by Mj Fields
He narrows his eyes. “You wouldn’t withhold cookies.”
“Oh, I would. I totally would.”
They stare at each other for a few more seconds until she looks back at Max. “Have another, Maxie.” She then looks at me. “Amias, have a dozen. But don’t ruin your appetite. We’re having a family dinner.” She looks at Jase. “Make the calls. Get them all here.”
He glares at her. “Do I get fucking cookies after dinner?”
She shrugs. “We’ll see.”
All Better Now
Sitting around the living room and dining room, the entire family is together for the first time in what feels like a lifetime. I’ve seen them all since the accident, but not all at once. I’m sure it was because they felt like it would overwhelm me, but honestly, it’s healing in a way.
Max nudges me. “The good old days?”
I nod. “Definitely. Plus a few extras.”
“Everyone except us has a plus one.” Max smiles as he looks around.
“Your sisters made up for our deficit in that department.”
Truth and Tobias, Justice and Gabrielle, Patrick and Sutton, Tris and Matteo, Brisa and Ranger, Bella and Tags, with their littles, Luna and Archer, and Kiki and Brand with Cooper.
Bella leans forward and giggles. “About that.”
Her husband, Tags, laughs, and their daughter, Luna, whose sitting on his lap, looks at him and whispers, “Can I tell?”
He lifts his chin. “You take Archer and grab the balloons.”
“I get to pop them or does he?”
He smiles. “Momma Bell made sure there were enough for all of us. They’re in her old room, in a big black garbage bag. Bring up the bag and set it in front of Momma.”
She hops off his lap and runs to where Archer and Cooper are playing. “Archer, come with me. I gotta tell you something.”
“Can I come, too?” Cooper asks.
Luna looks at Tags, who nods. “Coop’s in on this, too.”
She grins. “I already have two brothers. I hope it’s a—”
“Wait just a damn minute,” Jase says from across the room. Which is so fucked up that he catches what’s going down from that distance.
Luna laughs. “Pops is so funny.”
“Luna, you get you haven’t got a chance at being a normal teenager. Two generations deep of people who are gonna be watching you like a hawk.”
She cocks her head. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Nah, Little Moon.” Tags winks at his daughter. “It’ll keep you in check.”
She looks around at all of us. “Anyone else need to say something to me, or can I go get the bag?”
“Get over here and spill it, kiddo,” Jase says sternly.
“Pops, you need to chill.” She laughs and tears ass toward the stairs, the boys behind her.
“Oh shit.” Brand laughs. “She’s got Aunt Kiki’s attitude.”
Kiki huffs. “Nothing wrong with an additional alpha female in this family.”
Brisa butts in, “I’m totally an alpha—”
“Like hell you are.” Tris snorts. “Princess.”
“She’s a badass when you’re on the wrong side of her.” Ranger winks at Brisa. “I make it a point not to get on that side often.”
“You think I’m an alpha, Matteo?”
“You’re a little bit of everything wonderful.” He pulls her under his arm.
“I don’t know if it’s the accent or what he just said, but that’s some serious swoon.” Mom smiles.
“Kitten.” Dad pulls Mom into a hug, mimicking Matteo’s Spanish accent. “Remember, love, there is but one man you swoon for.”
“Wait just a second, you’re so pregnant that you found out the sex of this kid already, and I don’t know it yet?” Jase scowls at Bella.
“Between our show and the kids, we’ve been pretty busy. Not to mention—”
“We read the room well.” Tags winks at her. “Hasn’t really been an opportunity since our little surprise entered.”
“What he means is, he hates condoms.” Bella rolls her eyes at him.
“Who the fuck doesn’t?” Tags laughs.
“He’s not wrong,” Tricks interjects.
“Why aren’t you on the pill?” Truth asks.
“Oh, she is. She just passes out and forgets to take them. Heads-up, downing three pills when you realize you missed a few doesn’t have the same effect.” Tags chuckles.
Bella elbows him. “Thus the condoms.”
“Yeah, no. Fuck them.”
“Fuck them is right.” Justice holds up his beer.
“So, you’re just going to keep getting her pregnant?” Jase asks.
“Jase,” Carly snaps. “It takes two.”
“Baby, I’m aware, but—”
“Cookies, Jase, cookies,” she sneers as she walks toward Bella, leans down, and hugs her. “Congratulations! I am so happy for you. Your dad is, too. He’s just pissed he didn’t know first.”
“Am not.” Jase basically pouts as he heads over and gives Bella a hug. “Congrats, Little Bell.”
“We’re having a baby,” Archer and Cooper say together as they run into the room, Luna following them with the bag.
I love that Archer and Cooper are as close as brothers. I love that Bella made sure there was enough balloons for Cooper to have one, too. Kiki and Brand can’t have any more kids, but Cooper isn’t really missing out. And just like Tricks, he won’t act like the typical only child because he’s not. They are third generation in a tight as fuck family. They’re crew.
The three kids, and Bella and Tags, stand in the middle of the room, surrounded by all of us.
Bella starts the countdown. “On three, we pop them, okay?”
They all squeal and nod.
