Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Winter
Miles seemed… nervous. I wasn’t sure why.
It was only Lyric, Aeson, Chaos, my sister, and her fiancé coming over.
And okay, I was kind of nervous about Maggie and Nash coming over too. But I was also looking forward to it. After seeing her last weekend, I felt… hopeful that she’d meant all she said.
“You okay?” I asked Miles for probably the millionth time today. Honestly, I was surprised he hadn’t yelled at me yet for asking so many times.
“I’m fine.” He tried to walk back into the kitchen, but I grabbed his hips to stop him, forcing him to look at me.
I tilted my head to the side. “Sugar butt, you’re not fine. What’s wrong? Talk to me?” You would’ve thought I’d be the nervous one out of the two of us, but Miles had more than enough nerves for the both of us, so I suppose mine had gone into hiding.
Or maybe we’d take turns. Ha. That would suck.
He bit his bottom lip for a moment before a puff of air came out.
“I’m nervous about your sister coming over.
And her fiancé. Like… we don’t really know them, and I’m not used to anyone in my space.
” He met my gaze. “But I’m even more nervous about the twins.
I haven’t had kids in the house since…” He trailed off, but I didn’t need him to continue. I knew exactly who he meant.
His foster kid, Laney.
The kid who’d… died, although Miles still hadn’t told me what exactly happened to her. The kid who he’d clearly loved. The kid he’d wanted to adopt before she was killed.
My heart panged with sorrow for my boyfriend. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. What do you need from me?”
He shrugged. “I… nothing. There’s nothing you can do. I’ll be fine once everyone’s here, I’m just… I dunno, out of sorts?”
“I couldn’t tell,” I said dryly, thinking about the obsessive cleaning and cooking he’d been doing for the last several days.
Shaking his head, he snorted.
I stared at him for a few beats before I pulled him into a huge bear hug. I couldn’t take away his pain, but I hoped I could help mend his heart a little bit at a time.
He was stiff at first, like he always was when I showed physical affection at random times, but he slowly melted into me before he wrapped his arms around me too, holding me tight. We stayed that way for a few minutes, and when I released him, I was confident that he felt a little more stable.
He sent me a shaky smile, then went back to pulling food out to place on the table.
The doorbell rang, and Goliath let out one excited bark before I shushed him and went to answer the door. Lyric was on the other side, and my best friend leapt into my arms, hugging me.
“Oh my god, it’s really you!” they exclaimed. “You’re alive. You’re here. You’re really here!” Of course they’d come in in the most dramatic way ever.
I gave them a few pats on the back before stepping back. “I just saw you the other day at the museum.”
They rolled their eyes. “Yeah, but it’s not like we really got to hang out. You were working. And I went from seeing you several times a week to seeing you like… once a month or something. I wasn’t sure you were really alive. Anyone could’ve been texting me this whole time.”
That made me roll my eyes. “Could anyone have used my voice when we talked on the phone nearly every day?”
“Psh.” They brushed me off to give Goliath a few head kisses and a big hug.
Then they turned to the one-eyed orange tabby cat who’d trotted over.
Lyric dropped to their knees to coo at the cat.
“Oh my goodness, you’re the cutest thing to ever cute!
” They started giving the kitty lots of scratches.
“You must be Odin, you cutie pie. I’m Lyric, and I’m gonna be your new best friend. ”
“Pretty sure Goliath’s taken that spot,” I said with a grin, shutting the front door.
They waved me off. “Then I’ll be his human bestie.”
I snorted. “Good luck with that. He’s usually attached to Miles’s hip. I’m surprised he left his side to greet you, to be honest.”
“Hm.” Lyric ignored my commentary, of course, then picked up the cat and cuddled him to their chest. “Just the cutest. Holy crap.”
I grinned and petted the cat on the head.
“Hey, Lyric,” Miles said as he set yet another platter of food on the table.
We’d been planning on setting up outside, but it was a little too chilly and they were calling for rain later, so we’d decided not to risk it.
The man had gone all out. It looked like he’d bought out the entire grocery store in order to make all the sides and things he had in the dining room.
I honestly couldn’t believe how much food he had.
Did he really think he’d be able to send so much home with the kids? For crying out loud, they hardly accepted the leftovers from the pizza shop.
This would be an even tougher sell.
But… whatever. Miles wanted to spoil the kids, and I supported that wholeheartedly. I was also pretty sure he wanted to impress my sister and Nash, though I didn’t understand why. They were the ones who needed to impress us after what she’d done.
But I was trying to forgive her for that. Or maybe not forgive exactly, because I wasn’t sure that was possible, but I definitely wanted to set it aside and move on from there. I wanted to build a relationship with her, and hopefully, over time, I’d be able to trust her again.
Lyric distracted Miles from his nerves for a few minutes, but as soon as there was a knock, I could tell my boyfriend’s anxiety came rushing back. I ran my hand down his arm, then went to answer the door.
The twins stood on the other side with Clucky riding Chaos’s shoulders, and I saw a random car pull away from the curb, but I didn’t see their car. They looked awkward as hell, but when I said, “Hey, guys,” Aeson’s typical smile came back. “Did you get dropped off?”
