Chapter 15 #3
“Plus, as the oldest, I’m in charge, and if I say you’re one of us, then Cami? You’re one of us,” I declare. I’m not afraid to take charge, and I suspect it’s going to take Cami a while to get used to the idea of how our family works—but that’s okay. We aren’t going anywhere.
“It can’t be that simple. There has to be a catch,” she insists.
“Yeah, the catch is we have nine years of bullshit to make up for.” Technically twenty-one, but she’s been quite literally on her own since her mother’s death when she was twelve.
So, we will start with nine years of bullshit and then tackle the other twelve.
“And you have people in your corner that will always be there.”
“That sounds nice, but I’ve found that life isn’t that black and white. You might say that now, but what if I annoy you or make your dad uncomfortable?”
“Our father is going to be extremely uncomfortable if only for the fact that whatever Liam and I are feeling in terms of failing you, he will feel that tenfold and then some.” And it is going to be an incredibly painful conversation tomorrow morning when we speak to him about this, and likely a loud one when we inform our other siblings.
“Jack’s right. Murphy Callahan isn’t a perfect man, and he’s made his mistakes in the past. But he’s a good man and a really good dad.”
She hums. “And your mother…”
I jump in on that unspoken question. “She would’ve been the first one of us to pull you in for a hug and welcome you into the fold. She’s the one that instilled in us the bond that we share and the way we view our family. You were an innocent child in the situation.”
“I know it sounds out there, but you’re familiar with Savannah and Vivian, right?
” Liam asks and she nods. “Well, Savannah is a mother hen just like our mama was and Vivi? She is pure and good. They both got that from our mother. If you know them, you already know who our mother was because she left a piece of herself in each of them.”
I nod and take a deep breath. “And as soon as those two know the full scope here, they’re likely going to insist on stealing you anyway.” Liam lifts his chin in agreement. Those two are going to mother her and overwhelm her, but in the best ways.
And it breaks my heart to imagine how long it’s been since Cami’s had someone like that in her life—someone that has her back, no matter what, and only wants the best for her.
“There are going to be a lot of conversations and yes, there are a lot of us. But Jack’s right. Let’s start with the basics. And if you don’t want to take either of the options he presented, then I could probably find a heated garage or shop space that we could move Cherry into for the night.”
She visibly grimaces.
“Or…” Liam raises an eyebrow for her to explain.
“That’s an incredibly sweet offer but much like her heat being optional at the moment, Cherry is having a little transmission issue,” she softly says.
“What’s wrong with your RV’s transmission, Cami?” Liam asks, sounding less than impressed at Cherry’s non-functioning status.
“It’s just hibernating right now until she can get a new one,” she mumbles while looking down at her mittens.
Her RV can’t even move? So, she’s stuck here, in a cold RV, without heat on a winter night?
Hell to the no. “Right. Well, another thing to tackle on another day. Let’s get you packed up, at least for tonight, and go from there. We aren’t leaving you—quite literally—out in the cold. Do you want a hotel room or a guest room in my penthouse?”
She bites her lip without answering. I’m overwhelming her, I know, but I’m still really pissed about everything.
It’s not her fault, but I need to fix something.
I need to do something. But I realize my error, I didn’t clarify what I meant when I told her she would need a hotel room.
She doesn’t have a proper space heater. Of course she would be worried about paying for a hotel room.
“I’d pay for the hotel, Cami. It’s just whatever you're comfortable with.”
“How soft is your guest bed?” Cami inquires.
Liam answers, “It's pretty cozy. I’ve stayed there a few times. If you take the guest room on the opposite side of the hallway from the living room, there’s a rain shower in that bathroom.”
She tilts her head at that. I think we have a bite on the line, finally.
“I’ve never seen a shower like that.”
Fifteen minutes later, Cami hands a tiny duffel bag to me and I try not to get mad that it holds most of her clothes. I know how my sisters pack, and this would barely hold Savannah’s hair products. I stand and wait as she locks up her RV and hold the door open for her to climb in the backseat.
Regardless of what happens next, we will face it together. It’s going to be bumpy at times, and sometimes downright painful as we navigate the conversations in the coming days, but none of our anger or hurt matters, not when it comes to the big picture and what really matters.
And what matters is that our sibling will no longer be on their own and is finally going to be where she belongs—with us.