Chapter 7

Lucas

I surf on my phone while Levy and Rocco work on their homework at the kitchen table. I periodically glance at them to make sure they’re actually working, but they’re pretty diligent kids. Levy, who is in first grade and working on spelling words, has his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth in concentration. Rocco, a second grader, is reading a book. It’s open, lying flat, and his hands are folded below the table as he leans forward while his eyes move over the words. He’s the oldest of the three kids, and he seems the wisest, since he was more aware of what was happening when his mom died almost two years ago and they came to live with their Aunt Jules.

They are good kids, which is why I didn’t mind watching them after school so Max and Jules could go to Annabelle’s dance recital. She’s almost five, and could not have looked any cuter in her little costume when they left. I promised to feed the boys a snack—which was a drive out to Goodberry’s for ice cream and promises not to tell Max and Jules—then we went to the park and played for a bit. When we got home, the boys were more than willing to start their homework and I now I’m just hanging out until my duties are over.

After babysitting, I’m going to over to Stephanie’s for the evening, and that makes a big smile sweep over my face as I scroll through my Twitter feed.

I hear the front door open and both of the boys’ heads pop up. Annabelle’s voice filters in as she’s chattering away at Max and Jules as they come into the kitchen.

Jules slips her purse off and puts it on the counter as Max helps Annabelle take off the jacket she wore over her pink leotard and silver tutu.

“Well, were you a shining star?” I ask Annabelle, and she nods with a beaming smile as she approaches me. I pick her up and put her on my lap, and look up at Max. “Should we be submitting applications to Juilliard?”

Max chuckles and then leans over Annabelle, brushing his lips over her hair. “She was amazing.”

Yeah…Annabelle may have been born to two other people who are no longer around, but there’s no doubt that Max is her father now. He loves these kids like they’re his own. And that means Uncle Lucas loves them that way too.

“How’s the homework?” Jules asks the boys as she goes to the refrigerator and takes out a package of chicken.

Levy just grunts and Rocco says, “Good. Almost done.”

“Once you two are finished, go get washed up. Dinner will be in about half an hour.” Jules turns to me. “Want to stay for dinner? Doing some chicken on the grill.”

Shaking my head, I stand up from the table, depositing Annabelle on her feet and giving her a head rub. “I’m leaving soon. I’ve got plans tonight.”

“Oh yeah.” Jules asks slyly, “With anyone in particular?”

I roll my eyes at her. She and Max both know I’ve been seeing—well, fucking—Stephanie. I mean, they don’t know details, but they vaguely know from some offhanded comments I may have made that I’m in a sort of friends-with-benefits, casual type of relationship with the mother of my child.

Fuck, this is complicated.

Tucking my phone into my pocket, I go ahead and admit, “I’m going to hang with Stephanie tonight. Picking up a pizza on the way over there.”

“I’m going to go start the grill,” Max announces.

“And I’m outta here,” I say with a wave.

“Later, dude,” Max says.

As she sets the chicken down on the counter, Jules adds, “I’ll walk you to the door. I want to ask you something.”

This seems like an odd request to me, but Max doesn’t blink an eye, just heads out the double doors to the back deck where the grill is located.

Jules and I walk to the front door and she follows me out onto the porch, where I turn around to face her. “What’s up?”

Leaning back against the door, she asks, “I’m just curious how things are going between you and Stephanie.”

“They’re going fine,” I tell her, then I tilt my head. “You do know this is just a casual thing we’ve got going on, right?”

“Yeah, I got the memo on that,” she says with a laugh. “I just wanted to know what you thought of her because you’ve been spending time with her.”

“Why?” I ask guardedly, wondering why her question suddenly makes me feel protective of Stephanie.

“No nefarious reason,” she says, assuring me with an easy smile. “It’s just…she reached out to me last week while y’all were on the road to DC about a business idea she had that I actually think is pretty damn good. She wanted my advice, and we really got into some deep discussions about it and I might help her out. But it’s a big undertaking and I hardly know her at all, and—”

“You want the inside skinny on whether or not she’s a flake?” I suggest.

Jules cheeks turn pink as she grumbles, “Something like that.”

I chuckle as I step to the side and lean against the stonework on the side of their porch. Shrugging, I say, “I think she’s cool. I mean, she’s funny, smart, and seems to have a good head on her shoulders.”

“But,” Jules prods, sensing something else.

“But nothing,” I say evasively.

Jules just cocks an eyebrow at me and crosses her arms over her chest.

My head turns and I dart a glance through the large windows of the front door all the way out to the glass doors on the back deck, and I see Max is still working on the grill cleaning it. While I love my brother to death, I could stand to get some advice, and I think I need it from Jules more than Max.

Looking back to her I move away from the wall and take a few steps closer to her. She pushes off the door and straightens, perhaps sensing this is going to get personal.

“So, I’ve learned a little about Stephanie,” I tell her in a low voice. “And she, um…well, she didn’t have a good life growing up.”

“Poor?” Jules guesses, and she would know something about that for sure. She didn’t have the rosiest of upbringings.

I shake my head. “The opposite. Extremely wealthy, high-powered parents who didn’t want a kid and made it perfectly clear to Stephanie that’s how they felt.”

