by Apryl Baker
“No cousins?” Sara frowned at a stain on her white rug.
“No, his parents didn’t have any brothers and sisters. Both sets of grandparents have passed.”
“Well, at least he has you now.” Sara wasn’t watching Jo when she said that, but Mason. Jo followed her gaze to see Mason’s jaw clenched. She wasn’t sure if it was from Delia pulling his hair out by the roots or from what Sara said. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, thinking it might be from what Sara said.
No, Jo, you are not going there. You love Ray.
“He does.” Jo put the bottle down and shifted the baby over her shoulder so she could burp him.
The doorbell rang, and Sara waved her husband back down. “It’s the pizza. I’ll get it. Why don’t you and Jo put the boys in the Pack ‘n Play while we eat?”
Viktor nodded and walked over to the Pack ‘n Play set up beside the fireplace. They were using it as a makeshift bassinet at the moment. When the twins got older, it would turn into a playpen. Once she got Riley to burp, she laid him down beside his brother. They were identical. If Sara hadn’t dressed them in different outfits, she’d never know which one was which.
“Malyshka, you’ll have to do Mason’s makeup after we eat.” Viktor chuckled when Mason shot him a grateful look.
“Pepperoni?” the little girl asked, her eyes skating over Jo and then away quickly.
“Maybe.” Viktor reached out his hand, and his daughter latched on, allowing her father to lead her into the kitchen.
“Sooo…” Jo grinned at Mason, who sat on the floor with a pinched, resigned expression. “You play makeover a lot, I take it.”
“Every time I’m here.” He took her outstretched hand and let her pull him up. “It makes her happy.”
“She adores you.”
“She’s my girl.” Mason hooked his arm through hers, and they started walking toward the kitchen where they could hear Delia telling her parents she wanted chocolate milk.
“Is everything okay?” She looked up at him. He was so much taller than she was. “You seem sad.”
In that second, her foot decided to tangle with the floor in an odd movement, and she pitched forward, bringing Mason with her. He landed on top of her. She closed her eyes, mortified. Dammit. Why was she such a klutz?
“You’re becoming hazardous to my health now, Josephine.” Mason pushed himself up, but not off her.
“Sorry,” she muttered and tried to push him off, but he didn’t move. “Uh, Mase. You need to move so we can get up.”
“But what if I like it here?”
She ignored the blatant flirtation. “Too damn bad. Now move your ass before Delia comes running to see what’s keeping you.”
“She’d ask a thousand questions.”
Still, he didn’t move, and Jo finally forced herself to look up. Despite his teasing tone, his expression was so far from that, she sucked in a breath. His face was a hair’s breadth from hers. His lips were within kissing distance, and when his tongue darted out to wet his lips, she fought back the urge to lean up and kiss him.
“Then don’t you think we should get up?” Jo cringed. She sounded breathy, the way she’d sound if she was in that wishful, lustful, please-kiss-me state. Which she wasn’t.
“I guess.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “You are a distraction, Josephine. Thank you.”
“What?” That made no sense.
“I’ll tell you why I’m sad and why I needed the distraction after Delia goes to bed. We don’t want her to know anything’s wrong.”
“Okay.” She hoped nothing was really wrong, but at least he was going to tell her. Holding things inside was never good for anyone. She knew it from experience. After helping her up, she and Mason found his family in the dining room already passing out plates. They sat at the table and spent the next hour laughing and listening to Delia tell them some crazy story she’d made up. It was a nice evening.
Chapter Seven
Mason slouched on the couch, exhausted. His scalp was sore to the touch, thanks to Delia’s need to put him in curlers. He hadn’t even bothered to look in the mirror at the makeup job. It would take him at least half an hour to scrub that shit off. The things he did for Princess Peach.
“Delia doesn’t do a half bad makeup job.” Jo sat beside him and handed over a steaming mug of coffee. It was just how he liked it. More milk than coffee, and no sugar. Kade’s wife, Angel, turned him on to the combination.
“You remember how I like my coffee?”
“We’ve been eating together all week. I picked up on it.”
“You’re a good friend, Josephine.” He gave her a small smile and laid his head back against the couch.
“So, you want to tell me what has you looking like someone kicked your favorite puppy?”
Mason’s gut clenched. He set his coffee down before he spilled it. Just the memory of that conversation made him shake.
“It’s my papa. Mama called tonight and told us he has stage two lung cancer.” He blinked back tears. “We didn’t want Delia to know anything.”
“Mason, I’m so sorry.” She reached over and pulled him into a hug. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“I don’t know what to do.” Mason buried his head in the crook of her neck. “I want to get on a plane, but Conner went to get him and bring him back to the States. We have better doctors here.”
“Shh,” Jo soothed. “I know it’s hard, but he’ll be home soon.”
“But what then?” he asked. “What happens when he comes home? What if there’s nothing we can do? What if he waited too long before going to the doctor? What do I do if my papa dies, moye dragotsennyy?”
“You survive.” She stroked his hair, trying to calm him. “My grandmother died from breast cancer a few years ago. It’s hard, but you put on a happy face, and you stay strong for them. Your dad will need your strength. Knowing he has you and the rest of your family there for him, it will give him the will to fight this thing.”
