t an option, not that I would want to. Hiding the fact that Hollis is mine was never something I wanted, but something I did for Emery. She needed to figure out how to do this in her own way, and instead that was ruined by Officer Dipshit over there.
I nod once, feeling the relief of finally being able to tell someone. “Yeah, it is.”
She hums softly, but when I look up at her, I notice she isn’t shocked. I always knew she wouldn’t be angry. My mom just isn’t the kind of person to get mad at her kids, and Emery is just as much her kid as Ashlyn and me, but what I wasn’t expecting was to see a neutral expression on her face.
“You knew?” I ask.
Her one shoulder moves in a half shrug and she smiles subtly. “I had my suspicions. I mean, it’s no surprise that a few old pictures made the pieces fall together. He’s the spitting image of you.”
I look over at my son with pride. “He's better.”
“I take it you didn't know?” she asks hesitantly, trying to gauge my mood.
In an effort to avoid Hollis listening in, I get up and sit next to her. “No, but don't hold that against her. It's something we’ve talked about and we’ve both agreed to leave in the past.”
A small smile graces her lips, and she pats my leg. “I would never do anything to make Emery uncomfortable. She's family. But I have to say, I'm proud of you, H. You've grown into a very mature and responsible young man.”
Warmth fills me, but as I go to respond, Hollis turns around with a huge grin on his face. “Look Hawlan!” he yells. “Cocomelon!”
“I see, little man!” I say back just as excitedly.
“He's so silly,” he coos.
“Just like you,” I tell him.
He scrunches his nose and goes back to watching the video, only for me to find my mom looking at me with fondness and adoration.
“What?”
She smirks and shakes her head. “Nothing. You're just really good with him.”
A car door shuts outside, and I can hear as tires screech. Clearly Ashlyn is pissed, which I don't think any of us are surprised about, but she better lay off the gas before she kills herself or someone else.
“I think that's my cue to leave,” Brandon says as he stands up.
I grunt. “Ya think?”
As he opens the door to leave, Emery comes walking back inside with tears streaming down her face. I don't think I've ever seen her this distraught, and my heart aches for her. I'm on my feet in an instant and take her into my arms.
“Hey,” I whisper. “Shh. It's going to be all right.”
She shakes her head against my shoulder. “I don’t think so. She hates me.”
“She doesn't hate you. She's just mad.”
Pulling away from me, she looks me in the eyes, and I can see how broken up she is over this. “You didn't hear what she said. She wants nothing to do with me, Harland. She's my best friend, and she hates me.”
I sigh heavily, trying to figure out what I could say to make her feel better, but there's nothing. Even if it's just temporary, which I'm almost positive it is, she's lost a part of herself. A part she's never needed to live without. And she needs to grieve that loss.
“Okay, why don't you go home?” I suggest. “I'll bring Hollis back in a little while, but he doesn’t need to see you like this, and I know you don’t want him to. Go home. Drink a glass of wine. I'll be there in a bit.”
She thinks about it for a moment before she exhales and nods. “Okay.”
“It's going to be okay, Em,” my mom tells her.
As if she just now realized Ashlyn isn't the only one who had the bomb dropped on them tonight, her eyes nearly double in size. “I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.”
My mom gives her a warm smile. “You don't need to apologize to me, sweetheart. That boy has been and always will be my grandson. Being related by blood is just an added bonus.”
“You should hate me, too,” she says, so low it's almost a whisper.
“Now what good would that do anyone?” Mom asks. “So, you made a judgment call. Harland has made several over the years that I disagreed with. I still love him.”
“Hey!” I whine.
She chuckles. “Are you going to tell me I'm wrong? Would you like me to pull up your most recent headline?”
I wince at the thought of it. “No. Definitely not.”
Emery seems to relax a little at knowing my mom isn’t angry with her, but I can tell the second she starts thinking about my sister because she starts tearing up again. I wrap my arms around her and pull her close again, pressing my lips to her forehead. It's supposed to be completely innocent, but I'd be lying if I said I felt nothing from it.
“Text me when you get home,” I tell her.
She nods as she steps back. “I will. And thank you.”
Winking at her, I smirk. “We're a team, remember?”
Em gives me the best smile she can manage, and with a quick kiss on the top of our son’s head, she leaves, and I can't help but stare at where she just was.
“You know, Hollis isn't the only one you're good with,” my mom says, piercing the silence.
I take a deep breath, feeling the intensity of my next words, but not looking away from the door. “I love her, Mom.”
She hums. “Yeah, I had my suspicions about that too.”
Two hours is all I can seem to stand to be away from her. I knock on the door and wait impatiently for her to answer it. When she does, her brows furrow as she looks up and down the hallway.
“Where's Hollis?”
I shrug and push my way inside, shutting the door behind me. “My mom's watching him for the night.”
She looks surprised. “She is?”
Nodding, I take in her appearance. She must have taken a shower when she got back, because she's changed into sweatpants, and her hair is still damp. And yet she's never looked better. I love knowing I'm one of only a few who gets to see her like this.
“He was having such a good time with my mom, I told her he could sleep in my bed and that I'd pick him up in the morning.”
She swallows. “Oh. Are you meeting up with Vance?”
My best friend moved back home a couple weeks ago while we try to figure out the future of Sound the Sirens. I've seen him a couple times while Emery has hung out with my sister, but that's definitely not the plan tonight.
“No. I'm staying here,” I tell her, as if it's obvious.