Chapter 49
49
LINCOLN
Four days later
I yawn.
“Are you still not sleeping?” My dad’s concerned face tells me he’s worried about me.
“Oh no, I am trying to get to sleep and can sleep, but somebody won’t let me.” I look over at Violet, the woman who has recently reinstated Mission: Ruin Lincoln’s Dick.
I shouldn’t complain; it’s fucking epic. Every single minute of everything we do together is epic. Hand-holding, walking the dog, beach walks, even shopping.
She’s currently playing on the kitchen floor with Thea and Pom-pom. Thea thinks Pom-pom is a cuddly toy and is a little overzealous with him, so she has to be watched like a hawk. She keeps trying to put him in her mouth.
A silent laugh makes my dad’s chest shake. “Everything good?”
“Everything is epic.” Contentment rests easily in my bones. It’s an odd warm feeling I’m not fully used to yet .
When I was in Santa Monica with Violet, my departure was ever present and loomed over us like a creaking three-hundred-year-old tree, but now I’m here and so is she and we aren’t going anywhere.
“You’re not mad at me anymore, then?”
“Hell, no.” I have the girl of my dreams living under my roof. She makes everything shine brighter and smell better.
When Violet showed up in the doorway of my spare bedroom four nights ago, we stayed up all night talking. We shared our fears, our hopes, our goals, and more importantly, we fixed us, and I’m doing everything in my power to make all my wrongdoings right again.
The truth is, accepting my mother for all that she is and how I can’t change her, or the past, has been my biggest revelation over the past four days.
I was preventing acceptance.
“So I did a good thing bringing her here?”
I nod my head and laugh. He’s always right. “Yeah.” I pick up an apple out of the fruit bowl and take a bite of the glossy red fruit.
Noise from the hall alerts me that someone is entering the house. Although it’s not just someone, it’s a crowd. The motley crew, no doubt.
“We’re having a barbecue,” my dad informs me.
“Are we?” I frown.
“Yeah, to welcome Violet.” My dad gives me a curt nod.
I eye him suspiciously. “Am I being ambushed again?”
He winks. “Maybe.”
As he says that, Hunter and Eden with their triplet boys toddle in. Then Ella with Fraser, who has Mason in his arms. Along with Jacob and Owen.
I place my half-eaten apple on the work surface and I’m on my feet in an instant to welcome my grandparents, who appear next.
My yaya smacks a kiss on my forehead, then ruffles my hair. “Love always finds a way. See? Your grandmother is always right. Now I need to cook.” And she’s off.
My grandfather goes straight over to Thea. “C’mon, you wee rascal.” He lifts Thea into his arms, and she squeals with happiness; she’s such a happy baby. “And you too, you wee bit of fluff.” He lifts Pom-pom up next. “Maybe we should use you to clean out Thea’s ears.” That would work; he does look like a cotton swab.
Violet pushes herself to her feet and greets everyone in her usual cheerful voice, hugging everyone and charming them all with her questions about their lives. She remembers everything about everyone and always manages to make people feel special.
I’ll never get tired of that or her.
Jacob and Owen wave.
“We’re on drinks.” Jacob points to the champagne bottles that have appeared from nowhere. They make themselves at home and pour drinks for everyone. They both spent hours here growing up and they know this house like it’s their own.
“You good, Linc?” Fraser tilts his head in Violet’s direction.
“Never better.” I grin. “Thanks for helping with the ambush, by the way. Although you and Hunter are shit at assembling furniture. I’ve had to realign all the screws and readjust the squint drawers you haphazardly put together.”
He snorts. “We only had a few hours to move Violet in; give us a break.”
I laugh but hold out my hand for him to shake. “Cheers, man. For everything.”
Jacob and Owen hand everyone drinks .
Archie and Hamish burst through the back door.
“Linc,” Archie yells, laughing. “Zac and Caz are doing The Sex on the grass.”
Oh, dear fuck.
Archie and I do have a laugh and giggle when our garden tortoises get a bit frisky. It’s only recently Archie had his sex education class at school, but he doesn’t discuss it with his mom and my dad. He discusses it with his big brother: me.
