12. Noaz
12
NOAZ
We finish the application and then join Briar’s friends downstairs for dinner. I send a text to my brother that I’d like to gather everyone for dessert because I want to share my news. I did not tell him about the baby or me and Briar. Or that we’re moving home.
Honey Bee can’t stop her massive grin all throughout dinner, which only leads to a bunch of suspicious looks being thrown at her. She does really well not to look at us in any particular way, so the attention remains on her and doesn’t move to us.
Once we’re finished with dinner, Briar tells them we’re all headed to the Van Doren house for dessert. I’m a little surprised no one finds that suspicious. Maybe they’re just distracted by Honey Bee’s maniacal grin.
As we gather in the backyard of my brother’s house, I look at my nephews. Because I grew up in Jalon’s house, my nephews feel more like my brothers than my brothers do. Jalon is more of a father figure than my own father. This is my family.
Even so, I wonder if I should have Arath, Kairo, and Oxley on the phone when I share the news. Actually, the thought of Kairo is the reason I decide not to. This is a happy occasion and I don’t think Kairo has ever been acquainted with happiness.
I’m thankful my brother had something to serve. Even though dessert was the event I proposed gathering for, I didn’t think that far ahead, honestly.
As everyone settles in and digs into their dessert—sticky toffee pudding—I admire everyone. The way Ellory and Avory snuggle together in one chair, sharing a plate as they laugh at how Voss picks on Brek and pokes at Honey Bee. The obsessive way Loren dotes on Oakley as they talk with Imry. Myro and Haze have their heads bent together while they watch something on one of their phones, laughing. Levis and Jalon are talking about sports balls and sticks. Or something.
I lean my head against Briar, and a pang of sadness settles in my chest. I’m going to miss this.
The entire reason I came here instead of going back to my house is because I’ve never considered my house my home. My home has always been wherever Jalon and his sons are, and the idea of being without them? It’s sad.
When everyone is wrapping up with dessert, Jalon looks at me. My time to talk, I guess.
“So, we want to share something with you all,” I start, gaining everyone’s attention. Twelve sets of eyes turn to me and Briar. Now that everyone is looking at me, I don’t know where to start. I turn to Briar, too.
He chuckles. “There are three things we want to tell you.”
“Begin with the biggest,” Honey Bee says.
“Well… I’m not sure which is the biggest,” Briar admits. “So how about I share in the order of events?”
She tilts her head to the side. “Okay? ”
“In three weeks, Noaz and I are getting married.”
A hush falls over the group as everyone stares. It suddenly occurs to me that if someone is disappointed or unhappy with anything we share, it’s really going to sting. Especially my brother.
Peeking at Jalon, I practically sag in relief when he’s watching me with a soft smile. He offers me a slight incline of his head when I meet his eyes, and I could just fucking sob.
“Are you pregnant?” Voss asks, raising a brow.
Briar’s hand flexes on my leg in assurance. I lean a little more heavily into his side, thankful he is willing to take the lead on this conversation. Honestly, I’d rather gut a man like they were a fish than face my family when they might be disappointed in me.
“We’re getting married at the Van Doren Estate. Honey Bee is planning the wedding. Expect invitations in the mail soon,” Briar continues as if Voss hadn’t spoken.
Gazes turn toward Honey Bee and she’s once again beaming, nearly coming out of her skin with excitement. Honestly, I wonder if she secretly wants to be an event coordinator.
“We’ll be staying at the Van Doren Estate once we’re married,” Briar says. “Permanently.”
There are two very different reactions. Surprise by my family and confusion from Briar’s friends.
“Why?” Brek asks.
“In four months, we’re having a baby,” Briar answers. “We need a permanent address and a house appropriate for a family. We’ve discussed this and, at least for now, Noaz’s house is where we need to be. ”
“But where do you want to be?” Levis asks.
Jalon nods at Levis’ question. He likely would have asked it had Levis not.
“With you,” I answer. “It’s not an easy decision to move away from you all. You know that when I come home, I come to wherever you are.” I’m looking directly at my brother now. “It’s a very difficult decision to move back to the Van Doren Estate without you, but we agree that considering this short time frame, it’s the best decision for our family.”
