Chapter 43
Forty-Three
Tedi
I stand in the entryway of the hotel, checking my watch for the time. Where is Toby?
Suddenly, a huge pickup truck comes flying into the roundabout and skids to a stop. Seriously?
Theo honks the horn instead of getting out of his truck and greeting me, the man-child he is.
I walk out of the sliding doors and open the passenger door of his truck. “Why are you here?”
Theo smiles, his beard unkempt, his beanie covering what I’m sure is a mop of dark hair that’s equally as messy as his beard. He smiles wide, and for a moment, I forgive him for never finding it within himself to grow up.
“Is that any way to say hello to your baby brother?” He pushes fast food bags out of the way onto the floor of the truck.
I grunt, put my bag on the seat, and accumulate the variety of fast food bags before going over to the trash and tossing them in. Then I grab my bag filled with the Falcons merchandise I was able to scrounge up in the small amount of time I had, climb up using the step, and sit my ass in what I assume is a filthy seat.
“Stop with the judgment. I just got it cleaned last week.”
I look behind me in the back seat of the quad cab, see all the blueprints, and raise my eyebrows. There’s crap everywhere. Before I have time to respond, he throws it in drive and peels away.
“Theo, do I have to remind you that there are people I work with at that hotel? And please tell me where Toby is?” Toby would have had his heated seats on for me. It would have smelled nice in his vehicle, and the mats would’ve been vacuumed.
“I’m offended.” He turns the truck, and soon we’re on the highway.
“You’re taking me to Mason’s school, right?”
“Those were my orders.” He sits back in his seat, resting his hand on the lower part of the steering wheel, not concerned at all that the roads are shitty from the aftermath of a snowstorm.
From what the news says, another storm is headed this way. Not sure why we’re putting our lives in jeopardy for a non-conference game.
“How have you been?” I ask.
“Not as good as you apparently.” He glances over and waggles his eyebrows.
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, nothing. You know I’m always kept in the dark. Except for this time.” He waggles his eyebrows again.
“Theo!”
He laughs, putting his hand on my leg. “Loosen up. You’re about to see our nephew.”
“How is he?”
Theo’s head moves side to side. “As good as can be expected. I think we all know how he’s feeling. We’ve been there.” Theo’s joking, always-ready-for-a-good-time personality sobers because he’s right. We all know what it’s like when your mom doesn’t want you.
Toby’s wife, Carrie, decided last year that she didn’t want to be married or be a full-time mother. She gave Toby full custody, and she occasionally comes to visit. It’s more than we ever got, and I’m on the fence over which one is easier. When your mom just disappears or when she sometimes has a hankering to see you to ease her guilty conscience, then disappears again.
“Did you hear Dad’s getting laid again? It’s really taken the grumpy old man out of him.”
“Yeah, I messaged him that I want him to bring her to dinner.”
“I guess I’m going to be Toby’s favorite sibling again.” Theo grins.
I check my phone because I thought Tweetie said he would call me when they were done with their morning skate, and I wonder if it went long. This is the problem. I already want just fifteen minutes alone with him before he goes to the game, and we’re separated until I get back to Chicago.
“Toby said she’s kind of overbearing?” Theo will give me all the dirt that Toby doesn’t want to spread.
“She tries to mother Mason like she’s already his grandmother. Toby’s not having it. It’s really funny to watch, though.”
I frown because I want my dad to find someone who fits into our family, but maybe that’s hopeful thinking. If he’s happy, we need to stay out of it.
“Shit.” He looks at his blind spot, checks his mirrors, and drives across three lanes to the exit. When he rushes toward the light at the end of the exit ramp and makes a hurried left, the blueprints on his dash all shift to the right and onto my lap.
“Theo!” I shout like I always have at him. I toss the blueprints back on his dash.
“I’ve been on autopilot at this job site lately. The man is driving me fucking insane. We’ll decide on one thing, then he sees something online and wants to change it. I mean, he’s paying for it, but he doesn’t understand that every tweak has consequences.”
I smile at my brother because he may always have a dirty car and probably an equally dirty house, but he is meticulous in his architectural designs.
He stops at a light, taking his hands off the wheel and digging into his center console for something. “So, we’re ignoring the fact that you’re working with JD?”
I blow out a breath. “I’m not discussing it with you.”
“Okay, buzzkill.”
“All right, let’s talk about your women. Who’s in your bed currently, Theo?” I cross my arms and raise my eyebrows at him, waiting.
“You know I don’t kiss and tell.” He pulls out a pack of gum and offers me a piece. I take one.
“Neither do I.”
