Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
AARON
Aaron didn’t want to do this. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. He did to an extent, but the rush of complicated emotions roaring through him was nearly overpowering.
Before he could come up with some sort of excuse to leave, he got out of his car and walked toward the pizza shop. He’d parked behind his brother’s truck, and he was grateful Aiden was already here.
Pausing before the giant window that looked into the restaurant, he shook his head in disbelief. This was ridiculous. They shouldn’t be doing this. Not after all this time.
At least everyone had agreed to meet in public. That was his stipulation. He wanted the ability to leave if it was too much. And honestly, he expected it to be.
Straightening his shoulders, raising his chin, Aaron took a deep breath and entered A Slice of Heaven to face his family.
He found his dad, Bri, Aiden, and Charlie sitting at a table in the back corner. Aaron’s mom had been willing to talk to his dad, she’d encouraged this reunion, but she’d refused to come herself. He didn’t blame her.
There was an open seat between Charlie and Bri, like they had collectively known he would want to sit as far from his dad as possible. Charlie stood when he entered and pulled him into a hug. He breathed in her familiarity, grateful she’d come too.
“Thank you,” he whispered before releasing her.
They took their seats, and he finally met his dad’s gaze. He looked the same as Aaron remembered, but the signs of aging were there too. His dark brown hair had hints of gray, and the lines on his face were more pronounced.
“Hi, Aaron.”
Aaron dipped his head, clenching his jaw shut.
If he opened it, eighteen years’ worth of anger and grief would start spilling out.
But then, he noticed Brianna—his real reason for agreeing to this.
Or rather, he noticed how different she seemed.
That first day she showed up at his apartment, she was clearly nervous, but she’d been bubbly and full of smiles. She’d been excited.
Today, she seemed… meek. She almost cowered from Aaron, as if afraid of his reaction to her. He cursed himself for his behavior the other day. He definitely could have handled that better. Maybe he shouldn’t have just run out.
Forcing himself to smile, he said, “Hi, Bri.”
“Hi,” she said quietly. No one else spoke. It was like they all wanted to see how this played out.
“It’s nice to see you again.”
She sat up a little more. “It… it is?”
Sighing, he nodded. “I’m sorry about the other day. I had to go pick up my girls from school.”
“You have kids?” his dad asked, trying to join the conversation.
Aaron hadn’t even realized he’d referred to them as his. “Oh, no,” he said, keeping his attention on his sister. “My best friend has three daughters, and I help out with them from time to time. He was at work and their mom is out of town for a couple weeks, so I said I’d pick them up.”
He slammed his mouth shut, realizing he was rambling. The last thing he wanted to do was tell this man about his life. As if sensing his shift in mood, Charlie reached for his arm under the table. Meeting her gaze, he gave a small smile of appreciation.
Thankfully, Aiden also knew him well enough to jump in. “So, Mom said you moved back a while ago?”
Their dad nodded, turning his attention to his eldest abandoned son, and Aaron let out a breath. The waitress came over and took his drink order. “And do we know what we want to eat yet?”
Their dad, Aiden, and Charlie agreed on a supreme pizza, but Aaron watched Bri’s smile fall. She frowned and started playing with her straw wrapper. Their dad didn’t seem to notice how unhappy she was about that choice; he didn’t even bother asking what she wanted.
Aaron leaned toward her. “Want to split a cheese pizza with me?”
She looked up at him with big hazel eyes and a grin as she nodded enthusiastically. Aaron ordered a medium, then it was their dad’s turn to fidget uncomfortably. He shook his head and whispered, “She doesn’t need a separate pizza. I can’t… I can’t afford two.”
Aaron refused to feel bad for the man. Instead, he smiled at the waitress and asked, “Can we get a couple orders of breadsticks and cheese too?”
“Aaron—”
Cutting off his dad, he said, “I’ll pay for it.”
“I’m going to go put this in,” the waitress said before walking away, clearly as uncomfortable as the rest of the table.
Except Aaron, who just felt more irritated. Especially when his dad said, “Why would you do that? Are you trying to humiliate me?”
