Liam tried to scowl down at Ronan to shut him up when he remembered Ro was immune to the scowl by now also. As his brother sat patiently staring at him, Liam finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He had to talk to someone about the monumental catastrophe he was barreling toward.
“I… IsleptwithChiara,” Liam said in one long run-on sentence.
“I’m sorry, I thought you just said you slept with Chiara. Chiara Scaletti? As in, Max will gut you, Chiara Scaletti? Have you lost your mind?” Ronan looked at Liam, who was currently studying the ceiling. “I mean, shit Liam.”
“In my defense, I didn’t know who she was when I slept with her the first time.”
“Yeah, that’s so much better. I can just hear it, ‘Sorry Max, I thought she was just some piece of ass. My bad.’ Wait, the first time? There’s been more?” Ronan shook his head. He was used to his brother getting into messes, but this had to be a record. “How long had you been in town when this happened?”
“Umm, like five hours?” Ronan burst out in laughter, encouraging Liam to throw the first thing he could find at him. Even bouncing an empty soda can off his head didn’t shut Ro up.
Ronan had been born fifteen minutes after Liam, making him the younger brother. However, Ro had always acted like an old man in a young body. Well, except for that time he got caught banging Aubrey in the locker room at school one night.
It had almost been a mission of Liam’s growing up to make sure his brother remembered to enjoy life more. They had spent many weekends together grounded upstairs above the bar for something Liam had talked Ronan into doing.
“Okay, I’m sorry,” Ronan said, finally regaining control. “So, what’s your plan from here?”
“I don’t know. You know I deploy in two weeks. We’ve sort of agreed to just have fun until then.”
“And you can do that without fucking both of you up at the end? Liam, you always fall hard for whatever woman you’re after. You’ve never been good at casual. In anything.”
“Yeah, well, this time I will be. It can’t be anything more.”
Ronan made a noncommittal grunt and stood from his chair.
“Come on. Aubrey put some kind of dessert thing in the oven. It should be ready by now.” Liam followed his brother back into the house.
Aubrey had decorated the quaint little house like something out of a magazine, with matching couches facing each other by the fireplace. It was a far cry from his small apartment back in Oklahoma, with its old couch, giant TV, and unmade bed. But he guessed this is what happened when you had a woman in your life.
“Here you go,” Aubrey said, handing him some kind of strudel fruit concoction. She handed Ronan a plate and then joined him on the couch. “Liam, tell me everything you’ve been doing since we saw you last.”
“Pretty much the same thing. They send me to foreign countries where I shoot big guns or, at least, threaten to shoot big guns. When I’m not doing that, I practice shooting the same big guns. Ro tells me you’re still chasing rugrats around the school. Kindergarten, right?”
Aubrey looks at Ronan with a smile that Liam can’t quite interpret. “What? What am I missing?” he asked. He watched as his brother squeezed his wife’s hand before turning back.
“Aubrey’s pregnant. We’re having a baby,” Ro announced.
“No fucking way,” Liam answered in excited shock. Looking over at Aubrey, he waited for her to nod her head. “No! Holy shit, that’s incredible.”
Setting down his cobbler, Liam jumped up, jerking Ronan off the couch. Throwing his arms around his brother, he squeezed him in a bear hug, rocking from side to side.
“I can’t believe this!” Turning his brother loose, he gently took Aubrey in his arms. Kissing her several times on the cheek, he finally turned her loose at Ronan’s insistence. “When?”
“April.”
“April? Shit, I’ll still be gone.” Liam looked at his brother. It felt like his world was crashing down around him. Suddenly, he was struck with inspiration. “Hey, maybe I can help with the nursery while I’m home.”
“That would be amazing,” Ronan agreed. “And don’t worry. We’ll FaceTime as soon as the baby is here so you can see it. By the way, we haven’t told anybody else yet. We thought we would announce it at dinner tomorrow night, if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course it’s okay. I can’t believe you told me. I’m honored.”
“Yeah, Ro wanted you to know first,” Aubrey said with a smile. Liam returned her smile as their conversation turned to all things nursery.
He was beyond excited for his brothers as they settled down and started families of their own. It just seemed like life was leaving him behind. He loved his job, and he never regretted his decision to become a career military officer, but sometimes he wondered if it was all he would ever have.
ChapterSeven
“Uncle Liam!”Fortunately, he heard the warning screeches a few seconds before the tiny bodies landed on him in the middle of the bed. It was just enough time to cover anything he considered important on his body.
