Chapter 13 #3
“Cage can start as soon as the ground thaws. He already ran utilities to the empty plot when he built Starbucks’ house.
If we do a modular home instead of building from scratch, it’ll be much quicker.
” Glancing up, Grumpy realized that Maddie’s wide eyes were watching the two of them like she was at a tennis match.
“There’s a lot I still have to explain about my club.
But the short version is there’s a lot of us.
We have two main areas where houses are built, the Pentagon and the Square.
Each have a communal backyard between the houses.
This is in addition to the clubhouse. There’s one unclaimed spot on the Square we can build a house on that would be big enough for Kelly and me, Ruth, you, and the babies to have our own rooms. We’ll be there to help you raise the babies, Mads.
And not just us. My club is massive, as I said.
You’ve got a lot of aunts and uncles waiting to meet you. ”
“And club cousins,” Kelly added. “Grumpy’s brothers breed like there was an apocalypse and they’re repopulating the planet.”
“So what do you think?” Grumpy asked, trying not to sound too eager. If she said no, he would move to Texas. It would be messy and it would be complicated, but he’d do it. He wasn’t leaving Maddie again.
Maddie still looked gobsmacked. “You’re serious?” Her voice was so small, so unsure that it hurt something in Grumpy to hear.
“Of course we are,” Grumpy answered, squeezing Kelly’s hand. It was extremely rare that he would show his emotions like this.
“It’s just… Watching the two of you problem solve like that, it was inspiring.
You were like reading each other’s thoughts and bouncing off each other as you came to the same conclusion.
” Maddie looked amazed. “But it’s also clear to me that you just thought of this.
I don’t want to come barging into your life, Dad. ”
Grumpy leaned forward and made sure she was looking at him as he said, “Barge. You’re moving there or I’m moving here, Mads. The choice is yours.”
She bit her lip, looking uncertain. “You can’t put that pressure on me, Dad.
You’re asking me to uproot my life, to move across the country!
I have…” Her voice trailed off. “Well, I have school. I suppose not much else.” She let out a humorless laugh.
“How pathetic is that?” she asked, rhetorically.
She waved her hand to the window. “Apparently my life can be condensed down to fit into the back of a car. I have friends, but no one I’ll miss so much they’re worth staying here for.
And after today, Colton will make sure everyone knows there’s a question that the babies aren’t his.
” She sniffled, wiping at her eyes. “How did I let my life become this? So lonely and pitiful.”
“Don’t you say that,” Grumpy growled. “Your life is your own. You make or break it, no one else. And for that matter, I never want to hear you slut shame yourself in a roundabout way. Don’t think I didn’t catch that, little miss.”
Maddie’s cheeks flamed. “I won’t, I promise. But, I mean, this is permanent, right? You aren’t just saying to come for a bit? Or decide to kick me out when the babies get to be too much?”
Grumpy’s face and voice darkened at the question. “Never. You’re welcome to stay until you decide otherwise. Be that a few months or until I die, and then the house is yours anyway.”
“I just…” She dropped her head down, cradling her face between her hands with her elbows on the table. Her hair fell forward like a black river. “I feel like this is a dream. A really, really vivid pregnancy dream and any second you’re going to disappear and I’m going to wake up.”
“You don’t need to decide today,” Grumpy also said, not wanting to pressure her. “But there’s no way in fuck I am dropping you back off at that house. I don’t care if that asshat does have a point-four percent chance of being the babies’ father.”
“That’s not how—” But Maddie shook her head, not finishing that thought. “I mean, I wasn’t going to go back there, anyway. Honestly, getting out of Texas really does sound amazing. Other than school. I don’t want to drop out when I’m so close to my degree.”
“I’m sure we can figure something out,” Kelly said, excitement in her voice. “Transfer you to a PA school, or maybe you can do online courses? I don’t know how that works, but we can ask Keys.”
“That’s the tech guy, right? The one who did all that stuff to Colton’s phone before?”
Grumpy bobbed his head back and forth. “That’s probably the most simplistic answer as to who and what Keys is. But he’s one of your club uncles, even though he’s only three or four years older than you.”
Maddie blinked. “Yeah, I’m not calling someone who’s my age ‘uncle’.”
Kelly laughed. “Just wait until you learn about Calliope and Dosia’s relationship. Don’t worry, by the time we meander our way into Mount Grove, I’ll have you up to date on every single one of your new aunts, uncles, and club cousins.”
