Chapter 16 #2
“They’ll be hatching soon,” Oscar said with the confidence of a doctoral paleontologist. “And then they get to live with their mommy and their daddy and get lots of toys. They’ll be a family!”
Keys glanced down at Oscar. “Is that what you want, too?”
“Sure! I love toys.”
Keys couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, I meant a family. You, me, and your mom? Is that what you want, too?”
Frowning, Oscar looked at him over his shoulder.
“We’re already a family.” Turning back to the book, he pointed at the dinosaurs standing over a nest of eggs.
“I told you, there’s the Mommy Dino and the Daddy Dino.
That’s you and Mommy.” Then he pointed to the eggs.
“And that’s me, but I’m already hatched. ”
Smiling, Keys leaned over and kissed Oscar’s blonde hair. “Tell me more about this dino family. What are some things they’ll get to do together?”
“Play games and go to the park! And swimming. Oscar Dinos love to go swimming.”
“Yeah?” Closing his eyes, Keys laid his head on Oscar’s pillow with designs of a pool floating about his brain. Maybe indoor would be best so Oscar could use it all year round. “What else?”
“And coloring and painting. They like to build things with blocks and LEGOs. Oh! And they like to watch Paw Patrol together.”
Prehistoric televisions had better service than Keys realized, if that was possible. But of course, he kept that thought to himself. “Sounds like they’re busy dinosaurs. What about going into town? Does your dino family like to eat out at places?”
“Yes! Chicken nuggets are their favorite.”
Keys also kept the fact that Oscar just made his dinosaur family cannibals also to himself. “I know a great diner that makes amazing chicken nuggets.”
“Do I get a toy there, too?”
“No, but they have table cloths you can draw on.”
“Cool,” Oscar breathed out. “And afterwards, the dino family can go to the park and all the Oscar dinos can go down the slides!”
“Big slides?” Keys inquired, his eyes still closed. It really was unfair that Oscar had so much energy in a such a tiny body.
“The biggest. They’re huge! Like, taller than a house!”
“Wow, those are big slides,” he mumbled back.
Keys must have faded for a minute, but was roused when a pair of lips touched his forehead. They were smaller, and wetter, than Rose’s would have been. As they pulled away, he could have sworn he heard Oscar whisper, “Good night, Daddy.”
* * *
Despite the hour, Rose made regular coffee because decaf was an abomination unto this world.
She didn’t particularly want it, but it gave her hands something to do.
Poison had accepted the mug before pulling a flask from the inside pocket of her cut and pouring a healthy dose in.
Apparently Irish coffee was the only way she planned on getting through this awkwardly difficult conversation.
They sat there for almost ten minutes, just sipping their cups, before either of them spoke.
“Well, this is awkward as fuck,” Poison said dryly.
Rose chuckled, shaking her head. “Yup.”
Another silence. Rose glanced at the closed bedroom door where Keys was getting Oscar ready for bed. No doubt he was giving them extra time, but she really wished he wouldn’t. If Keys came out, at least it might lead to some conversation.
“I don’t actually know how to do this,” Poison finally said, breaking the ice. “The… Fuck. Whatever this is. The sister thing. Clearly, I was never good at it when you were a kid, and I am significantly less practiced now.”
“I wasn’t good at it either,” Rose reminded her. “But it also wasn’t like I was trying and you were the one forcing the wedge between us.”
“You were a kid.”
Rose scrunched her nose at the memories. “I was difficult kid.”
Poison took a sip of her Irish coffee. “You were a nightmare,” she agreed. “You were also so fucking smart that it was easy to treat you like a small adult who should know better.”
“I did know better,” Rose admitted, staring down at the mug between her hands. “I just didn’t care.”
Poison snorted. “Yeah, I got that part.” She turned the mug in her hands. “I keep thinking about all the things I should have done differently. If I’d been, I don't know, more patient. Less like Mom.”
“You weren’t like Mom.”
“I was exactly like Mom. Authoritarian, high standards, no tolerance for anyone who didn’t meet them.
” She paused. “About the only thing we differed on was religion. The only reason she didn’t disown me when I came out as bi was Dad.
She wasn’t a bad person. But she wasn’t particularly warm, you know.
I think Dad tried, but he didn’t really know how either. ”
Rose thought about her mother’s face, which she could barely reconstruct anymore.
These days, all she could remember was the impression of her disappointment over a mental image.