Jules gives a startled gasp. “Good God.”

Nodding in acknowledgment, I continue to tell her some other details I’d found out from Stephanie on Sunday when I was over there. “She has absolutely no one in her life. No relationship at all with her parents except some infrequent phone calls to check in. No other family at all, and not one close friend that she hangs with.”

“That’s weird,” Jules mumbles.

“I think so too. So I asked her why that was and she just brushed it off by saying that growing up in a boarding school environment didn’t really facilitate friendship because it was so competitive.”

“But you don’t believe that?” she guesses.

“Nope,” I reply. “I think she just can’t trust anyone to let them in. She fended off questions from me before she started opening up. But she is the most closed off person I think I’ve ever met, and personally, I think it’s because her parents fucked up her head by not supporting her through life and acting like she was a burden on them. I don’t think she trusts anyone but herself, and that’s why she’s so stubbornly independent and stoic about things.”

“I don’t get it,” Jules murmurs. “She’s so outgoing and her humor is razor sharp. She seems…happy.”

I nod again. “I think she is happy for what she knows happiness to be. I think she’s content with her life and she’s accepted it. I don’t get that she’s overly bitter or angry, it’s just made her closed off from her feelings.”

“And from intimacy?” Jules suggests, and that hits me right in the stomach.

Intimacy is such a confusing word. It can mean many things to many people, but I think Jules actually nailed it. While Steph and I have gotten down and dirty with each other, I’m not so sure how much intimacy there’s been. She’s opened up to me some, but she’s also closed off in many ways. I haven’t seen her since her morning sickness bout on Sunday, but that’s because I had a game Monday night and then we flew out the next day to Florida for another game.

But here’s the problem.

I actually missed her when I was gone. I hardly know this woman, and yet I have feelings for her that I’ve never had for another person. It’s not love, but it’s something deep. I realized it as she was throwing up in the toilet and I thought this woman is carrying my child, and here she is suffering because of it. At that moment, something took hold of my heart and carved out a section that would belong only to Stephanie, and I became suddenly afraid that I’d never be myself again.

She’s going to go through hell—her words not mine, because she’s a bit scared about the pregnancy—and all so she can give birth to something that is part of me. Considering what little she’s told me about her family life, I’ve got to say it impresses the hell out of me that she was going to make this journey on her own whether or not I was involved. Say what you want about how fucked up she is about relationships and trust, she’s an immensely strong and brave woman.

I simply respect her.

“Here’s the thing,” I say. “I can see something more with her, but I’m not sure she could say the same back to me. So my point is, if you are considering helping her with her business idea, do it with the understanding she and I might be nothing more than co-parents, and I have no clue how that’s going to work out. We’ve not even talked about those issues yet.”

Jules nods in understanding. “Noted.”

“What is she interested in doing?” I ask curiously.

“It’s a pretty amazing idea,” she says with bright, excited eyes. “She said when she lived back in California, some of the nursing homes and rehab centers actually had preschools inside of them where the kids and elderly would interact together. She said it made a huge difference to the people there who didn’t have family, and also helped the kids to empathize with a sort of lost generation of people.”

“Hilda,” I say softly.

“Who?”

“Hilda,” I repeat. “She was Stephanie’s nanny…Stephanie became Hilda’s caregiver later in life as she got older. Stephanie told me she had broken her hip and had to go to a nursing home. She died there.”

“I’m betting they had that program there,” Jules says.

“So she wants to open a school inside of a nursing home?” I ask with my brows furrowed.

Jules shakes her head. “Not quite. She actually wants to create a nonprofit that would pair preschools with care facilities and make the arrangements and transportation to bring the kids for field trips to do activities with the residents.”

My head actually jerks backward in surprise. A good kind of surprise. “That’s freaking brilliant.”

“Right?” Jules says with enthusiasm. “And I’d like to help her if she does this. I’m not doing my painting full time, and only working a few hours each week at Sweetbrier. I know when Annabelle starts school in the fall, I’m going to go crazy with boredom.”

My mind spins, wondering how serious Stephanie is about doing this and if she’s going to ask for my advice. I have to admit, I’m slightly perturbed she reached out to Jules before me about this. Say what you want about Jules having some inside expertise and education in geriatric care, I’m the one bringing her amazing orgasms.

I’m the one she talks to about her shitty family life.

Almost as if she can read my mind, Jules lays her hand on my forearm. “I’m sure she’s going to talk to you about it.”

I shake my head. “She doesn’t owe me anything.”

Except I want her to want my advice. I did knock her up after all, so one would say I’m at least the most important man in her life at the moment.

Jules opens her mouth to say something I’m sure is sweet but unhelpful to the way I’m feeling, when our attention is caught by a car pulling into her circular driveway. It stops right in front of the sidewalk that leads to the porch, and my jaw drops open as I recognize my sister, Simone, in the backseat.

I trot down the stairs as she steps out and the Uber driver pops his trunk.

“What are you doing here?” I ask in stunned surprise as I pull her into a big bear hug.

Simone laughs and squeezes me tight. “What? I’m not allowed to visit my brothers?”

