“I said too much and it’s not my place to fully tell you what your brother hasn’t. Let me take over the dishes.”
She was right to offer taking over the dishes because in this moment it was fuck them dishes. I rinsed my hands, dried them, and then went to find my brother in this massive house.
Since I arrived, I had purposely stuck to my room or the kitchen, only venturing off to the sunken living room, or back terrace that overlooked the slopes and beautiful trees that would soon be bare and covered in snow.
Other than a few flurries, the view was perfect, with miles and miles of trees with different shades of brown, oranges, and greens. The view was something out of a photography book, and would never become old for me.
Kora decided to stay at the resort in town. She loved her privacy, and no one ever questioned it. The moment I asked for that same privacy, I was the problem. My life was an open book to everyone in my family. A book just opened for them to read and give their advice on what I decided to do.
Not even Landon was subjected to this.
He was able to do whatever without having Kora or Menace come down on him. Other than the Kennedy situation, they never bothered much with him.
Maybe that was the problem?”
I slowly walked down the hallway that brought you to the downstairs gym, theater, sauna, and library. Menace was like fucking Batman, because you never saw him until it was too late.
The picture on the carved wooden table caused me to stop. Slowly, I picked it up and looked at us all bundled in our fur coats. My father held Landon, and he was young. A couple months old at least.
My mother was kissing Menace’s cheek, while Kora clung to my father. I stood in the middle making a silly face.
Typical for me.
I could be so unserious at times.
Stroking the glass, I stared at my parents’ faces and how happy they were. They were a couple that wanted to be parents, have a beautiful family. I couldn’t help but to look at my family’s faces and how they all shared the same complexion, then there was me.
That feeling brewed in my chest and I quickly put the picture down and continued on my quest to find my brother. I think I searched every fucking room on this side before I turned and went into the library.
I slowly opened the door and poked my head in and saw Menace. He was laying in the window seat kissing his son’s forehead, as he rested on him. His own eyes were closed, but I knew he was awake from the soft circular motions he made while rubbing Dennis’s back.
Each motion was the same exact way as he softly kissed him. I stood there quietly, taking in what my brother looked like in peace. When Stevie told us she was pregnant, I was excited to become an aunt.
There was a small part of me that worried about my future nephew. How would my brother be as a father? Could he give him the love that every child desired? Were we even equipped to do that?
Don had opted out of having children, and that worried me even more. All my fears I ever had went out the window watching my brother bond with his son.
“Stevie went to grab groceries for dinner tonight,” he whispered, as he continued rubbing his son’s back. “Hungry?”
I finally entered the room fully. “We have a grandmother?”
“Yes.”
I don’t know why I expected him to lie to me? He was never one to lie and was always honest. Almost too honest at times.
“Why haven’t you told us about her?”
“You mean… you.”
“Landon knows?”
He nodded his head. “There’s a lot of things that I’ve had to make Don privy to… these are things he needs to know.”
I sat on the edge of one of the leather upholstered couches. “I’m the only one that didn’t know?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about her?” I could feel the anger bubbling, and I wanted to know answers now.
