Thick Love

“Please. Don’t start with me.” I didn’t want to hear it.

I was getting ready to tell him to forget everything, pretend that I had even mentioned a girl, but then the front door opened and Lea

Lea

She greeted Mom with kiss when she’d finally made it back from the bathroom and pulled Koa into her arms before Lea

God that woman was loud.

“Didn’t hear it.”

When mom shook her head and reached for the bag in my hand, Lea

“You’re not hungry?” Mom asked.

“Big breakfast. Besides,” she said moving her head toward the kitchen before she inhaled, “I’m not really in the mood for one of your classic southern Sunday lunches. No roast for me,” she said, waving my mother off as she handed the baby back to my father. Lea

Lea

Today was no exception and we all watched her move around us, directing me to dole out plates, set up dishes on the table until lunch was underway. Until Lea

“Sit,” he told Lea

Lea

When Lea

Now that things had quieted down a bit, Mom tilted her head, her eyes sharp as she looked me over; I could feel the interrogation coming. “Everything okay?” She leaned forward, reaching for my hand across the table. “What’s going on with you?”

My mom was the strongest person I’d ever known, having raised me alone on nothing but determination and with the help of a couple of good friends. Then, against the odds, she went on to build a career with a kid in tow. Now she had to contend with being in the spotlight; not just her career as a Nashville songwriter, but Dad’s very public persona as a retired football superstar and new defensive coach at CPU, all while juggling a toddler and another on the way. She didn’t need the burden of my fucked up head or the stupid shit I couldn’t seem to let go of, too. So I said what came naturally—something slightly rude, and sure to make her laugh. “It’s all the girls, Mom. They all want me and it’s just so exhausting.”

“Ugh.” Mom’s dramatic disgust was almost as fu

“That’s genetic,” Dad said in passing, as he moved from the kitchen to the playroom, where sounds of toddler-ish destruction had suddenly arisen.

Mom’s mock disgust had Lea

“That’s ridiculous,” Mom said, brushing Lea

“You’re swollen again,” Lea

“Remind me where you went to medical school.”

“I’m serious, Keira.” Lea

“It’s not a terrible idea, a babysitter.” I avoided my mother’s glare, knowing she probably wouldn’t appreciate feeling like we were ganging up on her.

“It is,” Mom said.

Lea

“The girls I know aren’t the kind that are cool with watching kids.” Another crash sounded from the play room, louder than Dad’s cursing or the amused laughter Koa released. “Especially that kid.”

“What does that mean anyway?” Mom’s voice was higher than normal. “‘The girls you know?’” A small smirk and a lewd waggle of my eyebrows had my mother wincing. “You know what?” She paused dramatically. “I don’t wa

“Nope. You really don’t.” Mom’s laugh that time wasn’t as amused and just then I spotted the dark circles under her eyes. They made her look even more exhausted than I’d first noticed. Then, something occurred to me. “Hey, Lea

“That’s not an option,” Mom instantly answered for her cousin.

“She’s being picky.” Lea

“Koa has been sick a lot,” Mom argued, shaking her head at Lea

“You’re being anal.”

“Don’t you have a studio full of dancers to go check on?”

Lea

“Yeah, Lea

She called a goodbye to my dad, kissed Mom’s cheek and was nearly to the door before she turned back to me. “And speaking of the dance studio, don’t you even think about skipping that meeting at 2:00. You promised, Ransom.”

Shit. I had, but damn that had been a month ago when Tristian begged me to help him out with his mom’s recital. Then the little shit took off for a semester abroad in France leaving me high and dry with the volunteering bullshit. I frowned at my cousin, silently praying this volunteering gig wouldn’t have me pushed around a bunch of gri

“It’s in an hour,” she said as though I hadn’t said a word.

God, the women in this family were stubborn. I was going to say something else, maybe put on some of that Hale charm I’d been born with, but then my mother kicked my leg under the table and I realized it was hopeless. They’d gang up on me, no doubt, and Dad wouldn’t be any help either. He was more scared of them than I was.

“Fine. I’ll be there,” I sighed. When the door closed behind Lea