Chapter 13
thirteen
Leo
Imessaged Gentry and Ainsleigh this morning that I needed to speak with them and that I’d be over shortly. After I got dressed for the day in my typical attire, jeans and a Courtright Ranch T-shirt, I pulled on my boots and set out to leave.
Holden and Brooks had left earlier this morning but hadn’t told me where they were off to for the day.
I was nervous to tell them about Luke. While Brooks, Holden, and my parents took the news well and were excited to meet him, I wasn’t sure what Ainsleigh’s reaction would be.
Especially once she found out that she was the last to know.
It wasn’t as if I did that purposefully; it was just how the cards fell.
My phone vibrated in my jeans pocket just as I was about to leave the house. Pulling it out of my pocket as I walked to my truck, I saw a text from Ainsleigh.
Ainsleigh
Is everything okay?
Ever the worrywart. But I couldn’t blame her. I worried about her relentlessly after she’d left for college in Virginia five years ago. Now it was her turn to express her worry for me.
Yeah. Just need to tell you some good news. Is Gentry there?
I had to try and get into her good graces prior to telling her, and maybe she’d have the same reaction as everyone else.
Ainsleigh
Yeah.
OTW
I got into my pickup truck and drove the short distance to their house. They lived in my grandparents’ old house, and they’d done a good job decorating it and making subtle changes to it that suited their style.
I pulled into her driveway a few minutes later, and Brooks’ truck was in the driveway.
Maybe him being here would be a good thing.
I walked down the pathway to the porch and up the steps. When I reached the front door, I wiped the clamminess on my palms on the front of my jeans before I knocked on the door and entered Ainsleigh and Gentry’s home.
“Hey there,” Ainsleigh said from her spot on the couch. Gentry sat beside her with his arm thrown over the back of the couch.
Brooks and Holden sat on the other couch.
I eyed them questioningly as I took in the sight of Holden holding baby Olivia as he looked down at her and spoke softly to her.
“How’d I know you’d be holding her?” I asked as I took off my boots.
I walked over and stood in front of Holden, holding my arms out to take the baby from him.
“I just got her,” Holden said with a pout.
“Tough. I want to hold my niece,” I told him with a grin.
I wasn’t above using my sweet little niece as protection so my sister couldn’t throw something at me once she heard my news.
Olivia grunted in his arms.
“You don’t want to go to Uncle Leo, do you? I know,” he said to her as he handed her over to me. I made sure her head was nestled in the crook of my arm before I walked over to the chair and sat down.
“Spill the beans,” Ainsleigh demanded from across the room.
“Can’t a guy enjoy spendin’ time with his niece first?” I said as I looked down at Olivia who stared up at me. She was the perfect mix between Ainsleigh and Gentry, and my whole family adored her.
“That’s what I was tryin’ to do,” Holden said as he crossed his arms over his chest in a huff.
“You hog her all the time. You have to share her, you know,” I goaded Holden as I put my finger into Olivia’s now outstretched hand. She latched on with a tight grip, and I smiled down at her.
“What news do you have, Leo?” Ainsleigh asked again, and I knew I couldn’t hold her off much longer. Once you told her you had something to tell her, she had to know right away.
“Maybe I should’ve made you go to the confession tree,” I told her.
The confession tree was an old tree on our property that we all enjoyed hanging out at as kids.
We deemed it the confession tree years ago and the rule was that anytime someone made a confession there, no one was allowed to judge the person.
“Well, you didn’t, so out with it,” she said with a laugh as she picked up a pillow from the couch and put it in her lap.
“Butterfly, give him a minute. He just got here,” Gentry said as he pulled her into his side and kissed the side of her head.
“Hey now. Keep your lips to yourself,” I joked.
“If you don’t want to see it, turn your head,” Gentry replied with a laugh.
Brooks shook his head at our banter and gave me a comforting nod.
Ainsleigh didn’t miss a beat at our silent conversation.
“I take it you know what he’s about to tell me,” Ainsleigh asked Brooks with her lips pursed.
“I might,” he said, not admitting to anything.
“Well, now I really need to know,” she replied as she turned her gaze at me and tapped her foot on the floor.
“As you know, Carolina’s back in town,” I started.
“Yeah, we ran into her the other day at Olivia’s doctor’s appointment,” Ainsleigh said.
“And you know that she wanted to talk to me,” I replied, trying to hold off the inevitable a little longer.
“I do. What’s this about, Leo? Does she want you back or somethin’?” Ainsleigh asked, her tone raising a little and causing Olivia to fuss.
“It’s okay, little one. Your mama’s just bein’ a little dramatic,” I said as I bounced Olivia in my arms to soothe her.
“I am not. You’re the one who’s takin’ forever to get to the point,” Ainsleigh said impatiently.
“We talked, and she told me she has a son.”
I had hoped she would see where I was going with this, but she looked at me dumbfounded.
“What’s that got to do with you?” she asked in an annoyed tone.
