Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
M arius
The noises of the house wake me up, and when I open my eyes, I’m treated to the sun streaming through the window. Throwing my arm over my head, I try to block it out, but it’s too late. My nephews and the sun have conspired against my sleeping in this morning.
“Fuck,” I groan as I turn onto my back to read any messages that may have come in since I fell asleep five hours ago.
I scroll through the texts from friends and my assistant Sam, not caring about any of them until I get to the one from Duck. “What time are you coming today? I have to go out for a few hours, but I don’t want to miss you.”
With a smile, I notice her insistence on being grammatically correct in her texts. She’s the only person I’ve ever met who uses commas in her messages. I mentioned it once, and she thought I was making fun of her.
I wasn’t. In fact, I never make fun of her. She’s the only person on Earth who gets to say that. Well, her, Eleanor, and Ava, but they’re different. Everyone else is fair game.
Even without being fully awake, I text her back, knowing she’s probably not out of bed yet since she doesn’t have work on Sundays. “I’ll be home by late afternoon. See you then. Love M”
And to think there are those even in my own family who believe I hate love.
Scrubbing the last of the far too few hours of sleep I got from my face, I swing my legs out of bed and begin walking toward my bedroom door. I stop a few feet before I reach it and look down my body.
Morning wood and no fucking clothes on. I wouldn’t have to ever again stop myself from busting ass with Eleanor or Ava if I showed up downstairs in the kitchen like this. They’d probably both drop dead from shock.
I turn around and head over to my dresser to grab a pair of black shorts and an old navy blue and red Penn t-shirt from back when I was dating that girl who went to school there. Might as well stop in the bathroom too before I go downstairs.
As I head toward the door again, I grab my phone and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, quickly adjusting my hard-on. The last thing any of the women in this house need to see is my hard dick before nine o’clock on a Sunday morning.
I walk down the stairs as I listen to two babies who sound particularly loud this morning laugh and scream gibberish.
Theo has finally started to say a few words, but Matty is a long way off from talking since he’s only a couple months old.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy joining his older brother in making as much noise as they can on days like today.
Hopefully, Ava and that new nanny take them out to the pool to burn off some of their energy.
By the time I reach the first floor, they and Ava are singing that bus song I’m going to be hating by this time next week if they keep belting it out day in and day out.
Since it’s her house and not mine anymore, I plaster a friendly expression onto my face just before I walk into the kitchen so nobody can see how much I never want to hear that song again.
“Good morning, Marius!” she says in that sweet yet so awake way of hers.
I look at the table and see Ava, Theo, Matty, and my brother, and when I look across the room, I see Eleanor poke her head out from behind the refrigerator door. No Ronan, though. I wonder if he didn’t come home last night.
Seems the reunion tour with Kate is still in full swing.
“Morning all,” I say in what sounds like more of a grunt. “Is there coffee? Please tell me you’ve got some because if not, I’m going to die.”
Matthias laughs and points at the counter where the coffee pot holds the nectar of the gods. “You look like you didn’t get much sleep. Why are you awake so early?”
As I pour myself a cup, I answer, “I had to know what happened to the wheels on that bus. I hear they go round and round, but I’m wondering if they ever just drive the bus off toward the horizon or maybe they come off altogether.”
The room falls silent, and when I look over at my brother and sister-in-law, they’re giving me strange looks. I sit down next to little Theo and take a sip of black coffee before shrugging.
“What? Don’t keep me in suspense. What happens to the bus?”
“We didn’t mean to wake you up,” Ava says sheepishly.
She shouldn’t do that. This is her house now. I’m just being a pain in the ass relative who’s likely overstayed his welcome.
I shake my head and sigh. “No, that was wrong of me. I’m sorry. Too little sleep made me forget I don’t get to call the shots here. But no kidding, I do want to know how that song ends. Does the bus come back? Drive off a cliff?”
Neither Matthias nor Ava answers, so I turn to my nephew and grab one of his Cheerios off his high chair table. “What about you, buddy? Can you hook me up with some info on that bus I keep hearing about?”
He stares at me like he thinks I’m insane, his dark brown eyes like his father’s and mine searching for the answer to some child’s question he can’t ask yet. No, I’m not insane, Theo. Just tired and a smartass. You’ll understand when you get older.
