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“He lost his mom and sister.” I shake my head. “He’s been raising his nephew since he was a baby. Dunc isn’t much older than Sadie and Van.”
“Jesus.” Sebastian drops down onto the bed next to me.
“At least I had you. He lost his mom and sister then had to raise a baby all on his own.” I can’t even imagine how alone he felt.
“All right, why didn’t he try to find you after a while? You don’t have to be together because you have a kid together. That’s not a reason to be married. Fuck, you see my pain in the ass parents.”
“He was kind of kidnapping me before he found out Van was his,” I tell him. “And he said he did come looking. After he got everything settled with his family and Dunc. That when he saw me, I was holding a little girl. I think I was talking to you. He thought I moved on. Got married and had a daughter.”
“Fuck.” Sebastian runs his hand down his face.
“I don’t know how he’ll take this. It’s going to be a lot for both of them, but Van more than anything.” My eyes start to burn. “What if Van hates me for this? I messed this up. Kept him from his dad.”
“Fischl, he’ll understand. We were all young.” Sebastian swipes away the few tears that escaped. “Van or Sadie could never hate you. Every step you took you did with pure intent of what you thought was best. That’s all we can do.”
“Time’s up.” Cooper bursts back into the room. I’m actually surprised he made it as long as he did.
“That was not ten minutes.” Sebastian shakes his head but stands.
“You made her cry.” Cooper glares at Sebastian. I know he wants to try and hit him again.
“He didn’t.” I sniffle.
Sebastian holds his hands up. “We’ll all move in. Give this a test run.”
“Not a test.”
“Cooper, it is not going to be helpful if you're an asshole to Sebastian. Sadie and Van love him. It will push them away from you.”
“I want what’s best for everyone. You might hate me, but I love Van and Fischl. I’ll do whatever needs to be done to make this as easy as possible.” Sebastian's words temper Cooper’s anger. “Truce?” he offers.
“Truce,” Cooper agrees, taking Sebastian’s outstretched hand.
This is a start, but I’m more worried about Van than anything.
CHAPTER15
COOPER
“And this will be your room.”I open the door to the bland guest room. Sadie doesn’t flinch, but Fischl grimaces. “I know it’s nothing special, but we’re going to get a decorator in to spruce it up.”
When the girl’s expression doesn’t change, I add, “Or you can do it all on your own if you like. Budget is unlimited.”
I’d have added more, but the voices in the kitchen are rising. One of them belongs to Dunc, and the only other person in the house who isn’t standing outside the door to this spare room is Van. I catch Fischl’s eye. “I’ll leave you three alone while I go check on the boys.”
I hurry off before anyone says a word because I need to get downstairs before real blood is shed. I knew the transition wasn’t going to be easy, but I didn’t think my boys would try to kill each other on the first night together.
My boys. It has a nice ring to it. The smile on my face immediately drops off when I reach the kitchen. Dunc and Van are standing on either end of the island like gunfighters ready to draw their weapons. A nearly empty jug of milk sits at Dunc’s fisted hand.
“Hungry?” I ask, strolling in as if the two don’t look like they want to kill each other. I pull open the fridge door. “How about some fried chicken tonight?”
“There’s no milk,” says Dunc.
“How was I supposed to know this was your only container? What kind of family has only one gallon of milk?” retorts Van.
“Maybe ask? Or is your voice box broken because it works fine now,” Dunc tosses back.
“This is my fault. I should’ve bought more groceries today.” I pull out my credit card. “Why don’t you two go over to the gas station on the corner and pick up a refill?”