“A seven-year-old son,” I told her as I looked up from Olivia and over to Ainsleigh.
Ainsleigh looked over to Gentry then back at me as she mulled my confession over in her mind. She looked up as if she were calculating the timing in her head.
“He’s my son,” I said out loud, causing Gentry to let out a low whistle and Ainsleigh to gasp.
“How do you know he’s yours?” Ainsleigh asked, and I took my phone out of my pocket.
Pulling up a photo of Luke, I smiled down at it before I tossed the phone in her direction.
Gentry caught the phone and held it out to Ainsleigh.
She looked down at the photo; her hand went to her chest as she saw a younger version of me staring back at her.
“Oh my,” she said as she continued to stare down at the photo.
“I said the same thing,” Holden admitted, causing Ainsleigh’s head to snap up.
“You knew too?” she asked as she looked up at Holden with a scowl on her face.
“Guilty as charged,” Holden said as he held his hands up in defeat.
“Do Mom and Dad know too?” Aisleigh asked as she looked between my brothers and over to me, waiting for confirmation.
“Yeah, they do,” I told her with a flinch.
“Why am I the last one to find out?” she asked with a pout.
“I didn’t do that on purpose,” I told her as I explained just how I’d found out about Luke and that Carolina had moved in next door to Holden, Brooks, and I.
“So, let me get this straight. She comes back and just happens to move in next door and you go over there to greet the new neighbors and find her livin’ there and see this cute little boy,” she exclaims.
“I know it sounds strange and like this huge coincidence, but she thought I lived on the ranch. That we all did. She didn’t know the three of us lived next door.”
“You’re defendin’ her now? How cute.”
“It’s not like that. It’s just the truth.”
I wasn’t defending her. I wasn’t. Was I?
“So, what does she want from you?” Ainsleigh asked.
“Nothin’. She just wants me to be in Luke’s life. She didn’t even demand it. She gave me the choice. As if I’d ever choose otherwise, but she gave me the choice nonetheless,” I replied.
“Why now?” Gentry asked.
“I don’t know, but she did try to tell me about Luke long before now.
It’s a long story, but she did try. I just never gave her the chance to, which I own my part in, but guys, I want to be a dad to this little boy.
I love him so much already. He’s such a great kid,” I told them as I went on to tell them about the two visits I already had with him.
“You’re a dad,” Ainsleigh said with tears in her eyes. Her lips quivered, and Gentry pulled her back into him to comfort her.
“Yeah, I am,” I admitted, and it felt good to claim Luke as mine, even if it were just to my family, but one day here soon I’d claim him to the world. It wouldn’t be long before the whole town knew that Luke was mine. And the idea didn’t scare me like I thought it would.
I rubbed my hand over the back of my head, pondering how I’d broach the topic of family dinner tomorrow and the possibility of Carolina being present.
“How would you guys feel if Carolina and Luke joined us tomorrow for family dinner?” I asked and looked down at Olivia, so I didn’t have to gauge their shocked expressions. They wouldn’t be shocked at Luke being present; it was the fact that I’d even entertain the idea of Carolina being there.
“Why would Carolina be there?” Ainsleigh asked.
I explained to them what Carolina told me last night.
“That’s understandable. I don’t like to leave Olivia either,” Ainsleigh said with a nod.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, my body relaxing back into the chair.
“So, can we all agree, we will be respectful tomorrow at dinner? Luke might get a little overwhelmed, and I don’t want him to see any tension between us and his mom,” I admitted.
They all nodded, and I felt like everything could start moving forward now that the last of my family knew about my son.
Gentry leaned down and whispered something into Ainsleigh’s ear, causing her eyes to light up and her head to nod rapidly. I didn’t know if I even wanted to know what he’d said to her.
“Do you guys want to hang out here for the day? We haven’t had a day where we all just chilled in a long time,” Ainsleigh asked, her voice hopeful that we’d all agree.
“That sounds good to me,” Brooks said and Holden and I repeated the sentiment.
“Now, give me back my baby,” Holden said as he jumped up from the couch and walked in my direction.
“She’s my baby. And you know you don’t have to hold her all the time. You’re goin’ to spoil her rotten,” Ainsleigh said.
“Our baby,” Gentry said, causing Ainsleigh to blush.
“Godbaby,” Holden corrected as he held out his hands to take Olivia from me. The day she was born, Ainsleigh and Gentry chose Holden and her friend Aspen to be the godparents of Olivia, and Holden never lets us forget his role in our niece’s life.
“Go back to your greedy uncle, sweet girl,” I said as I kissed her on the top of her head before reluctantly handing her over to my brother.
The second she was out of my arms, a pillow smacked me on the side of the head.
“What was that for?” I asked with a laugh.
“That was for not tellin’ me right away about Luke. Now show me more photos of my nephew,” Ainsleigh demanded with a laugh.
I loved the closeness between me and my siblings. I couldn’t imagine my life without them by my side. And now that I had a son, I couldn’t wait to show him the bond we had and include him in these days spent with them.