I shake my head and widen my eyes, trying to secretly tell him not now , but he keeps on giggling. “Zac fell over.” I think he’s gonna wet himself. “He landed on his back and his legs were all wiggling about.” He makes small T-Rex arms and flaps his hands.
“Why is it so funny? They looked like they were playing together. I helped Zac,” Hamish says in his sweet voice. Archie’s explosion of contagious giggles makes everyone else laugh along.
“Okay.” Eva appears in the kitchen looking every bit the ethereal goddess in her floaty cream summer dress. “Enough silly talk. Rubber boots off, then clean your hands.”
“They were doing it , Linc.” Archie can’t stop giggling.
“Enough now, Archie.” Eva raises her voice.
I press my pointer finger to my lips, urging him to be quiet and mouth later to him.
“Okay,” he shouts back. Subtle, Archie, subtle.
“We are all having dinner together,” Eva informs the boys.
“A barbecue?” Hamish’s eyes light up.
Eva nods.
“Yes.” Hamish and Archie punch the air.
“I need a poo first.” Hamish toes his boots off and runs out of the kitchen .
Eva pinches her nose. “Remember to wash your hands.” She lets out an exasperated sigh. “I need another vacation. Knox…” She spins around on the balls of her feet. “No more babies.”
“Whatever you say, sunshine.” He winks at her.
I think my dad has other plans.
Violet appears by my side and we both hop onto the white leather chairs around the kitchen island. I drag her seat closer to me, making the metal legs squeal along the marble floor as I do.
She shivers. “That noise is like nails running down a chalkboard.”
I lean in and kiss her cheek. “You’re not shivering because you’re still cold, then?”
“Nope. I put three layers on today. How Eva can wear a short-sleeved dress on a day like today is beyond me.” She lays her hand on my thigh.
“It’s supposed to be the hottest day of the year today.” Hunter chuckles.
“What?” Violet exclaims. “That’s insane. I might join Zac and Caz when they go into hibernation for the winter.”
“Or we can hibernate together in front of our coal fire all winter.” I wiggle my eyebrows.
“Sounds like heaven,” she says dreamily.
Movement around the kitchen island makes me turn my head.
All the adults are now standing around the kitchen island, and we all have a glass of champagne bubbling and fizzing away.
“What are we celebrating?” I sweep my gaze over my family and friends.
My dad says, “Family.” He picks up his glass. “We are celebrating having each other. For always having each other’s backs. For taking care of one another come rain or shine. Today we are celebrating the fact that family is not defined by the blood that runs through our veins. Family is made up of the people standing here today around this kitchen island. Family are the people who stand by you, lift you up, and support you through whatever life throws at you. And that includes the time your American girlfriend flew over five thousand miles to be with you and moved herself into your house without you knowing. Family are there for you for times like that.”
Everyone chuckles.
My dad raises his glass higher. “Family.”
I struggle to swallow the bubbly liquid as emotion catches my throat.
The people I needed most in the world and who accept me as I am were in front of me all along.
Violet lays her soft hand on my forearm. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” I throw my head back and eye the ceiling to stop any tears from forming. I can feel everyone looking at me.
I haven’t cried since I was a little boy, but I’ve been so emotional lately, breaking down a few times in less than a month.
“Can I make a toast?” Violet asks.
“Go for it,” my dad says confidently.
I relax my shoulders and exhale. Picking up my glass, I take a huge gulp. “I’m fine,” I say to no one in particular. Jacob slaps my back.
Violet raises her glass up. “I would like to make a toast to my father, who kindly dumped Olivia, because if he hadn’t and if they ended up getting married, then Lincoln and I would have been…”
“Brother and sister,” I shout too loudly. Oh my fucking God, that never even crossed my mind .
And the kitchen erupts with laughter, chinks of glasses, and lots of oh my Gods .
As I look around the kitchen at my blended family, I feel loved, just like my grandmother said I was. I am loved beyond measure .
And I have everything in my life I need.
Right here.