by R. J. Sable
“You’re not happy to see me, Alex?” I teased, still waiting for my greeting hug.
“Always,” he grinned. “But you don’t do filthy things to me,” he whispered as he hugged me.
“Alex,” I chided, my cheeks reddening to match Rab’s who had clearly heard what Alex had said.
“Could you be any less subtle, Alex?” Rab sighed, shaking his head. He was grinning though as Alex gave him his best innocent pout. It had the same effect on Rab that it had on me and I could tell he was already forgiven.
“Hey, Jellybean,” Ian grinned, pulling me into a very tight hug.
“Hi, big brother,” I wheezed back at him, sucking in huge gulps of air as soon as he put me down.
I hugged Karl as well and watched as Ian greeted Jason.
“Whatever you do, don’t mention the size of Elise’s belly,” Karl warned me seriously, wrapping his hand around my shoulders and guiding me into the house. “She’s fricking dangerous.”
I giggled because he actually looked a little afraid and that was hilarious. Karl wasn’t scared of anything apart from his wife.
“Jelly!” Elise declared happily, swaying from side to side with her large stomach leading the way. “You look so great! I’ve not seen you looking this healthy for ages!”
“You mean I’ve gotten fatter?” I grinned, watching Karl shooting me venomous glares from behind Elise for broaching a dangerous topic.
“You look good for it, Jelly. I mean it. Not fat all,” she shook her head. “You want to see fat? Look at what your caveman brother has done to me!” She pouted, rubbing her admittedly very swollen stomach. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she was five minutes away from going into labour. “I’ll never get my figure back.” She reached behind her and gave Karl what looked like a very painful nipple twist and I watched him wincing and clenching his teeth until she released him.
I stifled a giggle as Karl rubbed his poor, tortured nipple.
“You look beautiful, Elise,” Karl reassured her, using both hands to protect his nipples in case of further retribution.
Elise scowled and pushed past him to greet Jason. Karl turned his attentions back to me and I darted into the kitchen on the hunt for another brother to hide behind because the glare he gave me was a little terrifying.
“Hi, Craig,” I grinned, turning my attentions to him after being sandwiched between the twins.
Alex, Adam, and Rab trailed into the kitchen and Elise served them tea and coffee, despite the fact the twins kept trying to take over.
“I’m pregnant not dying, move out of the way,” she threatened them.
They raised their hands and backed away. I imagine they’d probably witnessed more than a few purple-nurples over the past few months and weren’t too keen on pissing her off.
“Can I help, Elise?” I asked.
“Can you get the biscuits out?” She answered with a smile.
I nodded and searched through the cupboard, pulling out packets of biscuits.
“How come she gets to help?” Danny complained.
“Because she asked,” Elise shrugged.
I busied myself arranging biscuits on a plate and enjoyed the banter. The house phone rang and I picked it up since I was closest.
“Hello?” I answered.
I was met with silence so I tried again. Nothing. I shrugged and hung up, putting the phone back on the stand.
“Who was it?” Ian frowned.
“There was no one there,” I shrugged. “Prank call I guess.”
“Again?” Ian’s frown deepened and he sighed.
“Haven’t you been getting quite a few on your mobile as well, shorty?” Adam asked.
“Yeah, probably just kids,” I shrugged.
I saw Ian fixating his interrogation gaze on me and resisted the urge to shrink back. “What’s up?” I asked him.
“You’ve been getting prank calls?” He asked.
“Sort of,” I shrugged. “There’s never anyone there.”
“Hmm,” he frowned.
“What?” I asked.
“Just a little curious,” he shrugged, trying to brush it off, but I’d seen the look of interest on his brow.
“Why?” I pressed, hoping he wouldn’t be annoyed with my barrage of curiosity.
“Your mobile and the house phone are both in my name,” he shrugged.
I wanted to question him further but I could see he was getting irritated with me so I let it drop.
We relocated to the lounge and I listened to Ian and Karl interrogating Rab. The poor guy looked a little terrified but he answered all their questions seriously. I thought it was kind of sweet that their overprotection extended to Alex as well.