“So there’s something to tell?” The light turns green, and again, my back slams into the back seat before he turns left.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it.”
“Okay, I’m done talking now, Theo.”
“Jeez, nice big sister you are.”
Thankfully, it’s only two more minutes before he’s pulling down a street, and we stop in front of the school we all attended when we were younger. Toby’s not one for change, so of course he moved into the same district we lived in, only a mile away from our childhood home. Theo parks in the lot.
“You’re coming?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t miss this.”
I scrunch my eyebrows, but whatever. I’m sure all the ladies in the front office will love seeing Theo Douglas again. The class clown who grew up to own an architectural firm with his brother.
I walk fast to the doors while Theo saunters behind me. It’s freezing, and the snow is still coming down slow and steady. When we get in the doors, I shake the flakes out of my hair and off my coat. Theo rings the buzzer to get access through the next set of doors. He waves, and the door unlocks.
“Still sweet-talking the ladies, huh?” I laugh.
“Theo,” Donna coos, standing and rounding the desk. “Toby’s here, and I heard you were coming. Tedi!” She wraps us both in her arms. “How are you?”
We let her hug us, then she steps back.
“Oh, the Douglas kids.” She gives us a soft smile.
This is what happens when you’re the kids whose mom left them. Every staff member gives you extras, whether it’s attention or cookies in the lunch line. They’re doing it to be sweet, but it’s just a constant reminder, honestly.
“You guys look good.” She tugs on Theo’s beard. “Except this. Shave.”
Theo runs his hand down his full dark beard. “The ladies love it, Donna.”
She rolls her eyes. “Always the ladies’ man. Remember in the fourth grade when you and Foster Davis got in that fight over Carly Jacobs?”
Theo nods. How does Donna remember these things?
The sound of kids screaming draws our attention away from Donna.
“Is there an assembly or something?” I ask.
She smiles. “You don’t know? I thought you were behind it.”
I stare at my little bag with maybe enough merch for Mason’s class. Please tell me that Mason didn’t overpromise.
Donna rounds the desk. “Let me get you passes, then you can head on down. Tammy is supposed to come back and replace me, so I’ll see you in there. So exciting, right?”
“Can’t wait.” Theo gives me a look I can’t quite decipher.
“I’m sorry, Donna, but who is in the gym?” I lean forward as though it’s a secret, when really, it seems as though maybe it’s just a secret from me.
Theo swings his arm around my shoulders. “Shh… Donna, let it be a surprise.”
Of course, Donna pretends to zip her lips and throw away the key. Seriously?
She hands us our passes, and Theo leads me down the hall. I think I would remember my way, and if I didn’t, the kids cheering and yelling would have drawn me in the right direction.
We pass an entire case filled with Decker and Foster Davis accolades. I guess that’s what happens when you play pro somewhere—your childhood school showcases you.
“Theo, what am I missing?”
“If I ruin this, I’m not gonna get out of this school without being beaten to a pulp, so humor me and just go to the gym.” Theo continues leading while I drag my feet because I’m pretty sure Mason told someone I was coming, and everyone is going to assume all the Falcons will be joining me.
We’re a few steps outside the gymnasium when Theo laughs, nudging me by the back to go first. I step into the elementary gym, so much more grown than the last time I was here, and I hear his voice before I see him.
My smile grows the farther I walk in until it probably takes up my entire face.
There in front of all the students are Tweetie, Rowan, Conor, and Henry. Mason is standing up there with them.
Theo pats me on the back and leans his shoulder against the wall, watching the tears well in my eyes.
“And the entire reason we’re here is because Mason has a really cool aunt who does our social media.” Tweetie taps Mason on the shoulder and points at me.
Mason sprints over, and I crouch, hugging him tightly. Tweetie’s smile is just as big as mine. I mouth thank you over Mason’s shoulder.
“You did it! Thank you, Aunt Tedi.” He squeezes his arms around my neck. “I gotta go.” Then he’s off and back with the guys in the middle of the gym.
Tweetie gets back on the microphone. “We’ll take some questions. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get merch here, but we’ve ordered T-shirts for everyone that will be delivered next week.”
The kids cheer as Toby comes over and stands next to me. I must look like a blubbering fool. Why is this making me cry? I never would’ve asked Tweetie to do this, and here he is with his three best friends from the team, making my nephew king for the day.
“You just became the aunt of the century,” Toby says.
“I can’t believe he came.”
Toby and Theo both give me a look, and Toby says, “Yeah, you can.”
And he’s right. Because even with all the bad that’s happened with us, this is the Tweetie I fell in love with. The man who would do anything to make me happy.