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A notification went off on my phone, letting me know it was time to move on from my desk, to head to a doctor’s appointment. One Orion knew about, this time. I was due for bloodwork and a physical exam to test fertility, which we probably should have led with sooner, but… better late than never or something.
Orion had his own testing to do, but we’d opted against sharing the appointment, based on timing. It was refreshingly quick to get through. No hanging around in a waiting room, just straight back for everything, and we’d get test results later, once they’d done everything they needed to do.
Honestly… the distraction wasn’t long enough.
When I got home, I immediately went looking for my husband, knowinghewas good for a nice long while of wiping all the thoughts from my head.
Only… he wasn’t home.
And Calli was resting.
And my friends were knee deep in work they couldn’t break away from until later.
I’d just resolved myself to a glass of wine, my reading device, and my vibrator when the doorbell rang. Instead of moving quick to answer it, I used my app to pull up the cameras to see who it was.
Ididrush to the door then.
It was my brother.
“Hey,” I gushed, breathless from sprinting downstairs. I’d forgotten, somehow, that there was staff around the house.
Nobody expectedmeto answer the damn door.
“Hey,” he replied, pulling me into our usual hug. “It’s not a bad time or anything is it?”
I shook my head. “No, not at all. I wanted to talk to you, but… I don’t know. I figured you probably needed time to process.”
His reply to that was nonchalance, in the form of a shrug. “What is there to process?”
“Really, Soren?” I asked, gesturing to him to follow me to the nearby sitting room. “That’s all you’ve got?”
“What more should I have?”
I sucked my teeth as I sat down. “After finding out who Stanford Reese is and who William Starkisn’t… I would think a lot.”
He sat down across from me, one hand pressed against his temple, eyes closed. “Honestly?” he said, without changing his position. “The shit doesn’t even feel real. It’s all just… wild.”
“Yeah… it is.”
“William is a bitch.”
“Yeah. He is.”
“I know that’syourdad and all, but…”
His head popped up, and he grinned at me as I shook my head. “Really, you’ve already got jokes about this?”
“Laugh to keep from crying,” he explained. “You know how it is.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “I do. Unfortunately. How did the conversation go? You okay?”
“I will be,” he said. “It’s crazy looking into ol’ boy’s face though. He wants to get together again before he leaves town. Have dinner. Get to know each other.”
I nodded. “Are you going to do that?”
“I don’t know yet,” he admitted. “Like I said… it’s wild. And it’s not something I really want to have to deal with. I just… I have too many questions not to entertain it. Too much I need to understand.”
“I get it,” I agreed. “Can I tell you something?”