“So, next Saturday night, we’re having a party. Nothing big. Just us, Ronan and Kate, Kellen and Salem, and a few other people. You’ll be there, won’t you?” Ava asks.
I nod, happy to join in the fun like always. “With bells on. Should I assume I’ll be the only single person there as usual?”
“No. Eden will be there, and since she broke up with that guy she was with in the spring, she’ll be single too. Nice coincidence, don’t you think?”
Smiling, I bite my tongue, but the words come out anyway. “Not really a coincidence since you’ve been telling me she likes me for over five years.”
My sister-in-law shakes her head but smiles. “She hasn’t been single that whole time, Marius, but now she is. So what do you say?”
I take another sip of coffee and turn my head to look at my brother. “Is she asking me if this is going to be the party where I make a move on Eden?”
He doesn’t answer and simply stands up from the table to leave, kissing Theo before he begins walking toward the hallway. “I think I have a meeting scheduled.”
Eleanor laughs over near the sink, and Ava rolls her eyes. “That’s not what I was asking, Marius. Now look what you’ve done. You’ve chased your brother away to his office, and on a Sunday, no less.”
Matty makes a gurgling noise while Theo throws some Cheerios at me, almost as if he understands I’m the bad guy at this table right now. Matthias stops behind Ava’s chair and leans down to kiss her before kissing Matty on top of his head.
“What do you say to taking Theo into your office this morning, honey? He can hang out in his baby walker.”
Matthias shrugs and walks back to pick up Theo from the high chair. “Seems your mother thinks you should be put to work, little man. Time to go make a living with your father.”
I can’t help but smile at how easygoing my older brother is now that he has Ava and kids.
It’s like all those years of being miserable disappeared when they came into his life.
That’s good for him, though. He’s got enough problems to deal with at King Industries.
I’m happy he has a family he loves to come home to.
He walks out with Theo in his arms, leaving Ava holding Matty, Eleanor cleaning up something over on the countertop, and me. I can tell by Ava’s expression that she isn’t finished with the conversation about the party and Eden. I’m just not sure I’m awake enough for it.
“So you’ll come?” she asks.
“As always. Maybe I should bring a date. That way I’ll fit in more,” I say, joking.
Her blue eyes get big, and she seems frustrated when she says, “The first time Eden’s single and you want to bring a date? Just tell me you don’t like her. That would be simpler.”
I want to joke that bringing a woman to her party would actually be much simpler than telling her I might not be interested in her friend, but I don’t. The truth is I’m not disinterested in Eden. I just don’t like my family being in my personal business, especially my romantic business.
“Just trying to fit in. Okay, single Marius will be there with bells on.”
Like a gift from the heavens, Ronan walks in through the kitchen door, thankfully taking the attention off me. “Hey, everyone! I thought I’d come by to visit.”
Ava stands up with Matty still in her arms and gives Ronan a hug. “It’s so good to see you! Come, sit down, and tell us what you’re doing up so early on a Sunday.”
He sits next to me, so I say, “Seriously, dude. You’re with the woman of your dreams, and you’re not in bed with her on a weekend morning?”
Ronan twists his expression into a grimace for me but then smiles at Ava.
“I couldn’t sleep, to be honest. Kate’s father and I were talking about a prosthetic hand last night, and I swear I didn’t get any shut eye all night.
All I could think about was the possibility that I might get my hand back. ”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Ava coos. “I’m so happy for you, Ronan.”
I nudge him with my elbow and smile. “Sounds like a reason to celebrate.”
“Ooh, it does! That’s perfect. We’re having a party here next Saturday, and we really want you and Kate to come. Can you?”
My youngest brother nods. “Sure! I’ll have to ask Kate if she has anything planned, but I don’t think she does. It’s the weekend before Labor Day, so she’ll be working all that week.”
“Then she’s going to need a party to blow off some steam,” I say, practically shuddering at the thought of teaching a room full of third graders.
“Right?” he says, laughing. “She found out she has twenty students. Twenty eight-year-olds, five days a week. She’s going to be great at it, but damn, I don’t know how anyone does that.”
When Ronan gets up to ask Eleanor if there’s any breakfast left over, I lean in toward Ava and jokingly ask, “Why does my little brother get a hug when he walks in, but I get nothing?”
“I said good morning. Doesn’t that count?” she answers with a smile.
“Hmmm…I see how it goes now.”