Aaron almost laughed. Glaring at the man who’d left him when he was younger than Bri was now, he said, “Believe it or not, not everything is about you. You didn’t even ask what she wanted.”
“She’s a child. She eats what I give her.”
Rage filled Aaron. “God, you really haven’t changed, have you? You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”
With a start, he realized that was the same thing he’d been told by multiple people the past few weeks. Before he could dwell on the unfortunate realization that he was similar to his father, the man said, “You know nothing about me.”
Aaron let out a huff of breath. “And whose fault is that? You left when I was six years old.” He shook his head, and glanced at Bri.
He wished she wasn’t here for this conversation, and that just made him that much angrier.
Pointing to the foosball table, he told her, “Why don’t you go practice that, and I’ll come play you in a minute. ”
She nodded, seeming grateful for the excuse to leave.
The second she was away from them, he turned to his dad and hissed, “You may have stuck around for her, but that doesn’t make you any better of a father. You’re still a selfish asshole.”
“Aaron,” Aiden started, but he wasn’t done.
“Your eight year old got a ride from a random teenager to a stranger’s apartment. Do you know how dangerous that is?” He couldn’t stop. He’d come here wanting answers about the past, but that didn’t really matter right now. Bri’s wellbeing was more important. “Do you even care?”
“Of course I care,” his dad said, leaning forward. “She’s my daughter.”
“And I’m your son!” Realizing his voice had risen, drawing attention from others around the pizza shop, he tried to calm down. “If Mom hadn’t run into you, would you have ever reached out? Would you have told us about Bri? Or that you’re… sick.”
“Yes.”
Scoffing, Aaron said, “You expect me to believe that?”
“Why do you think I moved back? I wanted to reconnect with you two, and I wanted…” His dad visibly swallowed.
“I want Bri to have her brothers when I’m gone.
I have cancer, Aaron. The chemo stopped working; there is no cure.
This is it for me, and she has no other family.
Her mother left us when Bri was a toddler, and she didn’t have any family. ”
Aaron stared at his dad for a long moment.
He’d known he was sick, but hearing the ‘C’ word made it real.
Realizing what his dad was really saying, Aaron looked over at his little sister.
If he really didn’t make it through this, she would have nowhere to go.
She had no one else. With a sigh, he pushed to his feet and walked over to her.
She stopped playing foosball to look up at him with tear-filled eyes. She’d heard the whole thing. Kneeling, Aaron said, “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“But you said you couldn’t deal with this at your apartment the other day.”
“I didn’t… That wasn’t because of you,” he said. “I’ve just had a rough couple weeks, and you showing up surprised me.”
“So, you’re not mad you have a sister?”
He gave her a small smile. “Are you kidding? I’m so happy. I always wanted a little sister.”
With a grin, she lunged forward to hug him. He held her close, promising to himself that, no matter what happened, he would be there for her.
Aaron climbed the couple steps to the front door, emotionally exhausted from dinner.
He’d kept mostly quiet while Aiden and his dad caught up, instead focusing on Bri.
He wasn’t ready to let his dad back in, but he did want to get to know her more.
Before leaving, he made her promise never to show up at a stranger’s house like that again, then he told her that she could call him any time if she wanted to visit and he would drive over to get her if needed.
Once she’d relaxed around them, she’d started opening up. She was funny and sweet, with a bit of sass that reminded him of Vi when they were young.
Aaron was considering things they could do together when he heard it.
His heart nearly stopped at the sound of one of the girls crying loudly inside. He quickly yanked open the door and rushed into the living room to find Lars holding Chloe. His friend met his gaze, and the pure anguish there took Aaron’s breath away.
He glanced around as he approached, not seeing the other two. “What’s wrong? Where are Allie and Maddie?”
“Upstairs. They’re fine.” He swayed back and forth, rubbing Chloe’s back as she sobbed and writhed against him. She was in full meltdown mode. “Chloe misses her mom.” He turned so Aaron could see her better. “Uncle Aaron’s here.”
She opened her eyes and looked at him, quieting her cries.
