Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Foster
“You’re doing it again,” Baker says, pointing his beer bottle at me.
“Doing what?” I ask.
“You’re smiling.” He smirks.
“It’s a good day. This one”—I point toward Reid—“managed to convince an amazing woman to marry him, and he kept her for an entire year. Not only that, but somehow, he and that same woman created an angel, and today is her first birthday. That’s something to smile about.”
“I’m calling bullshit,” Landry chimes in. “It’s more than that.” He leans forward from where he’s sitting across the table from me. “Yep, I was right,” he gloats.
“Right about what?” I can’t help but ask, knowing I’m going to regret the answer.
“There’s a twinkle.”
A laugh rumbles out of my chest. “Fuck off. My eyes do not twinkle.” If I’m being honest, I don’t know if they twinkle. They might, but I won’t tell him that. I also know that I’m smiling, but I can’t seem to help myself. I feel… lighter these days.
“I think Landry’s right. There’s a little bit of a twinkle,” Reid says, holding his thumb and forefinger up to show me a small amount of space.
“Leave him alone,” Knox says, coming to my rescue.
“Thank you.” I nod my appreciation.
“Let him twinkle in peace,” he adds, and I groan while my friends all laugh.
Bellamy steps into the dining room and goes straight for Reid. He pushes back from the table and pats his lap for her to sit, but she laughs and shakes her head. “It’s time for cake for the birthday girl,” she tells him.
“On it, Dream Girl,” he says, standing, taking her hand, and leading her into the kitchen.
“I’d better go wrangle Cam so we can sing to the birthday girl,” Baker says, standing and heading toward the living room where Camden is playing with Coral.
“I’m sure Corie needs a break,” Knox says, pushing back from the table.
“You just want your turn,” Landry calls after him. Knox laughs but doesn’t deny it as he goes off in search of his wife and son.
“I know we’ve been giving you shit, Foster, but whatever’s causing this…” Landy points at my face. “The smiles, the twinkle”—he winks—“keep it. Being happy looks good on you.”
“It’s nothing,” I assure him, even though we all know I’m full of shit.
He nods, but I know Landry well enough to know he’s not going to leave it there.
He’s the fun time, the jokester, but he also has a deep, sensitive side that he hides from most of the world.
“It might seem like nothing. However, from the outside looking in, that’s not the case.
Whatever it is, or whoever it is, I’m happy for you, brother.
” With that, he stands and walks out of the room.
I take a minute to think about his words, but I don’t need to. There is only one thing that’s changed in my life, and that’s Eden. I look forward to the days she’s at my place, and we’ve been adding a joint weekly visit to the children’s home. Everything with Eden is just… easy.
We’re friends, and it’s new for me—having a female friend. Is she gorgeous? Hell, yes, she is, but she’s also someone I know that I can talk to. Someone who understands my background, and I hers. It’s comforting in a way I never knew I needed.
Pulling out of my thoughts, I stand and make my way to the kitchen in time to see Reid place Coral in her highchair.
Camden rushes to her and smiles big as Bellamy places the smash cake in front of her.
I didn’t know what that was until Camden was born, but it makes sense.
Let the birthday girl have her own cake and keep little digits out of the one that everyone will be eating.
Unless you can’t keep Camden out of it, or Landry, for that matter. I guess it’s not just for little digits. I chuckle to myself. My eyes quickly roam around the room, and everyone is watching me, even Coral, I’m guessing because everyone else is.
“What?” I shrug.
Corie, who doesn’t even look like she had a baby just mere weeks ago, comes bouncing over and wraps an arm around my waist. She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t have to.
She sees it—they all see it—but I can’t tell them.
My time with Eden is mine—well, unless we’re at the children’s home.
I’m not ready for outside influence to interrupt.
Bellamy starts us off, and we all sing to Coral. She smiles, hamming up the attention, and by the time we’re done, she’s already poking her little fingers into her cake and shoving them into her mouth.
My chest tightens. I love these little humans, and their parents.
We all call each other family, but they don’t know what that means to me when I say it.
Eden’s voice is in my head, urging me to tell them about my past, and I think that one day, I will.
