“A man who has done nothing but make me happy… Because that wouldn’t make me happy, Greyson, it would make me miserable. Being away from Shane would make me physically miserable.”
I hiccup through the sob that expels from my lungs.
“God, Aubrey… I’m so sorry.” My brother crashes to his knees and wraps his arms around my waist, his face buried against my stomach. It isn’t until I hear him sniffle and feel the wetness on my shirt that I realize he’s crying. Aside from his wedding day, I can’t remember the last time I saw my brother cry.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Aubrey. Please forgive me. I was such an asshole to you, and you’ve never done anything to deserve that. I regret it all, everything I’ve said and done since that night. I’m so sorry I wasn’t the brother I should have been.” He cries harder into my shirt.
“I miss you so much… I miss my sister. I’m sorry I made you feel like your feelings and happiness weren’t important, like you and the baby weren’t important. Please give me a chance to fix this, to fix our relationship. Because I don’t want a life withoutmy sister in it. I don’t want a life where my kids don’t get to grow up with their aunt or their cousin.”
I place my hand on his hair, gliding my fingers through the strands. “You hurt me, Greyson… You really…reallyhurt me…” I whisper with a wobbly voice.
His arms squeeze tighter around me. “I know… and I’ll forever live with that. But I’ll do anything, I’ll work hard on winning your trust and loyalty back. If you’ll just give me a chance… Please, Aubrey…”
Closing my eyes, I tilt my head up to the ceiling, still stroking my fingers through his hair. The anger I still feel inside wants me to hesitate, wants me to say no and push him away, make him feel exactly what I’ve been going through these last three months. But that isn’t me. I’m not a vengeful person and all I want is my family back, myentirefamily.
“Okay…”
His face whips up to me as I look down. “You mean it?”
“Yes, Greyson, I do. But don’t screw it up because this is your last chance. I can’t take any more stress, and if I have to choose between you and my baby, you won’t like the outcome,” I tell him strictly.
His eyebrows hit his hairline as he blinks, then finally nods. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now can you let go of me? I have cookies that are waiting to be cut out and baked in the kitchen.”
“Uhh… yeah, yes, sorry.” He releases me and stands quickly, wiping his face from the remnants of his tears.
I turn and head for the kitchen, but I don’t hear his footsteps behind me. “You can follow me,” I tell him, sensing he’s waiting for permission.
His quick footsteps fall behind me within seconds as I round the wall and enter the kitchen. I get back to work immediately, touching the cookie dough to make sure it hasn’t dried up toomuch during our talk. But thankfully, it’s still fine, so I resume rolling it out over the counter.
Marianne is at the opposite end near the gas stovetop, preparing a meal for me. Usually, Antoine would be the one doing that, but he’s only coming in later for dinner time. I’m still getting used to not having to cook dinner or lunch for myself, but I do enjoy the extra time it gives me to do other things like baking.
“I’ve made enough for four people if your guest would like some,” Marianne says as she looks Greyson over quizzically.
“No thank you, I won’t be staying long,” Greyson answers for himself.
“Marianne, this is my brother, Greyson. Greyson, this is Marianne, the woman who keeps this castle running.” I smile at her, letting her know how appreciative I am of everything she does.
He walks over and shakes her hand then comes back. I feel his eyes on me as I begin to press the heart-shaped cookie cutters down on the dough, but I don’t say anything. “You’ve changed,” he finally speaks up.
My hand momentarily pauses, before resuming its motion. “How so?”
“You look different, well, obviously.” He gestures toward my belly with a nervous laugh. “But I don’t know, you just seem more… sure of yourself. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you were kind of a people-pleaser before. You’d never argue about anything and simply go along with whatever we said. You also never, or very rarely, talked back.”
It’s hard not to take offense in that, he makes me sound like a pushover. “Yes, well, there’s been a lot of change in my life recently,” I say defensively.
“Aubrey, I wasn’t saying it as a bad thing. I like these changes in you. You’re more confident and you finally speak your mindwhen things bother you. You… you surprised me at Em’s party, and not just the swearing. It was like you went from being my baby sister in my mind, to a full-blown badass woman in the matter of seconds.”
He chuckles, cupping the back of his neck. “You reminded me of Bunny when she goes all mama bear where the kids are concerned. She terrifies the shit out of me sometimes, but don’t ever tell her I said that because she’ll never let me live it down.”
“Well, I am going to be a mom, so I guess that makes sense.” I smile down at the cookies I’m now placing on a baking tray, then finally look up at Greyson. “I won’t tell her, don’t worry.”
He smiles back as I turn and place the cookies in the oven, setting the timer. There’s still a bit of tension and awkwardness that can be felt, and I know it might take time for things to go back to normal between us, but I’m glad he’s here trying.
When I come back to the counter and gather up the leftover dough, I press it down into a sheet pan and add some chocolate chips to the top. Shane loves it when I make him a sheet pan cookie. He likes to just break pieces off every time he comes through the kitchen. He calls it his walking snack. The thought makes me smile.
“You’re going to be a mom… That’s crazy, right?” I gaze back up at Greyson, still unsure of his feelings toward my baby. “I never could have seen that coming in a million years.” He smiles and it’s warm and tender.
