Chapter 12 #2
The first couple of weeks with the new therapist were mostly spent playing with toys. Karla’s therapist would occasionally ask easy yes or no questions that didn’t require Karla to speak, while also allowing them to get to know each other.
This week, her therapist managed to get a couple of words out of Karla. They were one-word replies, but it was progress, and I was so proud of my girl.
Karla was laughing and humming to herself on the drive back to Kither Springs. She’d randomly call out ‘ Lily ’ or ‘ Papa ,’ and I’d laugh, telling her we were going to see them soon, which earned me more laughter from her.
Jones and I had explained to her that this was going to be a large get-together where she could meet some new friends.
She seemed excited by the prospect at first, but when we arrived at Jones’ childhood home and she heard the sheer volume of noise from the people gathered, she hid her face in my chest.
I patted her back and whispered comforting words to her, but that didn’t seem to help. Jones came out front to greet us with Lily on his heel.
“Is the noise too loud for my baby girl?” Jones moved Karla from my arms to his. She giggled and immediately grabbed onto his beard. It was a habit she’d recently developed, no matter how hard I tried to get her to stop.
Jones merely laughed and plopped a loud kiss on her cheek. “There’s a little girl who’s very excited to meet you. She’s waiting inside. Do you want to meet her?”
Karla glanced at me, and I smiled in encouragement. I wasn’t going to force her to do anything she didn’t want. She looked back at Jones, then finally nodded.
He let Karla slide down to her feet to greet Lily. Meanwhile, he turned to me and plopped a quick kiss on my cheeks. “Hey you,” he murmured when he pulled back with a mischievous smile on his face. “I hope you’re ready to face the entire town in there. ”
“I thought you were joking about that,” I squeaked, now worried about just how many people were here.
“Oh, Mama never jokes about cookouts. You remember how big they were when we were kids? They’ve only grown since,” Jones stated seriously. He then pulled me to him around the waist and whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from the worst of the gossips.”
I laughed and pushed him away before anyone could see. “You’re going to protect me from my mother?”
“Oh, you might have to fight that battle on your own. I need to make a good impression, after all,” he said with a wink, then turned to Karla and took her hand. He twisted his head back toward me with a raised eyebrow that asked if I was coming.
There was no point in delaying the inevitable, so I took Karla’s other hand. With her between us, we walked slowly to match her pace.
It was a lot quieter inside the house, with mostly the older and younger generations sitting around the living room, chatting or playing. I spotted my mom and grandma with a circle of ladies I’d seen around town. They were probably gossiping while watching the younger kids play.
A woman I recognized as one of Jones’ cousins stood when she saw us and brought over a little girl who looked around Karla’s age. The girl was bold as she walked forward, holding her doll. She looked Karla up and down, and Karla stared back with clear hesitation .
“I like your braids,” the girl told my daughter. Karla smiled and giggled, but when she didn’t say anything, I was worried the other girl would get angry or think she was being ignored.
Karla hadn’t been around other kids very much since the accident, so I didn’t know how they would react to her lack of words. The little girl giggled too, then held out her doll. “Wanna play?”
Karla looked up at me, eyes sparkling. I nodded, told her to have fun, then watched as they ran to the middle of the living room to play, Lily following slowly to nap by their sides.
“Thanks for that, Jada,” Jones said and pulled his cousin in for a hug.
“Oh, trust me, I should be thanking you for finally getting that girl off my back. Imani’s been bouncing off the walls ever since she heard there’s gonna be a little girl her age coming.
All the other kids are either older than her or literal babies,” Jada said with a laugh.
Then she turned to me and added, “Damn, boy. You grew up mighty fine.”
“Jada,” Jones said in a warning tone.
“What? I’m just sayin’!” She laughed and pulled me into a hug. “It’s good to see you back in the family again, Ryan.”
Her words surprised me because they weren’t accusatory or blaming. They were a simple welcome back to someone who’d lost their way for a while .
“Thanks, Jada. I’m glad to be back,” I told her honestly and returned the hug.
After chatting for a bit, her husband came to find her about their youngest, who was crying for his mama. “Not one moment of peace and quiet,” Jada said with a shake of her head, but her laugh and the loving eyes turned toward her son told me she didn’t mind one bit.
“C’mon, let’s go get some food out back,” Jones said and snaked his arm around my waist.
“But Karla…”
I looked back to where she was immersed in make-believe with Imani. Some other older kids had joined them too, and instead of being afraid like I’d worried she’d be, she looked like she was genuinely having fun and had completely forgotten about her daddy.
“I’ll watch her, honey. Go eat and mingle,” my mom called from her seat. Her eyes slid down to where Jones’ hand rested on my hipbone, and I knew we had to get out of there before she got any funny ideas.
I pulled Jones through the sliding door to make our escape. The backyard was loud with the sounds of the sizzling grill and conversation. What felt like half the town was there.
Jones’ dad was manning the grill while chatting with some familiar faces. Jones’ mom sat on a lounge chair, but she shot up when she saw us and beelined our way.