“I’ve already warned him what I’ll do to him if he hurts Alex,” I reassured Ian, winking at Rab.
Ian laughed and pulled me into his side. “Yeah and I’m sure that terrified him, Jelly.”
“I’m dangerous!” I pouted, annoyed that he didn’t consider me a genuine threat.
Ian raised his eyebrow at me and pushed me down onto the sofa playfully, probably trying to make a point about my non-lethality. I frowned sulkily and crossed my arms over my chest.
“You’re dangerous for my mental health,” Jason teased, sitting down next to me. “You mind not provoking your brothers? It seems to overload their oestrogen levels.”
Jason grinned, nodding his head towards Karl. I felt a little guilty. I assumed Karl had taken out his purple-nurple frustration on Jason after I initiated the nipple-twist conversation.
“You’re doing a pretty good job of provoking them yourself,” I warned, watching my brothers shooting daggers in Jason’s direction.
“Meh,” Jason shrugged, relaxing back into the sofa next to me.
My man and his death wish. I sighed inwardly and mentally pleaded that Karl and Ian would let it slide.
“What’s with the third degree?” Rab asked, drawing my brothers’ attentions back to him, for which I was grateful.
“Alex is practically family,” Ian shrugged. “He may be an annoying little pain in the arse but he’s our annoying pain in the arse.”
“That’s the nicest insult I’ve ever received,” Alex declared melodramatically.
Ian rolled his eyes and slapped Alex’ back gently, sitting down on the other side of Rab and Alex.
“I got the impression you lot didn’t get on too well with Alex,” Rab frowned.
“Oh?” Jake laughed, sitting down on the futon in front of us. “And whatever gave you that impression?”
“I may have mentioned that we spent half of our teenage years hiding from you,” I grinned.
“Only half?” Ian laughed.
“How come?” Rab frowned, his usually relaxed face lined with tension.
“He has a bad habit of being a little too hands on with our sister,” Ian shrugged. “We don’t appreciate it, Jason can probably attest to that.”
Jason grinned and pulled me tighter into his side. I smiled and glanced over at Ian who looked surprisingly nonplussed at Jason’s display of territorial dominance.
“I don’t get it,” Rab said, shaking his head and looking rather confused.
“Leave it, Rab,” Adam pouted, squeezing Rab’s hand gently. He looked a little uncomfortable.
“What don’t you get?” Jake grinned, his eyes darting back and forth between Alex and me.
“Why would you care?” Rab frowned. “Alex is gayer than gay.”
“So?” Ian laughed. “What does that matter?”
“Well it’s not like he was trying to sleep with her,” he shrugged before turning to Alex. “Or were you?”
“No,” Alex laughed. “No offense, Jellybaby. You’re a critical piece of equipment short.”
“Then why?” Rab asked.
“You mean we should treat him differently because he’s gay?” Ian raised his eyebrow.
Rab looked a little flabbergasted as he studied Ian. He seemed to be a little lost for words.
; “Exactly,” Ian grinned, correctly assuming he’d made his point judging by the look on Rab’s face. I felt a glimmer of pride for Ian’s perspective. Rab was right, it made absolutely no sense to punish Alex for being close to me. However, I loved that Ian wanted to treat him the same as everyone else, and I suspect Alex appreciated it too in an obscure way.
“You both staying at yours?” Ian asked Alex.
“Yeah,” Alex frowned.
I recognised that look. That was Alex’ universal “my Dad’s an asshole” look.
“What’s up?” I asked him.
“My Dad’s home,” he groaned. “We’ve managed to avoid him so far. He’s been at conferences every time we’ve been home.”
I pouted sympathetically, seeing the hurt look on Alex’ face.
“Well, if he’s a dick you can just crash here for a while,” Ian shrugged. “If you keep your hands off Jelly,” he added in mock warning.
“Thanks,” Alex said, the surprise obvious in his voice.
