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I about spoke up, and volunteered to take her home so he wouldn’t have to come back, thinking Remy had a car Eva could actually ride in, but then Remy lifted his hand. “Oh, hey. I can watch them. No problem. If you have an extra room here we could hang out in, you all could stay.”
Reese laid her hand on his arm. “Thank you so much, Sticks.” Then she glanced my way. “Could you show him where the office is? There are some kids’ DVDs and toys in there to occupy the kiddos.”
I nodded and helped Remy gather up Pick and Eva’s little heathens.
We started down another hall, but when we passed Mason and Reese’s room, Brandt’s murmured voice made me pause at the half opened door and glance inside.
“It’s going to be okay,” the kid murmured as he lay spooned up behind Sarah on the bed and stroked her hair. “Living with your big brother isn’t so bad. It’s actually been better for me since I have. You’ll see.”
Sarah grabbed hold of his shirt
at his shoulder and squeezed it tight. “Please...don’t...leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Brandt assured her. “I’m staying right here with you.”
Behind me, Remy nudged me on, silently telling me I was listening in on a private conversation, but as soon as we reached Mason and Reese’s office, he grinned and said, “Well, if that wasn’t the sweetest shit you’ve ever seen. I think I just fell in love with that kid.”
I grinned and shook my head. “Yeah, Brandt’s a good seed.” Then I glanced around the room that had obviously been set up to entertain Julian and Skylar. The two toddlers immediately sought their toys and began to play. “You sure you’re okay with watching them?”
“I grew up babysitting younger cousins. I got this.” He nudged me toward the door. “Now go be with your friends.”
I nodded and started away. “Thanks, Rem. You’re a true friend.”
So I hung out with little Julian and Skylar. Neither of them really watched the movie I put in; they just kind of played around me, occasionally climbing over my legs to get from one side of me to the other. Sometimes a loud or particularly active scene would catch their attention, but mostly, I was the only one glued to the actual plot.
By the time the final credits rolled, they were passed out asleep, each one resting a head on either of my thighs while tears poured down my face, some inside my mask, some trickling down the outside.
“Oh, God,” I sobbed, mopping at my cheeks with the backs of my fingers. “This shit is sad.”
“Yo, Rem.” Asher appeared in the doorway, grabbing onto the side of the frame so he could swing his upper body into the bedroom. “You ready to head out? I need to get to work. Aspen said she’d take over watching Skylar and Ju—” But upon seeing me, he stopped short, and blinked. “Are you crying?”
“It’s fucking sad,” I nearly bellowed, making Julian stir in his sleep so I had to pat his curly hair to soothe him back into deeper unconsciousness. “I mean, what the hell? It’s a Disney movie; I thought all Disney movies had happy endings.”
He laughed. The bastard actually laughed at my heartache. “Which one is it?” He let go of the door to step deeper into the room so he could see the screen.
“Tinker Bell and the Neverbeast, or something like that. Can’t remember. He’s never going to see her again,” I motioned to a picture of the beast as it flashed across the screen. “And that fairy Fawn, she loves him. They should get to stay together. This is just…it’s so wrong.”
And God, it was so good.
Asher became entranced watching the credits. Finally, he asked, “What song is this?”
“It’s ‘1,000 Years’ by KT Tunstall and Bleu. Haven’t you ever heard it before?”
“No,” he murmured, his gaze stuck on the screen. “But I like it.”
It was perfect for this movie too. Dios, this sad, beautiful, amazing movie.
Easing the babies off my lap and shifting them so they were resting on nearby blankets, I patted their precious little heads, then pushed to my feet. My back was stiff and legs ached from sitting on the floor for so long, so I stretched them and dusted off my backside.
“You said you needed to go?” I asked Asher.
“Huh?” He glanced from the movie and blinked at me before shaking his head to clear it. “Oh yeah. It’s Saturday, karaoke night. So I need to get there early too. We’d better go.” Then he smiled toward the kids. “I guess they ended up liking you. Thanks again for watching them. Mason and Reese really needed Pick and Eva today.”
“No problem. They’re good kids…and cute as all get-out.” I followed him from the room, where the rest of the apartment was a lot quieter than it’d been in the bedroom with the kids and the movie playing.
Though I loved my spot in Non-Castrato, always having to dress up as Sticks, the male drummer, was wearing on me. I just really, really missed being a girl. I mean, I could still be me when I was home and when I had to go to work at Castañeda’s, but it seemed like other than that, I was stuck in my mask and forced to act manly almost around the clock.
I know, know. Why the heck was I whining? I’d gotten my own damn self into this predicament. I’d made my bed, and so forth.
