Chapter 31
Logan
“He’s really hard to kill. I can fight him for you, if you want.”
Rilla gives Travis the side-eye before replying “Young man, I have been defeating Bowser’s minions since long before you were born. I have cleared the levels, destroyed the castles, and saved the princess. Believe me: I’ve got this.”
She proceeds to beat the Koopaling in less than a minute without letting him land any hits on her Luigi. She leans back on the couch looking rather smug with herself as she hands the controller to a begrudgingly impressed Travis.
When she spots me watching them from the kitchen doorway she stands and makes her way towards me, her small, blonde shadow following closely behind her.
“Lunch smells good. Can I help with anything?”
“No, it’ll be ready in a few minutes.” I’m making baked chicken fingers and homemade potato wedges today. None of us have been able to stomach macaroni and cheese since the day they were sick. “But if you’d like to set the kitchen table, I won’t stop you.”
“Pfft. I’d like to see you try to stop us. Right, Anna?”
“Right!”
As I watch Rilla raid the cupboards for plates and glasses I realize how comfortable she seems in my home. She’s been spending more time here in the past few weeks and it’s clear that she knows her way around. After grabbing cutlery, she closes the drawer with her hip as if she’s done it a hundred times before.
I’d run downstairs to grab the kids to save Shannon the hassle of parking and walking them up. She was grateful and eager to get to work to see exactly how much of a catastrophe she was in for.
Travis talked without stopping on the way up to my apartment. He was speculating how many emergency vehicles would be at the hospital and whether or not there would be helicopters brought in.
Anna seemed much quieter, clinging to Rumplebunkins and squeezing my hand.
I brought myself down to her eye level and assured her that even though her mom was called in for an emergency, she wasn’t going to be in any danger.
They experienced a complete demeanor swap the moment I opened the apartment door and they spotted Rilla. Anna became the animated little chatterbox I know and love, while Travis regarded her with thinly veiled suspicion.
But even he couldn’t hold out for long. Twenty minutes later, they were all playing video games and talking about their favorite Marvel characters.
I grab the food from the oven and proceed to plate it.
“Anna, could you please go tell your brother that lunch is ready.”
“On it!” She skips out of the kitchen and I watch Rilla smiling after her. Abandoning the food, I cross the room and grab a quick kiss before the kids are back.
“What was that for?”
“For being so great with them.” And for not running away when I told you I loved you. “They adore you.”
“I’m not doing anything other than treating them like people. Just because kids are shorter than us doesn’t mean you need to talk down to them.”
“Anna might be mildly obsessed with you.” Not that I blame her.
“What do you think she’ll do when she finds out my middle name is Anne?”
“Handcuff herself to you and refuse to ever leave your side.”
The kids arrive and we all sit down at the table to eat. Anna pulls her chair so close to Rilla’s, she’s practically sitting in her lap.
“Do you live here now?” Travis asks her as he dunks a potato wedge in ketchup.
“No, I do not. Just…passing through. I’ve got my own apartment.”
“But you’re Uncle Logan’s girlfriend, right?” Anna’s blue eyes look up at her with pure adoration.
Rilla glances at me, but I choose that moment to take a long drink of water. She looks back at my niece. “Yes.”
“Are you going to marry him?”
My drinking plan backfires as I choke on the water, coughing it up violently.
“Are you okay, Uncle Logan?” Anna asks as I continue to cough, my eyes watering.
“Yeah, are you okay?” Rilla asks, a “serves you right” look on her face.
“I’m fine.” I wheeze. “Water just went down the wrong pipe. Anna, after lunch, do you want to show Rilla the stories you’ve been working on?”
This suggestion motivates her to eat as quickly as possible. This also means that it has halted her investigative reporting on our relationship. Rilla and Anna finish their lunches first and head to the living room to talk fairytales while Travis and I remain in the kitchen.
“Are you going to marry her?” he asks when we’re alone.
“Honestly? We haven’t been dating that long. The subject hasn’t even come up.”
He nods. “She seems pretty cool.”
“She is. I think you’ll really like her when you get to know her.” Travis and Rilla have more in common than either of them realize. On top of their love of superhero movies and Nintendo, they both have wicked senses of humor. I can only hope they won’t decide to join forces against me: I’ll be done for.
My nephew continues to pick at his lunch and I start to think the conversation is over.
“If she moves in, can we still come visit sometimes?”
I stare at the boy who made me an uncle. I remember when Eric placed him in my arms at the hospital, an eight pound bundle I didn’t even know how to hold properly. He wore such a serious expression, even as he slept.
“Here he is. Travis Logan Carmichael.”
My eyes fly to my brother who grins sheepishly back.
“You’re naming him Logan?” The name passed down in our family to first born sons is Walter. It’s Eric’s middle name, my father’s, his father, and so on.
“Dad’s already pissed at me for marrying Shannon, I figured I’d add insult to injury. Besides,” he clears his throat, focusing on his newborn son. “I’d rather he take after you than him. Or me, for that matter.”
I blink the decade old memory away.
“Travis, you and Anna will always have a home with me. You know that, right?”
His answer is a shrug. I place my hand on his arm and he finally looks up at me.
“You’re my family, Travis. Whatever happens, whether I move or get married and have kids, it’s not going to change how important you and your sister are to me. I promise.”
He nods up at me, looking so much like his dad it makes my chest ache.
“You’d be a good dad.”
“You think so?”
He nods again.
“I think you’d be a good big cousin.”
“Yeah?” He sits up a bit straighter.
“Absolutely. How will future offspring know how to make fun of my clothes without you around?”
He looks at what I’m wearing and smirks. “That’s a nice sweater, by the way. Did you find it on the side of the road?”
We’re still laughing when Rilla and Anna enter the kitchen with an important announcement.
“Anna and I have been talking and after careful deliberation, we’ve come to the conclusion that we should make pancakes for dinner.”
“Well,” I say, looking between all of their faces. “I had planned on making a stirfry.”
The kids make faces like I told them I was going to feed them human remains and Rilla bites back a smile.
“C’mon, Uncle Logan. We have to eat vegetables all week. It’s our day off.” Travis argues.
“I know when I’m outnumbered. Pancakes it is.”
They cheer and exchange high-fives.
Rilla places her hands on her hips and grins at me. “With that important matter settled, who’s ready to lose at Mario Kart?”