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She nodded, looking back at Brexley. In a devastatingly maternal move, she reached over to wipe Brexley’s face with her sleeves, and my chest warmed.Jesus. That wins points now? For fucks sake.
I shifted on my feet, deeply regretting coming to look for my unfortunate recent obsession. What’s the proper protocol for these situations?Run? Help? Fuck off before one of them kills you? Blurt out the first damn offer that would accomplish two of those objectives at once?
“Want me to grab him?” Option D was, evidently, incorrect. At least, judging by the way Brexley’s tears started all over again. “Wait. Oh, God, please don’t do that.” She sniffled loudly, lip quivering. “I can’t deal with it when you guys cry. It makes me crazy. Tell me what I can do for you, Brex.” Skittles’ brows skyrocketed as Brexley gave me a little sob.
“You were right.” Well, yes. I was quite good at being right, kinda chapped that everyone still acted surprised. “At the festival, you made a joke about Rhyett and me.” Well,shit, I’d made several. It was all good-natured ribbing, but my brain was panicking, trying to think of what would be worth crying over days later. But it was her watery six words that brought me to my knees. “You ready to be an uncle?”
Ten million things ran through my head, but I couldn’t put a single damn one into words.
Mouth—dry.
Palms—buzzing.
Back—sweating.
I studied my brother’s girl for a beat before she held up two positive tests. “Awe, Brex, where the hell is Rhyett?”
She choked on her laugh. “You just said he’s outside.”
“I should’ve run to get him. You—you’re—”
“Pregnant,” she finished.
Not going to lie. The fear in her eyes made it harder to breathe than I wanted to admit. But I wrapped her little face in my hands to force her chin up. “Listen. I might give my brother shit, but he’s undoubtedly the best man I know if we take Milo out of the equation. And he has exceptional taste in everything. I mean,everything.” I wiped my thumbs over her cheek, soaking up the tears there. “I’m not sure if you know this, but he has never—not once—brought a woman home to meet this family. Which tells me a few things about you. You are something special. He loves you more than I think you can even comprehend. And this family—blood or not, in name or not—takes care of our own. What do you need?” And now they were both crying as I pulled my hands away.Fuck me.Skittles dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. Jesus, could I hug themboth?
“I suppose I should tell the father,” Brex said, her voice rough and hesitant. She glanced back at her best friend, giving me a beat to suck down a breath. “You mean it? You think I can do this?”
“Of course you can,” she said without hesitating.
I nodded. “Brexley,of courseyou can. And this family is good at nothing if not taking care of kiddos. I’m sure Elora and Juniper will have a rotation scheduled before Rhyett remembers how to speak.”
“That’s the most words I’ve heard you string together since I got here, Jameson.” Not-Lizzy blinked at me, those little painted lips quirking up in a smirk I wanted to kiss off her.
“I mean it, smartass.”
“I didn’t say you didn’t. You’re just…”
“A man of few words,” Brexley supplied over a shaky smile. Apparently, crossing my arms and making a littlehmphnoise only confirmed what they were saying, because they both burst out giggling.
“Alright. The mother of my nephew shouldn’t be sitting on a bathroom floor.” I stood up, reaching down for her and finding her eyes wide and round like little blue saucers.
“You think it’s a boy?”
“It’s totally going to be a girl,” Skittles grumbled with an eye roll.
“Fifty-fifty shot. I’ll take my chances.” She grinned and grasped my hands, all of us rising before I ushered them through the door. The girls snaked their arms around each other as soon as we were in the hallway, and I blew out a breath, stepping ahead of them to lead them through the living room to the front porch. Sure as shit, Rhyett stood at the end of the driveway, towering spruce to either side. He spotted us in a heartbeat, his great big smile giving way to concern as he surveyed his girl. I didn’t have to be within earshot to know that the phone call just ended. Skittles and I stayed back, letting Brexley go do what she needed to do. Neither of us bothered to retreat inside, staying around for the show or moral support or some combination of the two.
“That was really kind of you,” she whispered. I blew out a heavy breath, just relieved they were both done crying. Rhyett had always been infuriatingly good at everything. He was the best with our little siblings and cousins, and Charlie’s kids loved him but called me the scary uncle until they were three and seven. Rhyett would be an incredible father, and an incredible partner or husband or whatever label they slapped on their relationship. What I hadn’t told Brexley was that my brother had shown me a ring this afternoon, hoping to take her on a walk after dinner and ask her to become an official Rhodes. And I’d put money down that with the news of impending parenthood, he wouldn’t make it to the beach before popping the question.
“Meant it,” I said simply.
“Back to grunts of acknowledgment, I see.”
“Yeah.”
“Still…kind.”
“Better,” I allowed jokingly. I couldn’t stifle my smile, and she chuckled quietly, both of us rapt as Brexley made her way down the drive towards my brother as he slid his phone into his pocket. “We do. We take care of our own. Always have.”