“I’ve been trying to be better for Oscar,” Rose said softly.
“I don’t know if I’m doing right by him, but I’m doing the best I can with the circumstances I have—or had,” she corrected, not wanting to discount Keys’ part in their lives.
“You’re doing better than I could have imagined,” Poison said with a certainty that surprised Rose.
“I’ve watched you basically nonstop—other than to go outside to find out I’ve been fucking a Russian prince for the better part of two years.
Trust me, you’re incredible with him.” She looked to Oscar’s bedroom door. “He’s going to be something, that kid.”
“He already is,” Rose said proudly.
Poison chuckled into her mug. “He’s got some strong opinions about dinosaurs.”
“He has strong opinions about everything,” Rose corrected.
“Including me,” Poison said with a chagrined expression.
“And whose fault is that?”
Poison stuck her tongue out at Rose. “I want to be in his life. I know I have no right to ask for that after everything, and I know it’ll take time for him to, you know, not see me as the mean lady who beat the crap out of his Keys. But I still want to be in his life.”
“He’ll come around,” Rose assured her. “He just needs to see who you actually are. Today was a lot for a four year old.”
“Suppose this means I have to work my way onto Keys’ good side, too,” Poison grumbled.
Rose shrugged. “Certainly wouldn’t hurt.”
Poison was quiet for a moment. “He’s going to be good to you. I can see it. I don’t like that I can see it, because it would be very convenient to still be furious at him, but I can see it.”
“High praise,” Rose said dryly.
“I poured this kind of strong,” Poison defended, lifting her mug like a toast. “Trust me, it’s the highest praise I have available right now.” Joking aside, she added, “Give me time. It’s been a long month.”
Rose winced, guilt stabbing at her heart. “Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“When you only knew me as MV…” She hesitated.
“What did she… I mean, what did I mean to you? Before you knew. When I was just a voice on the phone? I know what it meant to me, being able to get to know you as a person, as a sister, but I know I also kept you at a distance, didn’t let you ask questions. Was I just…a mystery voice?”
The snort that came out of Poison’s nose made Rose question just how strong that drink was before Poison answered.
“Rose, I tore apart the country looking for you. From the moment I got your message that ‘they’ had found you, before Kitty came inside and told me who you were, I was already prepared to find you. And I would have, Rose or MV. I would have burned the world down to get to you. Not because you were my sister, but because you were the first person in a long time who I could talk to like a friend. Not someone I was responsible for, not someone I was leading or managing or trying not to get killed. Just…” She shrugged.
“For obvious reasons, I was in a really dark place when MV first reached out to me. And she was someone I actually wanted to talk to. Maybe it was because you were a voice in my head or I didn’t have to look at you.
In a weird, fucked up way, you were exactly what I needed to help me get through your death. Mom’s and Dad’s, too.
“Don’t get me wrong. I was fucking pissed when I found out that I’d been lied to the whole time.
I still feel that,” she added offhandedly, like it didn’t really matter.
“But underneath the fear and the anger and the confusion, there was also…” She stopped again.
Frowned slightly, she scrunched up her nose like her next words left a bad taste in her mouth.
“Relief, I guess. That I hadn’t imagined the bond I felt between us.
That the person I felt closest to in the world—besides Kitty—was actually my sister.
Not a stranger.” She looked at Rose. “And fuck you very much for making me feel all these nasty, gross feelings the past several weeks.”
Rose laughed—because only Poison could curse her for being alive because it made her feel things. “What happens now?” she asked. “With us, I mean. I’d like to still help you, to be your club’s tech.”
Poison lifted an eyebrow. “Of course you’re still my tech.
I’d be even more pissed at you if you went over to the Dark Side and joined these VDMC goodie two shoes.
You can stay here if you want to fornicate with Keys and live your best nerdy life—but make no mistake.
You’re ours.” Rose felt a warmth spread through her chest at her sister’s claim.
“As for me, once all this shit with Kennedy is over, I go back on the road, because that’s what I do.
And when I call from now on, it’ll be as your sister calling to check in on you and her nephew. ”
“And when you come through Mount Grove?”
Poison shrugged, downing the last of her Irish coffee. “I take my nephew and any other nerdettes you and Keys spawn out to do something that will horrify you and Keys.” She shrugged, adding, “Nothing illegal. Probably.”
Shaking her head, Rose couldn’t seem to stop smiling.