“Hi,” Ava said, breaking the silence.
My eyebrows rose. “Yes?”
“I just… I came by to apologize.” She shrugged, dancing back and forth on her red Converses.
Eyes growing wide, I leaned back. There was no way Kai could have sent her over to apologize, not when we’d just gotten off the phone. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“You may as well come in.” I opened the door wider.
She stepped inside, going to stand by the table where all my Zofran pump crap was. Mouth hanging open, she stared at it for a minute. Waving a hand at the pile, she asked, “What’s all this?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her it was none of her business, but it was a little. She was going to be the kid’s aunt, after all. “It’s for a Zofran pump.” I lifted my shirt to show the thing stuck in my stomach, along with the small purple welts that covered most of my stomach from all the different injection sites.
A hand stretched out, she leaned forward. Changing her mind about whatever she was about to do—thank goodness—her hand fisted and she let it drop to her side.
“I was so sick, they had to get it under control before I became malnourished.”
“Shit.” Her dark gray eyes finally met mine. “I’m sorry about what I said. Today and when you told me. Especially today, though. At work. That was a dick move.”
“Yeah.” I snorted.
“Seriously. I guess I just wanted to protect Kai, and it went horribly wrong.” Looking back at the table, she sighed, shoulders sagging. “I was mad you didn’t tell me it was him. That you didn’t even tell me about you two. It hurt my feelings, and I let it get the best of me.”
“I’ll say.”
“You worked it out with him?”
The mention of him, her brother, made my skin hot. I rolled my lips between my teeth before nodding. “Yeah. We worked it out. For now.”
Her gaze snapped to mine. “You know what I miss?”
“What’s that?”
“I miss pigging out on ice cream and binge-watching The Walking Dead.”
I walked to the fridge, grabbed a carton of Rocky Road from the freezer, and then got two spoons out. I held one out to her—a peace offering. An offer to heal a friendship that never should have been broken.
After taking the spoon, she led the way to the couch. I ate half the carton, knowing I would probably throw it all up later, while we talked and laughed with the show playing in the background.
We stayed up way too late, especially since we both had class in the morning. She left with the promise to be back, to hang out and check in on me. And despite my qualms about letting people in, having any real friends, I felt comforted for the first time in a very, very long time.
6
Kai
For four weeks, we talked most days. We discussed her school and work, and my daily trials. She even asked for help with homework a couple times, though she usually ended up teaching me something new in the end. Sometimes we would talk for hours about some show she was binge-watching, a book she was reading, my smoking addiction, and what I wanted to get accomplished when I got back to the States. If I was too busy or exhausted, we would only speak for a few minutes. Her husky twang had become essential. I needed it in my life every day. Needed to make sure she was okay, not working too hard.
She didn’t like it much when I worried, but that didn’t stop me from doing so. Her rare syndrome wasn’t letting up, and she was still working full time and going to school full time. It especially pissed her off when I would offer to send more money so she wouldn’t have to work as much. In the end, I would concede, since I wasn’t in any position to change her mind. Once we were together, once I could see her in person, we could handle the most pressing issues.
She wanted me to wait until I was back to tell the rest of my family, and Ava agreed to that as well, since they’d worked things out. I was to fly into Portland at the end of this term, and she, Ava, and Cade would meet me there. It wasn’t my preferred plan, but there wasn’t a good enough excuse to go to Nashville, so I had to go home for the “welcome home” shindig my parents were throwing. Even though we were waiting to tell them about the baby, I’d already told my whole family I reenlisted, hoping they would understand the why of that decision when they heard the news.
I had gotten the job in Ohio, so the one month I had off would be spent figuring out how to make that work. I couldn’t ask her to quit school and move to Ohio—she only had a year left until she was done. Having done a shitload of summer classes, she was a whole year ahead. Even still, I wanted to be there when the baby was born, but I probably wouldn’t be if she stayed in Nashville. We had time to figure it out—four and a half months’ worth.
First thing after we spent a few days in Portland, we would be flying back to Nashville so we could find out what we were having. It surprised me how much I was looking forward to that. Having a baby to take care of and love was so unexpected. Something I never even imagined for myself. The Maker deciding I was worthy of such a thing—it could be seen as nothing but a blessing.
Two things that didn’t go unnoticed by me in all our conversations: she never once asked for promises of any form of relationship with me, usually shying away from the topic whenever I brought it up, and she never mentioned announcing the news to her own parents, or any relatives for that matter. She was as closed off as ever when it came to anything personal or about her past. Instead of pressing her like I wanted to, I just stopped asking. If she wanted to share, she would when she was ready.
The moment the plane touched down in Portland, all I wanted was to see her. But it would be hours yet until I would. Her plane was getting in later in the day, and they were going to take a cab to the house, where my whole family was having the celebratory barbecue. It seemed a fit setting to announce an addition to them.
Mom and Dad met me at baggage claim, Mom running at me to throw her arms around my waist.
“Hey, Mom,” I muttered into her short dark hair. It always stunned me how tiny she was.
“We missed you so much!” she exclaimed, pulling back to study me with those gray eyes that matched mine.
Dad clapped me on the shoulder, saying, “We did,” before giving me a hug. He and I were about the same height, and I had inherited his square jaw, curly hair, and darker skin tone, but his lighter brown hair sort of stuck out in many directions, and his blue eyes glimmered with joy behind his glasses.
They helped me find my bag while Mom talked about her plans. No wonder Ava liked things planned down to the minute. Here I was doing the same thing. “Pierce and Mia are on their way over. Dad is making barbecue chicken and brats. And Mia made some fancy dessert. She’s excited to show it off. Everything should be about ready by the time Ava and Cade get in.”
She kept on going as we walked out to Dad’s Jeep. “Ava’s old roommate is coming, too. Though I’m not sure why. Did Ava tell you she moved out? Doesn’t make sense the girl’s coming, too. But I said, ‘The more the merrier!’ Besides, you two seemed to get along just fine over Thanksgiving. Shouldn’t be too big of a deal having her there.”