“I don’t know if I can survive the loss of my papa.”
Jo’s heart broke hearing him say that. Cancer was such an ugly disease. It robbed you of everything. She’d seen Gran fight for years against it. It went into remission once, but when it came back, it came back hard and spread everywhere. It had nearly killed Jo when Gran passed. She spent as much time at her grandparents’ house as she did her own growing up. Gran was more a second mother to her than a grandparent. Mason’s pain was one she understood well.
“You can.” She pulled him closer, feeling his shoulders shake as he silently sobbed. “But, Mason, you’re giving up on him even before you know what’s going on. Let him get here, let the doctors do their thing before you borrow trouble. He might be able to beat this thing.”
“You think?” He pulled back and looked at her. The depth of pain reflected in those wide black eyes was staggering. They burned with unshed tears.
“Yeah, Mason, I think. We have to pray and hope for the best. If you go in thinking he’s going to die, he’ll see that. You have to be strong for him. This is going to be a long, hard battle, and if he thinks his family doesn’t believe he can beat it, that can be just as bad as the cancer eating away at him. You can’t let him see your doubts or your fears.”
“Papa is the strongest man I know. He taught us everything. How do I get through this?”
“You take tonight, and you let yourself feel all the pain you’re in right now. Let it out, and then when he comes home, you walk in there like the cocky, carefree man I’ve come to know. Be his baby boy and tell him how much you love him and believe in him. Being yourself and not some sad, morose version of you will help him more than anything else.”
He nodded and hugged her again, his arms so tight, they made it hard to breathe, but she took it. He was hurting so much right now. It caused her own heart to ache for the torment his family was about to go through.
“Thank you,” he murmured against her ear. His warm breath teased her hair, and she fough
t the shudder that threatened.
“You’re welcome,” she whispered back. “Lay down and get some sleep. I’ll be on baby watch for now.”
Instead of moving over to the other side of the couch, he stretched out and put his head in her lap. She froze for a heartbeat, but then gave in to the urge to run her fingers through his hair. It was a little longish and on the shaggy side, but it was softer than her own.
It didn’t take him long to find sleep. He was emotionally exhausted. She glanced over at the Pack ‘n Play where the twins slept. They’d convinced Viktor and Sara to leave them down here so the two of them could get some actual sleep. They both looked beyond tired.
Mason had told her how much he adored Delia, but to see it was an entirely different matter. He was gentle and patient with her, letting her do what she wanted to him because it made her happy. It took a strong man to do that.
She couldn’t help but think of Ray with his niece and nephew. For the most part, he ignored them. When he did have to deal with them, he tended to get impatient. He would never sit down on the floor and let Molly curl his hair or put makeup on him.
He and Mason were so different, and that was what her brother was counting on. Jo sighed. She was beginning to see that things with Ray were far from perfect because of Mason. Didn’t mean she was going to break up with him, because she truly did love Ray, and she owed him. It simply meant she was more aware of his flaws. She’d talk to him. Maybe they could work out a few things that bothered her about the way he treated her sometimes.
The babies woke up an hour later, and she fed and changed them both then put them back down, singing a lullaby softly until they fell out. She smiled at their beautiful little faces. At least Mason’s father would get to meet them in case he didn’t beat the cancer. These two would bring him such joy. Babies did that for everyone. You couldn’t help but smile at them.
Jo nodded off around two and was jostled awake when the twins started to cry. She started to rise, but Mason was already up, and he waved her down. He picked up one baby and tried to rock him a little, but he only cried harder.
“What the hell am I doing wrong?” he asked, looking unsure of himself.
“He’s hungry.” She got up and went into the kitchen to warm two bottles. Once that was done, she came back into the living room and picked up Ronin. She popped one bottle in his mouth and handed the other to Mason, who mimicked her.
“You’re good with them.” Mason sat beside her on the couch and rested the baby on his knee, keeping his head elevated.
“I love babies.” She stroked Riley’s cheek. “They are our own personal pieces of Heaven to take care of for the time we have them.”
Mason’s breath caught at the look on her face. She was so damn beautiful with her eyes shining and a soft smile gracing her lips. And she wasn’t only beautiful on the outside. Her kindness and compassion shined through. Jo was awesome.
“Do you want kids?”
“Sure.” She wiggled the bottle to see if Ronin was done eating, and the little bugger started sucking again. Riley, he saw, was dozing with the bottle in his mouth, and he pulled it out. The baby’s face scrunched up, getting ready to wail, and he stuck the bottle right back in.
“How many?”
“At least four or five. I grew up in a huge family. I want my kids to have lots of brothers and sisters to lean on.”
“Me too.” Saying it out loud, he realized it was true. He wanted lots and lots of kids. Being around his nieces and nephews had made him start thinking about family and what he wanted more than he was ready to admit to himself.
“How about Ray? How many kids does he want?” Just saying the guy’s name left a foul taste in Mason’s mouth.
“I don’t know. We’ve never really discussed it.”