“One … two … aaaaand three!”
The boys and Luna sit on the balloons while Bella and Tags watch them, laughing until one, then another pop, and then they pop theirs.
White, silver, and light blue confetti bursts into the air, and everyone cheers. Everyone except Luna.
She’s got a big fake-ass smile on her precious little face and alligator tears falling down her cheeks. “I’m so happy.” She sniffs. “So happy we’re having another boy.” Sniff.
“Come here, Luna.” I try my best not to laugh.
“Are you happy, Uncle My?” She nods and sniffs as she walks toward me.
I move over so she can squeeze in between Max and me. “I’m happy, yeah.”
“Mom and Dad are so, so happy, too. And the boys, they are so, so happy.” Her little body shakes. “More trucks and Mega blocks. More dirt and sports. More peeing standing up. More pee on the seats.”
I wrap my arm around her.
“And snakes.” She sniffs. “Spiders.”
The dam bursts, and I pull her in to a tight hug. She immediately buries her face in my shirt and cries.
“So, so happy for all that.”
It’s not funny. I know it’s not to her anyway. And the fact that I’m the one consoling her is fucked up on so many levels. I love kids, but not on the same level the rest of them seem to. I don’t coddle, baby talk, or coo.
I look around for someone better suited to deal with this, and my eyes lock with Momma Joe’s. She looks up at Thomas, her husband, and laughs. Then she looks back at me and gives me a thumbs-up as amusement dances in her eyes. She’s not going to save me from this. She’s going to make me deal.
So, I deal.
An hour later, I’m sitting on the floor, drinking pretend tea out of plastic cups, pretending to eat plastic pastries from little pink plastic plates, watching a Disney movie, because I promised Luna that boys can do things girls like, too.
Yep, I did that.
Half an hour later, she’s passed out, probably from emotional exhaustion, and my phone vibrates in my pocket. I carefully pull it out and look at the screen.
JJ … Trenton New Jersey.
I hit accept and answer, “Hello?”
“Looking for Amias Steel. Is he available?”
“May I ask who’s calling?”
“Sure can. Name’s Buck Costello. Got your number from a colleague of mine, Steinbrenner. I own the—”
JJ, Jersey Jags.
I hold up my hand and, by the grace of God, everyone stops talking. “I know who you are, Mr. Costello.” I pull the phone away from my ear and hit speaker. “You own the Jersey Jaguars.”
The TV gets shut off, and the already silent room somehow grows more so.
“Right, the Jags.” He laughs loudly, and I can’t help but smile. “Our ranking’s in the shitter, has been for years. Our roster is filled with some of the oldest men in baseball. We’re not the Yankees, son. We’re not located in the Big Apple. We’re in Trenton. Stadium isn’t new and fancy, but it’s a stadium, nonetheless. Crowds don’t sell out unless we play the Yanks or the Socks. And lastly, there is no damn reason in the world you shouldn’t take a season off to rehab. There is no damn reason to sign with a team that’s been at the bottom for years. No reason at all. But I thought I’d take a chance and ask you, son. How do you feel about playing for the Jags this season?”
My heart sounds, and I laugh. “I gotta tell you, Mr. Costello—”
“Name’s Buck, son,” he states.
“Okay, Buck, I’m honored. I’d like a few days to talk to my—”
“Your old man? Zandor?”
I chuckle. “Yeah.”
“Your dad played high school ball with my son. One of the best I’d seen in years, but way more interested in playing with the girls than playing ball.”
“Thanks, Buck,” Dad chimes in. “My wife is happy to hear that.”
Buck laughs a hearty belly laugh. “Could have gone pro, you little shit. Not here to stroke your ego; here to get your boy on the field—my field.”
“Give us time to talk to his physical therapist and see what they think?”
“Of course. And before he sits down and signs a contract, I’d like my staff to do the same. They tell me a year; I still want him. He is the best I’ve seen in years. No way should he spend time down and out; could kill his focus. Money won’t be Yank’s money, but we’ll do what we can and hope to get him what he deserves.”
“Much appreciation, Buck.” Dad beams.
“Got a week,” Buck says.
Dad looks at me, really looks at me, and I nod.
“Give us three days.”
“You got my number, but do you need my address? Not sure you’ve been to my ballpark.”
“This goes the way we’d like it to, I’ll buy a box and be there every game.”
“Thank you, Mr.—”
“It’s Buck, Amias.”
“Thank you, Buck.”
I hit end, and the whole room erupts in claps, cheers, and celebration.
I feel Luna’s body jerk, and I look down as she opens her eyes.
“Were they wrong? Is it a girl?”
“I’m so sorry, Luna; it’s not. But guess what?” I ask as she sits up.
“What?”
“I’m going to be playing ball again real soon.”
She smiles that fake-ass smile and lifts her fist. “Yay, sports.” Then she stands and hurries to the bathroom.
Everyone looks at me.
Bella asks, “She okay?”
“She thought maybe the blue confetti was a mistake.”
Bella’s bottom lip puffs out. “Can one of you please have a girl for Luna?”