“There are a whole bunch of spare rooms between the two houses,” Brek argues.
“We can give up the third floor,” Imry offers.
I sigh, bowing my head.
“We respect and support your decision,” Jalon says.
“We do,” Myro agrees. “I think the arguments aren’t against your decision, but more that we don’t want you to be that far away any more than you want to.”
“We have four months before our baby is born,” Briar says. “Yes, we’ve considered these options. We’ve also considered purchasing a house. But even in a short sale situation, we’d still have a few weeks before we could move in, which means we’ll have lost all that time preparing for our little one. One of the reasons we’re giving Honey Bee full rein in planning our wedding is so we can take as much off our plates as possible so we can focus on the most important date—which is quickly approaching. This makes the most sense.”
“Then we can move home, too,” Avory says. “Not a big deal. Problem solved.”
“Problem not solved,” Brek snaps .
Avory holds up his hands. “Sorry. You’re right.”
“Actually,” Myro begins as he looks around the group, “there’s no reason we can’t all move to the Estate.”
“You keep calling this an estate, and now with this suggestion, I’m seriously questioning how big this place is,” Honey Bee says.
“It could be its own island nation,” Imry answers, shrugging. “If we were surrounded by water.”
“We do have our own lake,” Ellory adds, also shrugging.
Those who aren’t Van Dorens look between us with a mixture of expressions, all of which contain some form of disbelief.
“Wait,” Honey Bee says, her attention turning to Jalon. “Is this a serious suggestion?”
Though it wasn’t his, he nods. “Yes. We have plenty of room for everyone.”
“Under one roof?” Levis asks.
“No, though you’re welcome to live in the main house with me if you choose. We have a set of cabins in the woods and cottages in the field, as well as a hotel.”
“You have a hotel?” Brek asks, incredulous.
“It’s actually a smaller version of the main house, but it’s only ever used for guests, so we call it a hotel,” Myro explains. “The point is, we have plenty of room. We all also have our own houses, so if you’d rather stay with one of us, that’s fine, too.”
I don’t think anyone misses the way his eyes lock on Honey Bee’s for a second longer than anyone else’s. I’m not the only one who rolls my eyes.
“What’s the job market like up there?” Levis asks.
Ah. Hadn’t thought about that .
“Admittedly, there isn’t much around. It’s one of the reasons we built our base there,” Imry says.
“That’s not a very viable option for most of us then,” Honey Bee says.
“It’s plenty viable,” Jalon disagrees. “I would wager a guess that Van Doren Enterprises owns a company you’d enjoy working for.”
Once again, silence fills the yard as all of Briar’s friends stare at Jalon.
“You want to employ us all?” Brek asks. “You have a real estate firm?”
“I have eight,” Jalon says.
“Nine,” Imry corrects. “Lilianna opened another.”
Jalon inclined his head. “Right. Sorry. I have nine.”
“Like, close to home?” Brek asks.
“Two of them are,” Imry answers when Jalon looks at him. “Williams, Red Lake, and Flagstaff are all within a thirty-minute drive. And there are many smaller communities between our location and the cities.”
Brek frowns, but doesn’t say anything.
“I can offer several options for remote work as well,” Jalon says.
“You want us all to move with you,” Haze clarifies.
“It might have been a wild suggestion at first, but yes,” Imry says. “Oakley is family, and Briar is family now, too. So you’re all extended family. I think it would really suck if you chose not to move home with us.”
“Hold on,” Myro says and turns his attention to Loren. “Are you ready to go home? ”
Loren tilts his head and shrugs. He looks at Oakley.
Oakley’s eyes widen. “This decision can’t be on my shoulders alone,” he insists.
I’d like to argue that it’s not, but in reality, it kind of is. Unfairly. I know my brother and his sons won’t move if Loren stays, and Loren isn’t going to go without Oakley.
Imry leans over and grips Oakley’s hand. “Listen. Family means something very strong to us. We stick together. I think that’s something you understand. Isn’t it?”
Oakley looks at his friends and then at the family he’s been brought into. He nods. “Yeah.”