“My, my, Ryan Malcolm Edgson. As I live and breathe!” Mama Denn pulled me into a crushing hug, still as vibrant as I remembered. “It’s so good to see you again, sweetie.”
Before I could even reply, she turned to Jones and cried out, “And you! My miracle baby! All grown up!”
She pinched Jones’ chin, which had him sounding muffled as he asked, “Mama, are you drunk?”
“Not drunk enough to forget the day you came into this world! You and I both would have perished if not for Doctor Jones!” Mama Denn said dramatically.
“Dear god. Not this again,” Jones muttered and tried to extract himself from his mother’s clutches, but she held on tight as she continued her story of Jones’ difficult birth.
A crowd gathered around her and listened intently as she recounted the entire experience. Jones shot me pleading eyes that asked to be saved, but I knew better than to interrupt Mama Denn.
I stood with the crowd, listening to her even though I’d heard the story so many times as a kid, I could probably recite it word for word by now.
Mama Denn got to the part where they all thought she was going to lose the baby, but then a miracle doctor swooped in and saved them both. Mama Denn was so grateful, she decided to name their baby after her.
Papa Denn once told me in secret that the real situation wasn’t as dramatic as his wife made it out to be, but he wasn’t going to stop her from having fun.
Jones managed to free himself from his mother’s clutches and returned to my side. “She never mentions that she decided to name me after the doctor’s surname ,” he muttered. “But just because it started with a ‘ J ’ and matched all the other kids in my generation, she thought it was perfect.”
“Did you just roll your eyes at me, boy?” Mama Denn’s laser-eyed focus shot our way. Her laughter and easy-goingdemeanor instantly went hard like a Drill Sergeant’s.
“No, ma’am!” Jones squeaked, his back straighter.
I held in my laughter only until Mama Denn went back to addressing her court with a different story, and then it was a free-for-all.
“It’s not funny,” Jones gritted out, but he gently pulled me against his chest and rested his hands on my stomach.
“At least they didn’t saddle you with ‘ Malcolm ’ as your middle name. I’ve heard enough ‘ Malcolm in the Middle ’ jokes to last me a lifetime,” I muttered back.
Jones chuckled into my skin, then pressed his lips into that sensitive area right behind my ear.
My breath caught, not only because of the gentle gesture, but the fact he was being so openly affectionate in front of practically the entire town.
He was basically telling everyone I was his… and I didn’t hate it.
“Why, aren’t you two the cutest?”
We both shuffled to turn toward the voice, shuffling because Jones refused to remove his arms from my middle, which made for an awkward execution.
Jones’ older brother, Jordan, greeted us with a much smaller man tucked into his arm. Well, compared to Jordan, everyone was small. Even Jones was an inch shorter than his brother, but this stranger downright drowned inside Jordan’s embrace.
“Hi! I’m Wren. It’s good to finally meet you,” the smaller man said.
“So you’re the famous Wren I’ve been hearing about. It’s good to meet you, too,” I replied. He was the travel vlogger everyone in town had been talking about.
“Only good things, I hope,” Wren said with a laugh.
Jordan kissed the top of his boyfriend’s head and said, “Of course. Everyone loves you, Wren.”
They were a mismatched pair, Jordan with his stoic, serious personality, and Wren with his bubbly, very expressive face. But seeing them together like this, they somehow fit together perfectly.
“There you are, Jones! You’re missing all the fun,” Ryker called as he came to our side. “Dan’s flirting with one of the twins again. I think it’s Jasmin this time.” He frowned. “Or maybe it’s Jayla…it’s so hard to tell when they always dress the same.”
“You get them mixed up even if they’re dressed differently,” Jordan commented, which had Ryker visibly flustered.
The man holding Ryker’s hand laughed and looked at his partner lovingly. I recognized him as Sam, the grandson of my neighbor. I knew he was engaged to a man, but I hadn’t known the man was Ryker.
I’d met Ryker a few times during the summers I’d visited Kither Springs, but we never hung out much. Jones was always a little possessive of me as a friend, and I was okay with it because I liked when it was just the two of us.
I never had the chance to get to know Ryker before, but last I heard, he’d identified as straight. Now, here he was, not giving a single fuck as he kissed his fiancé right in front of us.
I’d mostly dated women in the past, but if I was being completely honest, I connected more with men. And being demisexual and all, an emotional connection was important to me. I pushed that aside, though, because dating women was just…easier?
I hated that society had conditioned us to think there was a ‘ normal ’ way of dating. Maybe if I’d grown up in a town as supportive as Kither Springs, then I wouldn’t have wasted so much time with Jones by running away, because running was easier than facing head on that I was in love with a man.
God, I’d been so stupid. I again realized just how patient Jones had been with me. When friends came over to us, he rested his chin on my shoulder. His hands were still wrapped around my middle in a claiming manner.
I twined our fingers together and twisted my head just enough to give him a quick kiss. Being out in the open with a man was new for me, but for Jones, I wanted to be braver.
He deserved that.