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Case laughed. “How’d you find out?”
I quickly filled them in on everything, basically repeating most of what Adrienne told me at the bar.
Casey listened without judgment and remained silent for a minute. When he finally spoke, I was shocked at his words. “I mean, I understand Fiona being afraid. It’s better than what our mom did.”
I truly thought he’d be the most ticked at Fi and I’d be having to defend her, and I was absolutely floored that he spoke of our mom in a not-so-positive light for once. “What do you mean?”
He rolled his large shoulder. “Love shrouded mom’s decision making and she wanted to invite a bad man into our house, which put me in the shitty position to give her an ultimatum: him or us. But Fiona kept you and then her kid at the center of her decisions. Yeah, she messed up by not telling you, but her heart was in the right place. Tell me you wouldn’t have quit hockey if you knew she was pregnant?”
I remained silent. I definitely would’ve been by her side had I known.
“And then she put Stevie first. What if you became like our dad? It’s shitty, but I understand where her head was at, especially given her family background. Not making excuses for her, just saying I understand her thinking.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I lamented. “It’s still not fair though.”
“No, it wasn’t. Life’s not fair, ya gotta move on,” he said with a shrug.
________
During dinner, Addie announced the boys needed to load up on vegetables.
Stevie and I made eye-contact over the table, and it was like a silent agreement that we would not be indulging in the Brussel sprouts. The grossed out look on her face almost made me crack up, and it honestly gave us away.
“Tyler,” Addie said in a stern voice, holding the bowl of veggies out to me.
I cringed at being called out. Beau was pushing his starfish hands through his hair, watching me, so I was on the spot. “No…uh… thanks?”
Casey dropped his fork with a clatter. “You did not just tell my pregnant wife no,” he said firmly, but a smile was tugging at his gruff face. Asshole.
I made the mistake of glancing at Addie. Her face was all bright and hopeful, and I was a sucker for that look. It was the same look Josie had when she handed me that reading binder.
“Fine,” I groaned out, and scooped a heaping portion of the green shit onto my plate.
Stevie was giggling across the table, so I shoved a healthy portion onto her plate.
“Hey!” she called out in an accusing tone.
Beau laid a little hand on her shoulder. “They’re just so you get big and tall,” he said in a gentle voice.
“Yeah, Stevie, big and tall,” Ty added, placing his hand on her other shoulder.
It took all it had in me not to laugh at how the two of them were totally guilt tripping her.
Stevie’s little shoulders dropped with resignation as she ate the first brussel sprout, to which Casey, and then his boys, both gave her a round of applause.
The tension I felt when we first walked in today was completely gone, and I was thankful for that.
An hour later, I was leaving their house with a full stomach.
“Love you guys, take care, okay?” Addie called from the couch.
“Yes, love you too,” I called back, and Casey and the boys walked us to the door.
“Bring Josie with ya next time. I want to meet her,” Casey said, clapping me on the back.
I tensed.
“Oh boy. What’s that face?” he bit out. “You didn’t fuck it up with her already, did you?”
