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His hands stroked my sides as if even hearing hurtful family bullshit couldn’t keep him from wanting a connection with me. It made me feel special. Isaac looked up at me with troubled eyes. “What’d he say?”
“‘Fuck lucky numbers.’ And then he punched the wall.”
17
Nine
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me that my dad had wanted Graham to go to college, but it did. Mostly because I’d never heard the story, and Eli was usually pretty good about telling me everything.
Cooper gave me another kiss on the forehead before moving off me and lying on his side next to me. The soft sounds of Nacho’s snores came from the corner of the bed Coop had abandoned when he’d moved closer to me.
“Tell me what he meant.”
I picked up his hand and started toying with his fingers so I wouldn’t have to look at his distracting face. “Don’t you know why I’m called Nine?”
“You’re the ninth child of ten.”
“Yes, but it’s more than that. None of my other siblings go by their birth order number.”
He had a point. “I never understood why Tip was short for Francis either.”
“That’s another story for another time, but remind me because it’s a good one.” At least that got a smile out of him. “Growing up, everything was numbered to keep things easy for my mom. Our coat hooks, our water bottles, hell, even our underwear had little Sharpie numbers inside the waistband. Naturally, I was nine. I ate off the ninth plate. I got the ninth pick off the cookie plate at dessert. I got ninth choice in board game pieces. You get the idea. Nine. But the thing is, everyone up to me had something about them that made them special, that made them memorable.”
I tried not to look at Cooper’s face because I absolutely did not want to see him feel sorry for me. But I kept telling the story anyway. Maybe I was a glutton for punishment.
“Aaron was the oldest, the heir to the throne, so to speak. He was Dad’s right-hand man, still is. He’s the most dependable. Then there was Beth, everyone’s favorite. The kindest human on earth. Then Colt, who never met any trouble he didn’t want to get into. He was wild, still is. Then Delia, the pretty one. The pageant winner and homecoming queen. Then there was Eli, who was the golden boy. He’s everyone’s friend and an all-around good guy. And of course Tip, the funny one, and Graham, the lucky one. Then there’s me. Obviously, there’s Jessie, but she’s the baby.”
Cooper’s voice was different than I’d ever heard it. “But you’re the sweet one. You’re the kind one. You’re the one who saved a baby fox that time when its leg was caught in the fence. You’re the one who almost got fired from his job just so you could keep Dee from being stranded on the side of the highway in a rainstorm.”
He sounded so offended, so distraught, and it made something inside of me squeeze tight. I let go of his hand and reached for his cheek, cupping it for a minute before sliding my fingers into his hair. “Beth is the sweet one, remember? I’m just me. Nothing special about me. It was actually the preacher at church who started calling me Nine really early on, like at my baptism. He said the number nine was symbolic of the completeness of the Holy Spirit or something, then he said it also represented finality.” I laughed. “When Beth told me the story years later, she said it was pretty clear to everyone in the church he meant that as a message for Mom and Dad to stop having more babies. But then came Jessie, so clearly they didn’t listen.”
“Does it bother you? The name, I mean.” The worry was clear in Cooper’s eyes.
“No. I’m used to it. Teachers started calling me Nine in kindergarten. I can’t remember when my mom started calling me by that name, but my dad got on board when someone thought it was real clever to give me the number nine jersey in tee ball.”
Cooper didn’t laugh.
I leaned over and kissed his prickly chin. “I notice you call me Isaac more often lately. Is that why? Do you worry about upsetting me?”
He shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
“Don’t. It doesn’t bother me. But… it’s nice that you care. I like it when you call me Isaac. But I like it when you call me Nine too. I just like it when you call me at all.”
Cooper got a little fidgety under the focused attention and looked away. I’d noticed more and more that he tended to get squirrelly when the subject of him and emotions came up. He’d done it at the restaurant too. Before I could ask him about it, he leaned in and smacked a kiss on my lips before hopping out of bed. “Time to start the day, Winshed. Time waits for no man.”
