I held some guilt for that myself because I knew part of the reason Lex hadn’t gone home any sooner was because he hadn’t wanted to leave me. And for that, I was extremely grateful. There was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't have been able to handle my reunion with Emma on my own. Hell, without Lex and his brother, I never even would've known that Emma needed me.
I hadn't been in touch with Emma's grandparents at all, other than through my lawyer who'd informed them that I would be seeking full custody of my daughter. The fact that they hadn’t responded in any kind of way had only served to piss me off even more. The mere idea that they’d placed more importance on my daughter’s sexuality than her safety had made me want to punch something repeatedly.
Except not something so much as someone.
"Should we check in with the girls before we go in?" Lex asked.
When I’d told Emma I was returning to the US with Lex, I'd asked her if she wanted to come with us. She had, but she'd also asked if she could bring her girlfriend, Natalia, with us. Natalia, who was a year younger than Emma, was a sweet girl who lived with her grandmother. I'd gotten the impression that Natalia hadn't had the best life growing up, but I hadn't asked Emma for too many details. It was clear to me that the girls truly did love each other and I wasn't about to judge whether it was just the love of a couple of teenagers or something more. God knew that I'd found my soulmate at a time in my life when I’d least been expecting it.
"I'm sure they're stuffing their faces with room service and painting their nails or something," I said.
Lex rolled his eyes. "Sure they are, Grandpa. And they’re probably braiding each other's hair, too." Lex paused before adding, "You know they’re probably taking advantage of the fact that we’re gone and making out."
"No, they're not. They both agreed to wait until they're thirty before they do anything more than hold hands."
My comment earned me another eye roll from Lex. While I had no issue with my daughter dating a girl and I loved Natalia, Emma was still my baby girl and the idea of her having sex, whether it was with a girl or boy, was something I would only be ready to talk about when I was wearing hearing aids that I could turn on and off as needed.
Lex let out a breath and then searched out my hand. "Do you think I should bring these?" he asked as he reached for his cane and sunglasses with his free hand.
We’d gotten them for him a couple of months earlier when the light had started to hurt his eyes. He never wore them at home, but he’d gotten used to having them on the rest of the time. He’d been a little bit more hesitant about the cane, probably because it had represented yet another milestone in his disease. But once he’d gotten the hang of using it, he hadn't wanted to go without it. I loved that it made him feel more independent, especially in places that he hadn't been before. He certainly got a lot more stares and hushed comments now, but they didn't seem to bother him.
But I knew why he was worried about it now. He was trying to figure out the best way to break the news to his brothers. The white cane and the sunglasses would pretty much do that for him.
"I think that no matter how you tell them, sweetheart, it's going to be hard on them. But I know that the only thing they're going to care about is having you back."
"I waited too long, Gideon," he said softly.
I pressed my head against the side of his. "There's no such thing when it comes to family," I reminded him.
He nodded and then leaned in and kissed me. It was a soft, sweet kiss with the promise of more to come. Despite the chaos of our lives, the one thing that had never been in any doubt were the feelings we had for one another. Yes, we argued at times and we didn't always see eye to eye, but we never went to bed angry with each other and the first thing we did when we woke up every morning was just hold on to each other for a while.
I took Lex's hand and helped him out of the car and then waited until he'd put on his sunglasses and unfolded his cane. I could feel the tension in his frame as we made our way up the stairs. It was King who opened the door for us before we even reached it.
"It’s King," I said to Lex.
King was the only one who knew that we were coming, and he'd made sure that all the brothers were together before letting us know when we should come over. We were at Luca's beach house in the Hamptons. Luca and his boyfriend, Remy, had brought Gio back to New York for a visit. Gio had made considerable progress in the last few months, according to King. It wasn't clear if Luca intended to move his small family out to Seattle permanently or if they would be returning to New York full time, though.
Lex reached out his hand, which King immediately took, and then they were embracing. The asshole then had the nerve to look at me and say, "Pick any locks lately?"
"Bite me," I responded. "Oh wait, my dog already did that…"
King chuckled good-naturedly and held out his hand to shake mine. I'd long since forgiven the man for everything, especially since his meddling had resulted in me getting Emma back. I was nervous about meeting Lex's other brothers, but I figured if I could handle King, dealing with the others would be a cakewalk.
When Lex reached his hand out for mine again, I took it and followed him into the house. I could hear several voices coming from a few rooms away. The closer we got, the more nervous Lex became. But he continued to put one foot in front of the other. The house we were in was huge, but I barely noticed any of it because I was so focused on Lex. We ended up following King to one side of the house.
"They’re in the living room," King said to Lex. Lex nodded. He tapped his cane back and forth across the floor in front of him. When we entered a large room that overlooked the expansive backyard and the ocean beyond, I searched out the owners of the voices. There were three men standing around a coffee table. One of them, a guy with long black hair that was tied in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, was holding some kind of ugly green decorative rock in his hand. The two men with him were holding hands, but I wasn't sure if they were Luca and Remy or Lex's other brother, Vaughn, and his fiancé, Aleks.
Either way, it meant that the man standing with his back to us was Con.
The men who were an obvious couple stopped talking at the same time when they saw us, but it took Con a minute to figure out that something was happening behind him. I found myself holding my breath when he turned around because I knew, of all the brothers, Lex was most worried about Con's reaction. Although Lex had felt guilty for keeping his secret from all of his brothers, it was Con who he felt the most guilt over.
"Lex," I heard the older man with the heavy beard say in disbelief. Con, for his part, looked completely dumbfounded. But then he was moving. The rock thing he'd been holding in his hand hit the floor as he rushed forward. He was so eager to get to Lex, he didn't appear to notice the cane or the sunglasses.
Lex began saying something in a hushed voice that I couldn't understand because he was saying it in another language. Lex let out a soft sob and then he was wrapping his arms around his brother. I stepped away from Lex and Con to give them a moment together. I glanced over at the couple and saw that the older man had his arm around the younger man.
"Uncle Con, I couldn't find your phone—" a voice called from the other room. A young man with pale blond hair entered the living room. His eyes shifted from Lex and Con to King. I knew exactly who he was because Lex had described him perfectly. His hair was a dead giveaway.