“You should be alright though,” Craig chimed in. “Your Dad’s a racist bastard. He’ll probably be worried Rab’s a terrorist.”
“Gay and Arab, I tick all the boxes,” Rab grinned. “At least I’ll get a job once I graduate.”
We laughed and Rab seemed much more relaxed. I’m pretty sure he thought my brothers were gay bashers or something but their chat seemed to have put him at ease a little.
Adam seemed to be getting on pretty well with the twins and it was nice that he fit right in. He was the only male friend I’d ever had that my brothers hadn’t given a hard time. I suspected that might waver a little once I told them about my living arrangements for next year. I figured it was better to get it out of the way sooner rather than later.
“Ian, can I have a word?” I asked awkwardly after we finished washing up the lunch dishes.
Ian sighed heavily and leaned into the worktop. “Whenever one of you says that, I know I’m not going to like it.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled because I didn’t know what else to say.
He beckoned me into the lounge and Jason, who’d been watching us intently, followed.
“Spit it out,” Ian sighed, standing in front of the sofa and motioning for me to sit down in front of him.
“I signed the contract for a house next year,” I said, knowing it was better just to get straight to it rather than beating around the bush.
“You two moving in together?” Ian asked, looking back and forth between me and Jason. His face was impassive, as usual, which made me uncomfortable, as usual.
“No,” I shook my head, confused by the look on Ian’s face at my answer. “I’m moving in with Adam, Bradley, and Eric.”
“You’re moving in with three guys?” Ian frowned, crossing his arms across his chest and making the transition to soldier mode.
“Yes, sir,” I nodded, glad for Jason’s arm around my waist.
“And you decided that you’d tell me that after signing the contract,” he said calmly.
“Sorry, sir,” I cringed. “I’ve been living with them all year. They’re my friends.”
“Why didn’t you have her move in with you?” Ian asked, turning to Jason.
“She didn’t want to,” Jason shrugged. “She can live wherever she wants.”
Ian sighed and rubbed his temples, a sure sign of irritation. “Jelly, you’d be safer with Jason.”
I frowned in confusion, this was not the reaction I’d been expecting.
“She won’t be living far from me, Ian,” Jason said, looking as confused as I felt. “But they’re good guys.”
“You should have told me before you signed, Jelly,” Ian sighed, his attentions on me again.
“Sorry,” I apologised cautiously, aware that Ian was no longer looking quite so solider-like. “I was trying to sort things by myself for once. I don’t want to be a burden.”
“You’re not a burden, Jelly,” Ian reassured me, sitting down next to me on the sofa. “Don’t you need me to sign a guarantee?”
“No,” I shook my head. “We had to find a landlord that didn’t mind us not having one because Adam doesn’t have anyone to sign,” I explained.
“We would have signed for both of you, Jellybean,” Ian smiled kindly. “That’s what family is for.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled again, caught off guard by the fact that he was reacting so well to the news. I’d been expecting some sort of retribution.
“That being said,” Ian frowned, standing up again. “I expect to be informed about these things, Jelly.”
I nodded solemnly. This was more like it.
“You’ll both be joining me and Karl for our run at 0500 tomorrow,” he said firmly, leaving no room to question whether or not he was serious.
“Jason has to come too?” I pouted. It didn’t seem fair that the punishment extended to him as well.
“He didn’t stop you,” Ian frowned.
“Alright,” Jason nodded, giving me a look that told me not to push the issue because he didn’t really mind. I didn’t mind either. A punishment run was much preferable to other means.
Chapter 37
Sunday, June 2nd 2013
I got the impression that Karl was unhappy with my running. The thought made me grin. I knew this was meant to be penance for my misdeeds but I was having the time of my life. I’d never had such an easy time of keeping up with Karl. My running had gotten better and better over the past few months. I had to admit that Jason was right, the extra weight had helped. My BMI was up to just over twenty and I’d never felt so energized. I owed Jason a lot for helping me get there.