Just not today. Today is baby Coral’s birthday, and Reid and Bellamy are celebrating their anniversary in a few days.
I won’t take that from them, but soon. I need to tell them soon.
I feel so much lighter, not hiding that part of myself with Eden. Is it possible to have complete freedom from the chains of my past? Fuck, I don’t even know what that would feel like, but with each day that passes, I want it more and more. I crave it.
“How long has it been since we’ve done this?” Reid asks.
“Honestly, I think it was the day I found out about Cam,” Baker says.
We’re at Landry’s place, playing poker, and they’re right—it’s been far too long since we got together, just the five of us. All the ladies and kids are at Knox and Corie’s house. It’s been nice to chill with the guys. I love their families, but guy time, as we used to call it, is nice, as well.
“You’re right.” Knox nods. “It’s been too damn long.”
“We need to get back into this, at least in the offseason,” Landry says. “I know my wife was all too happy to have a girls’ night.”
“Mine, too,” Reid adds. “But I think we should take the kids some, too, you know,” he says, shrugging. “Give them a break, as well.”
“And then a night with babysitters, so when they decide to go to the bar, we can follow them and keep a lookout,” Baker adds.
“They’re big girls,” I remind them. “They’re all capable of taking care of themselves.” I feel like the ladies need to be represented here. On the flip side of that, if it were my woman, I’d be there, too, but I don’t have a woman, so I’m the voice for the ladies in the family.
“How much are they paying you to say that?” Landry asks. “It was my wife, wasn’t it?”
I toss my head back in laughter. “No, but I can see her saying those exact words. Honestly, though, I don’t blame you. I’d want to watch over my wife, as well.” The words slip out as I chuckle, but the room goes quiet.
Ah, hell.
“You never talk about her, your ex,” Baker says, his voice low.
“It was a long time ago.”
“What was her name?” Landry asks.
I hesitate, then decide why the hell not. These guys are my family. Rowan also has a similar background to Eden and to me, and they welcomed her with open arms. I know deep down, they’d never turn me away, but rejection and me, we’re not friends. Not after living a lifetime of it.
“Violet. Her name was Violet.” Silence surrounds us, the game forgotten.
With a heavy sigh, I sit back in my chair, reach for my beer, drain it, place it back on the table, and start to talk.
“I grew up in foster care. In and out of the children’s home until the next family came along to snag me up as a paycheck. ”
The room is deafeningly quiet.
So, I keep going.
“My parents were young, addicted to drugs, and didn’t make it past my second birthday. There was no family that the state could find. They’re not even sure my parents used their real names. Either way, I ended up in the system.”
Still, just silence. I’m staring at the wall.
I can’t look at them, but now that I’ve started, I can’t seem to stop.
“In high school, I was with a family that got into some trouble with drugs. They got busted. My social worker pulled me back to the children’s home, and I was struggling.
I was playing sloppily, taking out my aggression on my teammates during practice.
When Coach Pruitt asked to speak to me, I was sure I was getting cut from the team.
What I didn’t expect was for his wife, Hope, to be in his office.
I didn’t expect them to ask me to come and live with them.
“At first, I refused. I was angry, and I didn’t want their pity, but they kept trying, and finally, I gave in.
For the first time in my life, I had my own room.
A bed with sheets and warm blankets. I could shower anytime I wanted, and if I was hungry, I had free rein in the kitchen for whatever I wanted.
It was new to me, and although I felt safe, I spent every single day, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Was this going to be the day that I woke up and they said, ‘Sike,’ and yelled at me for a long shower, or for sneaking downstairs for a peanut butter and honey sandwich at midnight on a school night? ”
Landry shifts in his seat next to me, and I know this story is the hardest for him to hear because of his wife, Rowan, and her own experience with foster care and living in the system. Yet, I keep going.
“Coach and Hope, they helped me with school, and to apply for colleges. I got a scholarship, and finally, I felt like my life was starting to feel real, you know? Like it was mine, and I was willing to work hard and put in the work to make my dreams come true. I had to be the one to do it. Nothing had ever been handed to me—well, unless you count the kindness of Coach and his wife.”
“That’s where you met Violet? College?” Reid asks.