Grumpy, though, squeezed Kelly’s hand, silently urging caution. “She hasn’t agreed to come yet.”
Maddie truly looked torn. “I just don’t know. I want to. Please don’t think I don’t. It’s just so fast! And I just can’t wrap my head around being so spontaneous.”
Disappointment gripped Grumpy, but he also reminded himself that she hadn’t said ‘no’. She just hadn’t said ‘yes’ either.
“Would you really move to Texas?” Maddie asked, looking at Grumpy.
He nodded without hesitation. “If that’s what it takes to be there for you, yes.”
“And what about you?” She looked at Kelly. “Would you move here, too?”
“It would be challenging. While Grumpy has the club, he doesn’t have any immediate family in the Mount Grove area.
I do. My bubbe is in a nursing home and as I said, my mom lives with me.
She’s got medical needs that I would have to consider.
” Kelly turned to look at Grumpy. “But where he goes, I go. So in short, yes, I would move to Texas if that’s where we’re needed. ”
Maddie looked between them and then down at the table again.
“I don’t want to raise these babies on my own.
I can’t—the second they’re born, I’m automatically outnumbered.
I know I’ll need help and support. And honestly, I’m not going to get that here.
Asking you to move here is far too selfish when I have nothing but school holding me here.
What you described up in Mount Grove, the family, the house…
That’s what I want. I can figure out school later.
I might lose my scholarship, but there’s different student loans and things that I can do.
” Sitting up, Maddie squared her shoulders.
“Let’s do it. Let’s move me and these bladder-pressing bundles of joy to Mount Grove. ”
Grumpy stared at her, needing confirmation that he’d heard her correctly. “Really? You’re sure? You don’t want to sleep on it, make the decision tomorrow?”
Maddie shook her head, nodded, then shook her head again.
“I mean, I do. Want to sleep, that is. I’m in desperate need of a nap.
But I’m also certain about going to Mount Grove with you.
” She waved at the SUV out the window. “Not like I need to pack. I have no idea what the protocol is for ditching school mid-semester, but I truly don’t have the patience or the brainpower to think about that right now. ”
“Let’s get a hotel in the area,” Kelly suggested. “Rest up, grab whatever else you might need, and start out fresh in the morning. How does that sound to everyone?”
“I don’t want you wasting money on me,” Maddie argued, shaking her head. “I’ll stay at my dorm room.”
“And risk Colton finding you there?” Grumpy snapped. “Absolutely not. You’re an adult now, Mads, and you can make your own choices. But when it comes to your safety, both of yours,” he added pointedly to Kelly, “I have the final say. Is that understood?”
“Pretty sure you gave me a similar speech when I was ten,” Maddie said, crossing her arms over her chest.
The grafts on Grumpy’s face pulled when he lifted his eyebrow in challenge. “Then you should already be familiar with how it works.”
Maddie rolled her eyes, just as she had when she was ten years old. “Fine. I’m not even sure I have anything worth keeping in my dorm room anyway.” She started to scoot herself out of the booth. “Let’s get going. But first, I have to pee again.”
Jackson was right there, helping her up and escorting her to the bathroom for the third time.
Grumpy turned to face Kelly. His heart was thundering in his chest, like he’d just run a marathon.
“There’s so much to do. We need to find a hotel tonight.
Somewhere with a decent restaurant so we don’t have to travel far for dinner.
I need to text the club that I’m claiming that final plot.
Talk to Cage about starting to build. Although he might not be able to do anything until after we choose a model house.
We have to do that too. Fuck, talk to your mom.
Last we spoke to her, I was selling my house and moving into yours.
Not to mention talking to Keys about Mads’ schooling.
I don’t even know if he knows about transferring colleges or how it would even work for her.
Maybe she should take a year off, settle in with the babies, and then go back to college. ”
Kelly grabbed Grumpy’s face, careful not to press on his scars and grafts.
“Baby. Stop and breathe. It’s fine. It’s going to be fine.
None of this is a today decision. Today’s been big enough as it is!
Meeting Maddie again after all this time, learning you’re going to be a grandfather, getting her to agree to come home with us…
That’s enough for today. The rest? The rest is tomorrow’s problem. ”
Grumpy took several large breaths, trying to calm down. “My mind’s whirling like it’s in a blender.”
“No doubt.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “I love you.”