“You’re welcome anytime,” I assure as I pull back and hold her by her shoulders. “You look great, sis.”

And she does. My sister is the spitting image of Max and me, as well as our other brother, Malik. Dark brown hair with streaks of a lighter brown throughout that just occur naturally in our family starting with my mom. She has the same hazel eyes too, and she’s tall like her brothers, although at five nine, she’s still several inches shorter than me.

“Get out of the way, Lucas,” I hear Jules say from behind me. I step back from my sister, and she and Jules hug like long-lost friends. They haven’t met in person yet, but they are tight through phone calls and social media. They chatter constantly back and forth with Facebook texts and tweets.

When they pull apart, she turns to thank the Uber driver as he sets two large bags down in the grass that borders the driveway. He gets into his car and leaves and I pick up Simone’s bags to carry them into to the house.

“Did you tell Max you were coming?” I ask her as we hit the front porch and Jules leads us into the house.

“Nope,” she says, and even though her back is to me as I bring up the rear, I can hear the mischief in her voice. “Thought I’d just come and crash here and rattle your cages. Besides, Jules said I could visit anytime I wanted. It was an open door.”

“True,” Jules says with a laugh as I set the bags down in the foyer, figuring I’ll take them to whatever room they put her in. She definitely has to stay here, as there’s no room at my house since it only has two bedrooms.

Max sees us all through the glass back deck doors, eyes landing on Simone then going back to the grill. He quickly does a double take, his mouth falling open like mine.

Then he’s in the house and has her in a hug, yelling out loudly but with excitement, “What the hell are you doing here?”

The kids all come running in, and when Max releases Simone, she gives him a pat on the chest and laughs, “I missed you too, Max.”

Jules introduces the kids to Simone and she kneels down to give each one a hug as they meet their Aunt Simone for the first time. Annabelle is a little shy, but give her five minutes and she’ll get over it. When Simone stands back up, Max says, “Seriously, sis…what are you doing here? I know spring break is over because I remember the gazillion pictures you posted on Facebook from Cancún.”

“Oh, you know,” she says evasively as she fiddles with one of her earrings. “Just wanted to visit.”

Max and I both immediately narrow our eyes at her. Jules wouldn’t know this because she just met Simone, but we grew up in the same house together. That fiddling and tugging on her earring meant she was lying. It was her giveaway, and she could never pull one over on us or our parents because of it. Simone, out of all of us, is the most genuine person. She’s honest and truthful to a fault, and rarely lies, and when she does, it’s usually to avoid hurting someone.

“Try again,” I say as I cross my arms, glancing at Max’s face. He’s clearly worried, as am I.

“What?” Simone exclaims in fake affront. “Can’t a girl take a little break?”

“That’s not like you,” Max murmurs. “Not to just up and leave in the middle of a school semester.”

“Your last school semester,” I tack on.

Simone’s graduating from Dartmouth in May and then she plans on going to medical school after that. Our father is a doctor and she’s always wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Sensing that this might be a good time for a little privacy for the Fournier family, Jules spreads her arms and jerks her head toward the back staircase that leads to the second floor. “Come on, kids. Let’s go upstairs and get washed up for dinner.”

Max shoots her a grateful look, and then turns a thoughtful gaze back to Simone. “You’re here, Simone. It’s a surprise. You’ve packed two huge bags. Do Lucas and me a favor and just tell us what’s going on.”

Simone’s green-gold eyes go back and forth between Max and me, calculating what she should say. Her hand drops from her ear, so I know before she opens her mouth we’re going to get the truth now.

With a sigh and a lowered gaze, Simone murmurs, “I dropped out of school.”

“You did what?” both of us shout the exact words at her at the same exact time.

She winces in the face of our obvious anger and astonishment. “Do you think Dad will be mad?”

“And let me tell you why?” I snarl at her. “Fucking college is expensive. Dartmouth is really expensive. You dropping out is jeopardizing medical school. Should I go on?”

Simone shakes her head furiously.

“What’s the deal, Simone?” Max asks softly. “Give it to us real.”

With a frown, Simone gives it to us. “I don’t want to be a doctor. Never did, and I just can’t keep going on with this lie to Dad. I figured if I dropped out, that was the easiest way out of medical school without telling Dad I don’t want to be a doctor.”

“You can’t be that dumb,” I say, pissed as hell she’d do something so dramatic without talking to one of us first. Our family is close and we talk about everything.

Well, except women we knock up. I’m still keeping that just between Max, Jules, and me until after we see the doctor.

“Lucas,” Max says in a low warning tone to back the fuck off. Then his gaze focuses on Simone. “Have you talked to Mom and Dad?”

She shakes her head, tears starting to glisten, and I groan internally. I’ve always been a sucker for Simone’s tears. “They won’t understand.”

“You know they will,” I chastise.

“But let’s not worry about that now,” Max says as he steps forward and gives her a squeeze around her shoulders. “We’ll eat dinner and talk some more.”

I follow them into the kitchen, although I’m not staying long. I want to make sure Simone is settled, and I know Max and Jules will talk to her tonight to figure out what is going on. So I’ll hang around for a bit, but I’m not about to give up my plans to see Stephy.