Seeing her so sad was torturous. He reached for her without hesitation. “Come here, Little Monster.”
She went to him, still sobbing. When he pulled her close, she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Are you okay here?” Lars said, glancing toward the stairs. “I should go check on—”
“Yeah,” Aaron said quickly. “Yeah, go. I’ve got her.”
Lars patted his arm then headed up, leaving them alone. Aaron pulled out his phone and sent off a quick text before setting it on the end table by the couch. Focusing on his girl, he gently rocked from side to side. “Shhh. It’s okay.”
“I want Mommy.”
“I know.” He sighed, wishing he knew how to make this better. She hiccuped the cutest little noise. “I know, sweetheart. She’ll be back next week.”
Taking a seat, he put her sideways on his lap to brush away the big teardrops rolling down her cheeks. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. There was nothing worse than seeing his girls hurting like this.
An idea came to him. “How about we make a big blanket fort and have a movie night?”
Chloe sniffled. She nodded with a small smile that didn’t meet her eyes and hiccuped again.
“Okay, let’s make a blanket fort.” He lifted her to hug her once more and then stood.
Carrying her upstairs, he went to the room she shared with Allie, where Lars was sitting with the other two, flipping through a picture book.
“Hey, guys.” He set Chloe down. “We’re going to build a fort in the living room and watch some movies. Want to join us?”
Allie jumped up with a, “Yeah!” She started to grab a blanket from her bed but paused and looked at Chloe. Crossing the room to her little sister, she pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay, Chloe. Mom’s coming back soon.”
Aaron met Lars’s gaze, who had the same expression on his face. They were freaking precious. He stood and started gathering pillows and blankets, and Aaron followed suit.
Twenty minutes later, they’d made the entire living room into a fort big enough for all five of them.
With their backs against the front of the couch, Aaron and Lars sat side by side on the floor.
Both Allison and Chloe lay on their stomachs as they watched the first animated movie in their lineup.
Maddie sat on Lars’s lap, mostly lying back as she chewed on a teething ring, not paying attention in the slightest.
Aaron glanced at his best friend and whispered, “Remember when our Friday nights revolved around finding somewhere to party?”
Lars chuckled then nodded his head toward Allie. “Yeah, how do you think we got her?”
“Fair,” Aaron said with a quiet laugh. When Lars told him Melanie was pregnant their senior year of high school, it had been a shock for sure.
But after the initial panic attack, Lars was all in.
He went to every doctor’s appointment, quit baseball to get a job, and worked his ass off to make sure he could provide for Mel and their baby.
They got married the summer after graduation and were happy for the last six years.
Aaron had been excited to have that family life with Charlie, but now that he thought about it, he realized he’d always struggled to really envision it with her. He had no doubts he wanted it though. He wanted these sorts of nights with his own kids. And he wanted someone to share them with.
But even realizing how much he wished for all of that, he couldn’t imagine having it with anyone other than this family right here. Allison, Chloe, and Maddie weren’t his daughters; he knew that. It didn’t stop him from loving them as if they were though.
When his phone rang, he picked it up and grinned. He paused the movie, and when Chloe and Allie turned with complaints, he just held up the phone and answered the FaceTime. “Say hi to your mom.”
Both girls squealed in glee. Chloe reached for the phone, and he handed it over without hesitation. Lars looked at him with his own smile and whispered, “You’re incredible, you know that?”
Aaron swept his fingers over Maddie’s short curly hair, unsure what to say to that.
He shrugged a shoulder, like it wasn’t a big deal, even as his heart sped up at the compliment.
Once again, he thought about how Vi had teased him, calling him out for playing house with his ‘boyfriend’.
As much as he wanted to deny it, she might have been right.
Coming here felt like coming home. Every time.
And it was getting more and more difficult to pretend that it wasn’t largely because of the man beside him.
It was getting impossible to ignore how attractive he found his best friend.
He’d always been aware, but now that they were both single and spending more time together than ever, now that he’d been with another man and had come out to someone else…
Oh shit.
He wanted Lars.