Ace nodded. “Yeah, our car’s being finicky and wouldn’t start.”
“Oh, crap. Do you want me to come take a look at it?”
“No. It’s at the mechanic’s already, but thanks.”
For some reason, I wasn’t sure if that was true or not. Aeson didn’t usually lie, at least not that I knew of, but I wasn’t sure he was being truthful now. Still, there wasn’t really anything I could do about it right now, so… I waved them inside.
Chaos still looked grumpy, but what was new?
He was dressed in all black—no surprise there—but he had his hair styled a little differently than before so it was brushed forward and covering half his face in a spikey and cool-looking do.
Or at least, I assumed it was supposed to be cool-looking.
To me, it looked uncomfortable since there was no way he could see out of his eye like that.
“Hey. Thanks for having us,” Aeson said as they stepped awkwardly and cautiously into the house, and Miles moved over to greet them.
“I’m glad you could make it.” He offered them a small smile, then, for reasons unknown to me, he bent over, picked up Odin, and thrust his cat out to them. “This is Odin. He’s really friendly and loves meeting new people.”
Chaos looked like he didn’t know what to do, but Aeson didn’t hesitate to take the cat from Miles’s outstretched arms and cuddle him to his chest. It made me smile when the teen started cooing at him.
Goliath nosed Miles out of the way, making Chaos jump and Clucky chirp in surprise.
“Holy shit, that’s a big dog.”
With a laugh, I stopped the dog from jumping on the teenager. “It’s okay. This is Goliath. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Oh. Hey. Sorry, big guy. You startled me,” Chaos said quietly as he held the back of his hand up to Goliath, letting him smell it.
Goliath sniffed for a few seconds, then gave Chaos’s hand a big lick.
The teen laughed—actually laughed—then surprised me by burying both hands in Goliath’s fur and giving him some huge scratches while he kissed the top of his head, baby-talking to him.
Goliath sniffed at Clucky, and she lifted her head like a proud monarch for a long time before giving him a tiny rub of the cheek to the top of his head. He wagged his tail harder, and Chaos laughed. Again.
My eyes went wide—Chaos never acted like that around us—and I twisted around to meet Miles’s gaze. His face looked as shocked as I felt, but then he slowly smiled, and I couldn’t help but match the expression.
The kids had been here for less than two minutes, and they already seemed to be relaxing. That was… amazing. The power of pets, at your service.
Sola let out an angry chirp as she swooped over to us and landed on Miles’s shoulder.
Immediately, Clucky began clucking back at her angrily.
Sola responded with more angry clicks, and then Clucky went again.
“What the hell? Are they arguing?” Lyric asked.
I shook my head. “Don’t know, but it sure sounds like it.”
Miles sighed and gave Sola some pets. “Come on, girl. Be nice.”
She trilled at him, then gave one final angry click at Clucky.
Clucky turned away, ignoring Sola as she rubbed her face on Chaos’s cheek and chin, cooing at him.
I met Miles’s gaze, and we both shook our heads in amusement, and I snorted. Ridiculousness.
“Alright, let’s get some food,” Miles said, waving the kids into the dining room.
Aeson followed without setting the cat down, and Chaos kept one hand on Goliath’s head as the dog led the way. It was… kind of adorable.
“Hey, kiddos!” Lyric called out. “Nice seeing you again. Did you see all the food Miles made? On my way over here, I felt bad that I didn’t bring anything, but after I saw all this, I’m glad I didn’t bother.”
Aeson’s eyes widened, and the kid turned to Miles, asking, “Just how many people are coming over?”
My boyfriend’s cheeks flamed. “Um… uh, well, you know… just us and two others.”
That made Lyric cackle. “He hasn’t even brought the hot dogs and burgers in from the grill yet.”
“Oh shit!” Miles sprinted through the kitchen to the back door, obviously going for the grill.
I snorted out a laugh and followed, grabbing the big platter he’d left on the kitchen counter and leaving the kids and Lyric to chat and start munching away—hopefully.
I doubted the five of us—seven when Mags and Nash got here—would even put a dent in the food. Maybe Miles could freeze some of the leftovers or something.
“Oh, thank god. Nothing’s burned.” Miles started turning this way and that, clearly looking for something and making me smile at the flustered man.
“Looking for this, lovey?” I lifted the platter and shook it in the air a little.
He turned around and sagged as he eyed the platter. “You’re a lifesaver.”
I laughed at that. “I’m not sure about that, but I’m at least a burger and hot dog saver.”
I ended up holding the very large platter for him while he pulled everything off the grill, and after he turned it off, we headed back inside.
I was relieved to find both kids with plates in their hands—clearly Lyric’s doing. They knew how much the kids needed food too.
Miles had trouble making room on his large table—that had not one but two leaves in it so it was very big at the moment—but finally, I was able to set the new platter down.
Then I checked my phone for the time and to see if my sister had texted to cancel yet.
There was nothing, but my sister was already ten minutes late.
“She’ll be here,” Miles whispered to me, shoulder-bumping me.
I chewed on my bottom lip for a second before facing him. “You really think so?”
He nodded. “I do. She was being completely honest when we were with her. She’ll be here.”
I blew out a breath and hoped he was right.