Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
“What are you doing?” I ask him mischievously when I walk into the kitchen and find him standing with the refrigerator door open and a fork in his hand.
“Who knew that grain bowls were good?” he says. “Don’t worry, you got another one in here. I was curious.”
“Grab it for me, we’ll snack together,” I say, fighting back a giggle. “I mean, we can both enjoy my pregnancy food.”
“We could always turn on Karate Kid, start the baby early,” he offers.
“You know, I read that by this time in the pregnancy, the baby can hear our voices and classical music can make them smarter. Maybe they can get Jackie Chan flicks in the womb,” I tease.
“Might as well start them off right. Let this baby get a taste for the classics.”
We’re about to sit down to a movie when the doorbell rings. Our eyes meet. With the dialed-up security no one who isn’t a trusted friend would have made it this close to the house so I bring up the front door camera on my phone. My brother stands there, jaw set and looking every bit as aggravated as he’s been the last few weeks since I moved in with Mickey.
“Are you up for this?” Mick asks me.
“Let’s get it over with,” I say with resignation.
“If he upsets you at all, I’m throwing his ass out, old friends or not.”
“I’m good,” I tell him.
Mickey answers the door. Rory clocks me on the couch, remote in hand. He glances at the TV.
“What are you watching? Pierce Brosnan? He was the best fuckin’ James Bond and then he went and made that stupid singing movie,” he says.
“This is what you came to talk about?” Mickey says, taking his place beside me on the couch. He’s making it clear with his closeness that he and I are in this together, and we’re a team. I’m grateful for it and squeeze his hand.
“I want to see how my sister’s settling in,” he counters.
“You got a phone,” I point out. “You can call.”
“I wanna see with my own eyes. You okay?”
“Yes,” I say. I want to say something sarcastic about how I’m obviously being held hostage and it’s nice of him to finally come looking for me—I’m that hurt by his behavior. Instead, I take a breath and ground myself in the fact that I am safe and loved, that Mick is with me and our baby is healthy. “Are you trying to say you missed me? Because it sounds like you’re making sure we’re not both so stupid that I took a bath with the hair dryer or something.”
“I’ve never thought you were stupid,” he says grudgingly. “You’re the smart one.”
“Always have been,” I say.
He sits down in a chair and kind of sags for a second.
“What’s going on Rory?”
He sighs before answering. “You and Mickey, you’re my family. If I stay pissed at you, I’m on my own.” He says this like it’s a huge revelation.
Taking a page out of Mickey’s playbook, I sit and wait and listen. Eventually it works.
“I guess what I’m sayin’ is I miss you and if you’re okay and everything’s on the up-and-up then I can try and get over how fuckin’ weird this is.”
“You’re… sorry,” Mickey supplies.
“Yeah, that too,” he says and then shrugs his shoulders like he’s shaking off a huge burden. “Wow, that was tough. I don’t go in for these big emotional scenes.”
I can’t help myself. I bark out a laugh and then clap a hand over my mouth. “Sorry,” I say. “I missed you too. But that was not an emotional scene. It was more like trying to pry words out of you at gunpoint.”
“What’s the difference?” he grumps at me like I’m taking the sweetness out of his hard-won triumph.
“Uh, emotional maturity probably,” I say.
Mickey squeezes my hand. I glance at him and he gives a slight shake of his head. He’s telling me that maybe I should let this go and quit being a hard-ass to my own brother who’s trying to choke out an apology for the first time in his life.
“Look, I was an only child. I don’t know how long brothers and sisters bitch at each other like this, so I’m gonna try to translate. Rory, you know you acted like a jerk and you want to smooth it over, right?” he nods grudgingly. “And Katie, you love your brother and you been sad about being in a fight with him, right?”
“Yes,” I say.
“For my part, Rory, you’re like a brother to me since we were kids. I don’t wanna be crossways with you if I can help it. So you gotta know that I love Katie more than anything, or I wouldn’t have done something off-limits like get involved with somebody that works for me and is also your little sister. But that’s not all she is. She’s remarkable and smart and brave. And we got something to tell you if we can get past this mess.”