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“Watch me.”
“I can see where Molly got her spirit from.”
Nana grunts and waves that off. “Molly comes across that the hard way. The girl worries too much.”
“I noticed.”
“She’s okay though? She wouldn’t tell me if she wasn’t.”
“She’s good. Having trouble getting used to her new situation, but I’m doing my best to make her happy.”
Nana shakes her head. “I don’t know where the hell you came from, but I’m glad you showed up. That girl was going to get herself killed one day, working herself to the bone.”
“I’m glad I showed up too. Give me a call if you think of anything. I’ll be back in a few days.”
“Tell my granddaughter to come visit!” she says as I leave the kitchen.
Jason’s sitting at the kitchen table with biology books open in front of him. He looks up and his face is hard as I hesitate near his study spot. The kid’s got a sharp face, the same light eyes as Molly, and a mop of curly dark brown hair. They share a similar nose too, but Jason’s still got some softness to him, while Molly’s has all been shaved away.
“You good?” I ask him.
“Fine. How’s my sister?”
“She’s fine too.”
“Great. See you later.”
I hesitate, tempted to walk away. The kid hasn’t exactly warmed up to me. Not that I can blame him: I rolled into his life, took away his sister, and started making changes out of nowhere. That’s a hard thing to accept.
“Just so you know, I care about Molly. I’m going to make sure she and the baby are both happy. And I promised her I’d watch after you and Nana too.”
“I don’t need your help.” But he hesitates and looks up. “Nana does though. She loves cigarettes more than she loves breathing.”
I laugh at that and get a little smile in return. “I’ll make sure she’s got what she needs, don’t worry. And same goes for you. If you need books, supplies, a fucking new wardrobe, let me know.”
“Why are you being so generous?”
“Because Molly cares about you guys, and I care about Molly. That’s how this works now.”
He leans back and studies me. “Why’d you want to marry her so badly? You didn’t have to.”
“No, I didn’t,” I agree.
“Then why?”
“Would you believe me if I said it’s because I’ve been craving a family?”
“No, not really.”
“I won’t say that then.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “Whatever the reason is, try to make sure she’s okay. My sister’s been working her ass off for a long time to give me a halfway decent chance at a normal life and I owe her everything.”
My eyebrows raise. I honestly wasn’t sure if he understood how much she’d sacrificed for him. “She doesn’t have to grind herself to the bone anymore.”
“Good.” He seems genuinely relieved. “If it would make Molly happy, I could use a PS5. The good one with the upgraded hard drive.”
I bark a laugh and he grins back at me. I bump his fist and squeeze his shoulder, and damn if I’m not going to buy him the fucking PlayStation, because why the hell not. I bet the kid’s never had one before.