“How long have you been dating him?” A tendril of blonde hair had escaped her ponytail sometime while she slept. It seemed to want to tease the baby, and his little fist tried to catch it. She laughed at his antics, and the sound pierced his soul. It was full of so much joy. He needed that right now when his own heart was breaking for his papa.
“We got together in high school. I was seventeen, so, three years.”
“That’s a long time.” Mason heard Ronin sucking air, and he removed the bottle, throwing the baby up on his shoulder to burp him like Sara had taught him to do. “You guys discussed marriage?”
“Off and on, but not seriously. That’s part of why I moved in with him. I wanted to see what it would be like to be married before I jumped in that particular frying pan.”
“Keith would be proud.” He smirked, thinking of the relief on his best friend’s face when he told him that bit of information.
Jo shook her head. “I would have told him that if he hadn’t acted like such an asshole.”
“Brothers get carte blanche to act like assholes.”
“Bullshit.”
“All my brothers were assholes to me growing up, but when I need them, they’re always there. Keith would do just about anything to protect you, Josephine. Don’t discount that. Family is all you have in this world.” He heard Ronin burp and pulled him down to cuddle him close. “This right here is more important than all the bullshit piled up together.”
“You’re not who I thought you were at all.” Her serious blue eyes regarded him with a hint of curiosity.
“What do you mean?”
“You come off as this cocky, carefree guy who doesn’t have a serious bone in his body. But I think that’s a front.”
“You do, do you?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I do. You have this big heart, and you feel deeply. I think deep down, you are a very serious person with values and morals, and you’ll do what’s right, no matter the cost to you.”
Shit. How had she seen what he kept hidden from everyone, even his brothers? They’d only known each other a week, and she’d already seen into the very heart of him. It shook him.
So he did what he always did when things shook him.
“Don’t be telling anyone else these lies. Can’t have rumors ruining my rep.”
“Your rep?” She quirked a brow.
“I’m the fun guy, the ladies’ man. If you go spouting that, the women will think I’m a catch, and I don’t want that. I’m as big of a manwhore as the rest of my brothers. Can’t be letting the women on campus think otherwise.”
“Manwhore?”
He laughed softly so as not to disturb the twins, who looked to be going back to sleep. “We’re all whores when it comes to women. Except Viktor. He always looked for love, and Nik calls himself a connoisseur of women, but he’s a whore like the rest of us. We don’t do relationships. We never sleep with a woman more than once. The women know that going into it, though. It keeps things simple and uncomplicated.”
“So, you’re saying you’re a manwhore too?”
“Hells yeah, baby.” He tossed her his most charming grin.
“That’s awful, Mason.”
“Why?”
“Because…well, aren’t you looking for someone to love too?”
“Nah. I’m only twenty-two. I got years before I have to worry about that shit. I don’t want the responsibility of a girlfriend or a family right now. Freedom is the magic of all that is fun, and I’m all about the fun, babe.”
She studied him, and he worked hard to keep the carefree look on his face. This girl. She saw him like no one else did. Best to not let her under his skin too deep. She was already taken, and he did not want the pain of that heartache.
“Somehow, I don’t believe you.”
He shrugged. “Believe it or not. It’s true, nonetheless.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.”
Silence reigned for the next few minutes. It wasn’t uncomfortable either. Girls could sometimes get weird when it came to silence. They felt the need to fill it up with useless chatter, which tended to irritate Mason. Jo, however, seemed content to sit there and watch the twins sleep.
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“Thanks for earlier.” Mason slid down and propped the now sleeping baby on his chest. He wasn’t about to move him for fear of waking him. “It helped.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled, and his heart clenched up the tiniest bit. “I’ll keep your dad in my prayers.”
“Thank you, Josephine.”
They slipped back into silence until they both fell asleep right along with the twins.
Chapter Eight
“Hey, babe!”
Jo sighed. This was the third time Ray had interrupted her. And it would be the third time she’d had to start over on her Let’s Play of the new horror game her subscribers asked for. It didn’t do to have the boyfriend talking in the background of one of her videos. Not like he wanted to be on her show, anyway. She’d tried several times to get him to do some quirky videos for Valentine’s Day or Christmas, but he just turned his nose up.
She got up and found him in their bedroom, packing for his week-long trip. He worked construction, and they’d be away on the job site.
“Yeah?”
He frowned, rummaging through a dresser drawer. “Why can’t I find my blue dress shirt?”
“What do you need a dress shirt for? I thought you were going to be on the site all day.”
“Because we might go out for drinks or something. I don’t want to wear work clothes.” He gave her a duh look.
It was her turn to frown. She didn’t know if she liked the thought of him going out for drinks with the guys…guys she didn’t know. What if he…no. Ray would not cheat on her. In the years they’d been together, he’d never cheated. Not once. She’d trust him not to cheat now, even if he was four hours away around people who wouldn’t tell her if he was doing something he shouldn’t.
He’d earned that trust.
She went to the closet and found his shirt. “Here you go.”
“Thanks, babe.” He flashed her a smile and tucked the shirt in his suitcase. “Want to go out to dinner before I have to leave?”
This was the first time he’d asked her to go out since they’d arrived in New York. As much work as she had to do, a date night trumped it.
