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Kylie sighed. “That’s my brother. He’s overprotective.”
“Really? I didn’t notice,” Anita joked.
I scoffed. “Alright, you don’t have to be mean.”
“And you don’t have to be a helicopter!” Kylie scolded.
I gritted my teeth. “If you kept yourself out of trouble—”
“I’ll have you know,” she said pointedly, “that I’ve been staying out of trouble forthree months.”
“That’s because you’ve been married, Ky.”
Anita covered her mouth as the giggles continued. I was glad she was enjoying the show. Not often did I get to bicker with my sister so openly in front of someone I liked. As annoyingas my sibling was sometimes, I loved her too much to hold it against her.
In a lot of ways, she was right. I was a helicopter.
But I never heard Anita complain about it.
Kylie stood up with her hands on her hips. “You coddle those sleeping daisies. They haven’t been the same since you’ve been spending more time with Anita.”
“I thought they hated me.”
“Believe it or not, you’re a good caretaker, Liam.”
I faked a frown. “Then why do you sound so mad about it?”
“Uh, because you kept your girlfriend a secret from me, you dork.”
Anita exploded with laughter again as Fred wheezed. Concern gripped me when Anita started coughing uncontrollably. I kneeled beside her, patting her upper back through the fit.
“Ky, look what you’ve done,” I joked. “You broke my girlfriend!”
Hoarse laughter erupted from her that turned her face a bright scarlet. I sat back on my haunches while Kylie joined the chorus of chuckles.
“Yeah, ham it up,” I said with a sigh. “Get it all out now before I think of a payback for later.”
My sister held up her half-eaten sandwich. “Ham.”
Anita was about to turn blue if she laughed any more. When she started to teeter backward, I caught her shoulder and cautiously monitored her breathing. Eventually, she took a deep breath, clearing some of the crimson from her face.
I shook my head with a chortle. “If I’m this worried about you laughing, I can’t imagine how it’s going to be when you’re giving birth.”
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes, her chuckles fading as she swept her hands repeatedly over her cheeks. “Those chopper blades just keep getting louder.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Very funny, Ani.”
“I thought so too.”
“You’re lucky you’re gorgeous.”
She smiled hard enough to close her eyes, another small round of chuckles bubbling from her. There was so much joy here right now. So much affection.
It was something I never wanted to lose.
A branch snapped in the tree line, prompting Fred and me to whirl about with matching growls. Adrenaline kicked in as I scoped the trees, sniffing the air to investigate what had happened. It had likely been the breeze, but I didn’t want to take too many chances this close to sunset.
I reached for Anita without looking away from the forest. “We should head back home.”