Karl scowled at me and I looked down at my watch. We’d been running for almost two hours and the pace had been brutal. He kept upping the tempo and looking at me as though he expected me to fall behind but I soldiered on, spurred on by his obvious frustration.
He gave up and waved us off once we got to the estate, breaking off and sprinting back towards his own house. I glanced over at Jason as we rounded the corner back onto our estate. He looked fine. I guess all his training pays off.
As usual, Ian had barely broken a sweat but I suspected he wasn’t far off letting his coffee and biscuit habit turn him into a crazy person. When we stopped outside the house and started to stretch, I was thoroughly enjoying a runner’s high.
“You’ve been practising,” Ian said, cocking his head at me.
“A bit,” I admitted.
“You can do thirty for enjoying it too much then,” he grinned.
I groaned inwardly, I hated press-ups. I sucked at them. Ian didn’t look too bothered at the fact that I hadn’t really considered my punishment all that punishing though. If anything, he looked a little proud so I just rolled over and got started on them and Jason followed suit.
The first thing I did when I got into the house was make for the coffee pot and pour Ian a cup because it was nice seeing him in a good mood and I wasn’t willing to risk it.
“Cheers, Jelly,” Ian winked, gratefully accepting the coffee and making straight for the biscuits.
I shared a delightful shower with Jason, which lasted a little too long and involved lots of attempts at muffling noises that were not suitable for my brothers’ ears.
We fell into a comfortable routine of hanging out with Adam, Alex, and my brothers. They were different with me, the same, but different. Or maybe it was me that was different? It was hard to say. I wasn’t openly challenging them and testing their promise. I still resisted rolling my eyes because I knew it bothered them, and I didn’t want to be disrespectful, but I did find myself answering back a little more where I might not have before.
A pleasant surprise was Jake and Craig’s behaviour. On the occasions I really pissed one of our eldest brothers off, for example on the day I was my usually clumsy self and spilt piping hot coffee all over Matt, Jake and Craig were at my side instantly. Jason didn’t even get chance to react before the two of them jumped to my defence.
“It was an acci
dent, Matt,” Craig had said, a note of warning in his voice.
“Clumsy fucking cow,” Matt had scowled.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Jake had warned, a boldness I’d never seen him use with Matt before.
“I’m sorry, Matt,” I’d apologised wholeheartedly, already pouring him a new cup of coffee.
To my further surprise, Matt had simply sighed and backed off, nipping upstairs to change out of his coffee-stained trousers.
The week passed in a blissful blur. I spent a lot of time with Adam and Alex as we tried our best to cheer Adam up whilst he hatched a plan to win Laura back. Despite the fact that I was having a great time with my best friends, my amazing boyfriend, and my mostly reformed brothers, I felt my mood getting worse and worse as the week progressed and Monday loomed on the horizon.
I knew Jason could tell I was upset but he didn’t press me. Instead, he brought me a new box of chocolates on Sunday evening with a knowing wink and a lovely calming cuddle. I appreciated the gesture. I didn’t think I could talk about it with my brothers around, it was too much, but I liked the fact that he was giving me a new box of questions. A whole new set of truffles filled with delicious information about my equally delicious boyfriend.
“A girl could get used to this,” I grinned, pulling open my truffles as I sat cross-legged on the sofa with him, Alex, Rab and Adam.
“Share!” Alex demanded once he saw what the box contained.
“Nope,” I grinned. “These are all for me,” I apologised. “But I’ll buy you a slice of Rocky Road next time we get coffee.”
“Why not?” He pouted.
“Because these chocolates are special,” I answered.
“Jason,” Ian popped into the room and nodded his head, beckoning for Jason to follow him.
Jason nodded and kissed me on the forehead, leaving me to wonder what Ian wanted. To my pleasant surprise, there was no twinge of worry in my stomach. No anxiety that they’d end up in a fight. The fact that Ian had actually wanted me to move in with Jason spoke volumes about the trust he held for Jason. I knew they were uncomfortable with me having a boyfriend but I also respected how much effort they were putting into accepting it.