“I think you also understand why we don’t stray too far from Loren. In a way, he leads us around as if we’re on leashes,” Imry says, giving Loren the side-eye.
Oakley grins and nods. “Yes, I understand why.”
Does he? I raise a brow and glance at my brother. Jalon’s watching the exchange, completely relaxed. But I still wonder… does Oakley know why? Obviously, he knows Loren is a sociopath, but does he know Loren’s also a killer?
I’m going to need to ask some questions later.
“It’s a heavy burden we’re placing on your shoulders right now,” Imry says. “But we’re going where you decide you want to be.”
Oakley scowls at him and pulls his hand away. “That’s not fair.”
“It’s not. But think about it.”
“I don’t feel comfortable deciding the fate of the entire Van Doren clan!” Oakley insists .
“Let me decide,” Briar says and Oakley looks at him. “Come with us, Oak. Move to the Estate with us. We want you all to be a part of our baby’s life. That’ll be much easier to do when you’re in our backyard.”
Oakley takes a deep breath as the stress lines in his face soften. He presses his lips together, but his eyebrows are puckered. “I want that, too.”
“Then you’ll move home with us?” Briar asks.
He sighs and turns his attention to Brek. “Will you come, Brek?”
Brek rolls his eyes. “I’m not staying here alone.”
“That’s the spirit,” Voss says, gently shoving Brek. Brek scowls at him.
Oakley meets the rest of his friends’ eyes. Levis nods right away. Honey Bee frowns, but shrugs and nods as well. Haze seems indifferent to the idea, so he nods.
“I guess we’re going to your house,” Oakley says, turning his body to face Loren.
Loren smiles. “Fine.”
I feel even better about this decision now. Gripping Briar’s hand on my leg, I try to keep my emotions bottled up a while longer. It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride. So many things have happened so quickly that I haven’t had time to process them all.
“Two weeks,” I say. “That’s when we’re heading up.” Not that Briar and I have had that conversation, but he nods. “That’ll give us a week to settle before our wedding. And once we’re married, we’re full steam ahead on prepping for the baby.”
“I can’t believe you’re having a baby!” Honey Bee says, but then she gives us an amused look. “I never thought to ask how this was happening and why in such a short time frame. Being a woman, I’m aware of how long it takes to cook a baby.”
Voss and Myro both give her disturbed looks. Briar chuckles.
“I applied for adoption years ago,” I tell her. “They called today to tell me there’s a woman five months along who has chosen me for her unborn child.”
“Ah,” Imry says. “This explains a lot.”
“We’re not rushing,” I say defensively.
Briar gives me an amused look. “We are rushing according to conventional standards, but we feel good about it. This is what’s right for us.”
“Honestly, given what I know about Uncle Noaz, there are no two people more suited for each other,” Oakley says with a smile.
I’m not sure why, but his words make me choke on a wave of emotion. To have Briar’s friend’s blessing is important. These five people are the most important to him. It would truly suck to the same degree of sucketh if they’d been upset as it would have if my family had been upset.
“This is going to be interesting,” Loren muses as he looks around at the friends.
I can only imagine what he’s thinking. We’ve never gone out of our way to hide the underbelly of the Van Dorens at home. There’s a level of secrecy because we employ a lot of people. Even on the Estate—it takes a lot of workers to keep that place pristine and operational. But Loren’s right. We have a lot of secrets we’re going to have to work much harder to keep hidden now.
His comment makes our group divide. Not physically, but I can practically see the directions of their thoughts. My family is definitely contemplating what this move means. The others have a lot of questions they’re clearly dying to ask.
“It’s going to be as it was always going to be,” Jalon says, almost in a riddle.
Ellory laughs, letting his head fall back against Avory’s shoulder. There’s another, more personal secret of Van Doren that’s going to be interesting to navigate around, too. The two-thirds triplets.
I have to think that they’re not exactly hiding these days. Not at home and not when Briar and Oakley’s friends are around. They have to know on some level. Right?
Chewing the inside of my lip, I look at my brother again. I might have just initiated the best thing to happen to us on a personal level. Or I might have just ignited the spark that ends in disaster, putting everything I care about and everyone I love at risk.
No pressure.