Luna walks out, toilet paper stuck to her face as if she wiped her tears with it, and runs up to me. “I’m sorry, Uncle My. I promise I’ll be your biggest fan.”
“Hey, Luna.”
I look back and see Sutton step forward and around Patrick.
“Yeah?” Luna turns around.
“Come here?”
Luna walks up to her, and Sutton wipes the toilet paper off her face as she tells her, “I’m not sure what we’re having, but there are two.” She takes her hand and places it on her belly.
Now that attention’s being drawn to it, and the oversized shirt is no longer just floating, I clearly see her swollen belly.
“So, we have a fifty-fifty chance at a girl, times two.”
“You’re having two babies?” Luna smiles.
“Twins. I guess it runs in the family.”
“What are you going to name her?”
“We haven’t decided yet.”
“Can I name her?”
Bella laughs. “Sutton has to carry her babies in her belly for a long time. She can’t have adult beverages and has to avoid a lot of her favorite foods, and then she has to go through labor. She’ll hold the babies in her arms and look at the lives she grew inside of her and only then will she truly know the babies’ names.”
“She’s not gonna make lists?”
“That’s up to her and Patrick to decide.”
Luna seems to understand. She turns and looks back at Sutton. “I really hope you have a girl.”
“Wanna know a secret?” Sutton whispers, and Luna nods. “I really hope I have one of each, because after these two, Uncle Patrick is getting snipped.”
“Snipped?”
“Means he can’t make any more babies.”
“Why don’t you want more babies?”
“Because I’ve spent three months throwing up, and it kind of sucks.”
“All right, Sutton.” Uncle Xavier laughs.
“A woman should know what she’s in for,” Sutton, who’s been meek and mild since coming back into Patrick’s life, tells him.
“Don’t I know it.” Xavier wraps his arm around her. “Throwing up, aching boobs … Wait until your ankles swell. I was hardly able to put on my shoes—”
Sutton glares at him while jabbing him in the side with her elbow.
“I mean, Taelyn’s shoes … for her.”
“Good catch,” she huffs.
“Love you, girl.” He pops a kiss to her cheek. “You are the mother earth to my grandkids. The womb that keeps them warm and nurtured. The—”
“Do something about your father,” Sutton says as she looks back at Patrick.
Chuckling, Xavier steps away, claps his hands, and then rubs them together. “If we’re keeping score here, Jase is up by two, and Cyrus and Zandor aren’t even in the game.”
“Seriously, X,” Aunt Taelyn huffs. “Give it a rest.”
Jase holds up his hand, and X gives him a high-five.
“And I still have my up and comer, Max.”
“On behalf of team Zandor, Matteo and I have something to announce.” Tris stands up, and Matteo looks at her with clear confusion. “We will not be assisting in overpopulating the Earth with humans. But we will continue to give birth to art every day.” She bows and then sits. “You’re welcome.”
Cyrus clears his throat. “You wanna do the honors, Tara?”
I look at Justice and Truth, who are both smiling. Then I see Momma Joe cover her heart and tears falling down her face.
“You go ahead.” She smiles softly up at him.
I scan the room to see if what I am reading on their faces is right as Mom leans into Dad and wipes a tear.
“We’re, um”—Cyrus runs a hand over his hair and clears his throat—“we’re having another.”
Sitting on the couch, still trying to absorb the energy, all positive in the room, tripping on the fact that Uncle Cyrus and Aunt Tara are having another baby at their age … I mean, Tara is young, having been nineteen when she had Truth and Justice, but still … dayum.
It’s also not gone unnoticed that Dad and Mom have been stuck like glue since the bombshell was dropped. They aren’t talking either, but they’ve always done this thing where they communicate nonverbally and think we don’t catch on. Let’s just say those are the nights all three of us wore headphones to bed.
Momma Joe sits beside me and takes my hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Like there’s a lot going on.” I laugh.
“Let’s focus on you. How are you feeling about the call you received?”
“Stoked, hopeful, happy to be given a second chance.”
“You were given a second chance? No, Amias. They were given the chance.”
“No one else has called, Momma Joe.”
“I’m guessing that means this is exactly where you are supposed to be, then.” She leans in and whispers, “I’ve already bought season tickets.”
New Beginnings
“Mommy, I get my own rooooom!” Georgie stands in the middle of her new bedroom and twirls in a circle, her waist-length black curls fanning out around her. My beautiful, feisty little girl is in her glory.
“You do.” As beautiful as she appears, I can’t help but think of the fight I’m going to endure after her bath when I brush through that hair of hers. I’ve suggested cutting it so we didn’t waste tears on trivial things like messy hair. That was the wrong thing to say, being she was ‘Auntie Lily’s’ flower girl and was gifted an iPad preloaded with Disney movies. She’s been stuck on Rapunzel since, and that was months ago.
“And you have your own room, too.” She dives on me, nearly knocking me over with a hug.
“I do.”
“So you can get us a daddy now?”
This is a common conversation since before the wedding. Some of her little friends at the college childcare center have daddies, and she doesn’t. She’d like one. It’s what she said, as if getting a daddy was as easy as adding it to a grocery list.
