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He wasn't particularly old, but the more time he spent with Melody, the more he craved a deeper connection with someone, someone to share his days with, his experiences, and okay, if he was being honest, he really wanted someone he was sexually compatible with. He has never been very good at getting out of his own head, and Melody had always lived there. So it was a win-win.
Grabbing the pizza boxes from her lap, he lets his hand accidentally, on purpose, graze her legs. Knowing those legs were now his to touch whenever he wanted was something he never thought he would be lucky enough to have. She jumps out rounds the front of the truck, waiting for him, the lights from the house silhouette her in the night and make her glow. He shakes off his thoughts as she reaches to take his hand in hers.
"Let's go get our boy." He says with a goofy
Melody
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Graham seemed to think this was a good idea.
Why did he think this was a good idea? I
Inviting Duke over to his house was a very bad idea.
Graham made breakfast for everyone while Ollie played with his dinosaurs in the living room. It was supposed to go smoothly, adult conversation over bacon and egg. But this was definitely not going as planned.
Duke was sullen and angry, and Graham was staring him down, not helping the situation at all. This would have been so much easier if she had just met Duke at the diner on her own.
“Duke.” She starts. “I’m sorry I didn't tell you earlier. It was a spontaneous decision. I wanted Ollie to be closer to his family.” She pleads with him to understand.
His eyes dart to hers, hurt in his eyes. “What about me? I am his family, too.” He scrubs his face with his hands, groaning in frustration. “I knew it was him. God, I knew it, and I still encouraged you to come. I’m such an idiot. Graham, you can’t take my family from me. You just can’t. I won't let you.”
Graham's eyes darken, turning mean and possessive.
He stands abruptly. “Your family? Yours? You can’t let me take your family? I’m sorry, but isn't that exactly what you did to me for the past five years? You obviously knew Ollie was mine, and you willfully ignored it! Playing house with what was rightfully mine.” Graham spits out. “But that was all it was, Duke. Pretend. The blood that runs through my veins also runs through Ollie’s.”
A soft gasp escaped Melody’s lips. “What the fuck, Graham? That was completely unnecessary. Duke. No one is trying to replace you. That connection you have to Oliver will be there forever. You are my best friend.” She cries.
Duke looks at her with the same tenderness he always did. Turning to Graham. “Yea, I knew he was yours, but where the fuck were you? Because I know where I was. I was the one with her when she got the news she was pregnant. I was holding Melody’s hair back while she threw up for three months straight. I was the one trying to get her to eat so she wouldn’t lose too much weight. I was right by her side when they pulled Oliver out of her stomach because she had complications during labor. I was holding that kid in my arms all night while he cried with an ear infection. Where the fuck were you?”
Things were getting out of control. She could see the rage behind Graham's eyes. “We need to take this outside, Duke. I thought we could be civilized for Ollie. But I'm going to be honest. I didn’t realize just how deep this connection was. I was wrong to invite you here.”
Melody moves to go with them. “ No Melody.” Graham stops her. “This is between Duke and me. Something we need to settle.”
Duke flies up off his chair, stopping only to place a kiss on Melody’s forehead, then another on Ollies, and walks out the door. Graham looks at her, a broken expression on his face. He pulls her aside.
“Do you want to go back with him? I will fight for you, but if he is what you want, then you need to tell me right now.” He asks, a shell of the man he had been last night.
“No, Graham. Our place is with you, but Duke is still a huge part of our lives. I can’t just brush him off.” He nods, then walks out the open door.
Graham
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Well, that escalated quickly.
He was so sure that Duke’s claim to his son and his family was baseless.
He didn’t count on every truth spilling out of his stupid mouth.
He didn’t count on it hurting so fucking much.
He finds Duke sitting on the porch swing out front. Looking out at the yard.
“You have a white picket fence?” He said incredulously. “Of course you do.” He shakes his head in defeat, hands cradling his temples. “I can’t compete with this, can I.”
“No one is asking you to, Duke.” Graham grates out. He pulls his hand out from his pocket, putting it out in front of him. Duke looks up, confusion brewing in his head. “I want to thank you, Duke. You were there for Melody when I wasn’t. It’s true. Everything you said was true. I wasn’t there for her. I wasn’t there for the teething or the colic, or the fevers. I wasn’t there for my family. But you were. You took absolute and total care of my family when I couldn’t.”
