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"I get that, Violet, but I also think that Mina steers clear because she doesn't understand kids. And for someone like her, that is unsettling."
"So what? You're going to force exposure therapy on her every time you think she needs to get over something? Hate to tell you this, Renny, but she's going to catch on and she's going to get pissed about it." She wasn't wrong. It hadn't even occurred to me that what I was doing was pushy until she brought it up. That was something I had to work on obviously. "For a smart, observant guy, you can be a little dense and clueless. Hone your conversation skills, Renny. You're going to scare her away if you don't."
And with that sage little bit of advice, she moved away from me and over toward Laz who she promised to name her baby after if he gave her the first couple pancakes.
I didn't bother to mention that the baby was a girl and they already had a name picked out.
I heard Mina walk back down the hall toward our room a couple minutes later and gave her a few minutes alone before I called one of the Hailstorm guys in to watch the probates as I went to see why she was hiding.
I barely got the door closed before she was charging at me, jamming her finger into my chest hard enough to make me slam back against the door.
"That was bullshit, Renny. I didn't want to make a scene in front of Maze and the new guys, but don't you ever fucking try to test me like that again. I get it. I'm not all sunshine and roses and I don't sit for hours and play Barbie with Ferryn or watch cartoons with Malcolm, Seth, and Fallon. I get that I am not Susie freaking Homemaker. But that doesn't mean something is wrong with me and it doesn't mean you get to try to push me into being something I am not."
"Mina, I didn't realize I was testing you until Maze called me on it," I said, shaking my head. "Hand to fucking God. I didn't even think it was fucked up. I'm not saying that it's okay that I didn't see that it was wrong, but I'm asking if maybe you can understand that I didn't know."
Her finger stopped bruising into my chest as she took a deep breath. "I like kids."
"Okay," I said, shrugging. "And if you didn't, okay too."
"I like them," she said again, almost a little desperately. "They just..."
"They scare the shit out of you," I supplied, smiling a little.
Her shoulders dropped at that, exhaling. "Yeah," she said, nodding, looking relieved that she didn't have to say it.
"Because they don't have hidden agendas and they don't have motivators you can pick apart and use to predict their behavior."
"It must be terrifying to be a parent," she said, shaking her head. "You get this thing that you made or you adopted or whatever and it's... blank. It has nothing but basic human urges and only the two innate fears of falling and loud noises. That's it. That's all they are. You turn them into who they become. Every word you say, every word you don't say, every look you give and every touch you offer them and everything you do as a person... it shapes them. That is... that is so crazy that anyone takes that on. I mean you are genuinely to blame if they come out to be little psychopathic narcissists or well-rounded individuals. And no one really has all the answers to tell you how to mold them right. You can screw it up so easily. Don't smile at me like I'm being silly," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and small-eyeing me.
"It's not silly. Actually, it's a fucking shame that people don't consider those things."
"Then why are you smiling like that?" she asked, still wary.
"Because, I gotta be honest here, pumpkin, you're the cutest fucking thing when you're having a near panic attack over something that isn't even a factor in your life."
"Well," she said, clearly thrown off, "you brought it up."
"And you gave me a little piece of yourself without me having to pry it out of you," I said, pushing off the door and moving toward her.
"What are you doing?" she asked, brows drawing together, backing up as I advanced.
"Know what's a good meal?" I asked as she hit the bed and couldn't retreat any farther. "Brunch. And I am fucking famished."
"Renny," she tried to object, "we are supposed to be watching the..."
"Lo's guys are keeping an eye and making sure the puppies don't chew the furniture."
"Well, we should really be..."
The rest of her sentence got cut off when I reached down and pressed my hand between her thighs, making her breath whoosh out of her.
