“Uncle Armie!” Dani screeched as she jumped into Armie’s arms. He hugged the girl close, loving how she smelled like a baby version of her mom. She would grow up into a beautiful woman, her mother’s features colored by the Latin heritage of her father. His love for the kids was bittersweet. He was so grateful he’d seen them as babies, but would be forever regretful to never see them as adults.

He shook the melancholy off, something that had become easier since spending time with Mitch and Leighanne, and embraced the kid with fervor. He was lucky for what he had.

“Don’t crush your uncle, Dani.” David’s voice was firm but kind. He loved the kids as if they were his own, taking no time to assimilate into the Croft family’s life. Armie was glad for Ophi’s David, glad for Nettie’s Josh. Armie liked them both and knew they’d take care of his sisters, but there would always be a small part of him that rebelled against them, for the sole reason of natural protective and brotherly instincts. He couldn’t help it; he was an animal at heart.

“Grr, roar!”

“You’re not a werewolf, Dani.” Richard’s voice came closer, the telltale sounds of that stupid Pokémon game now filling the room. The sound of crushed leather. Richard must be sitting next to David on the love seat.

“A werewolf?” Armie asked, tickling the girl as she sat on his lap. She roared some more, this time mixed with belly laughs.

“I love that sound,” Nettie said, settling next to Armie on the large couch. “I wish I could bottle it.”

“Did you hear that, Dani? Your aunt wants to bottle your laugh like the witch she is. Attack her using your werewolf strength before she gets it!”

Nettie shrieked with laughter as the little body left Armie’s lap, no doubt to defeat her evil aunt.

“Atta girl, Dani.”

“I would appreciate if you didn’t turn my girl into a warrior before the age of five.” Armie had heard Ophi approaching, Josh with her as they carried glasses with liquid out of the kitchen. He could hear the sloshing and clinking. He wanted a drink, but then he thought of Mitch and Leighanne, their bodies acquiescent under his, doing as Armie commanded. No, he didn’t need a drink tonight. Their bodies, their need for him, and his lust for them would bury any pain he felt after this conversation.

“That’s what you get for naming your kid after a Game of Thrones character.” The child in question came back, resettling against Armie’s chest.

“I did not.”

“What is her full name?”

“Shut up.”

“Did you honestly name your daughter after Daenerys?” David sounded almost ashamed of his fiancé, definitely embarrassed. “I’ve been too afraid of the answer to ever ask. The poor kid is going to be tortured her whole life.”

“Listen,” Ophi said, her serious voice in full mom mode, owning her choice of name for her daughter. “My kid was named after a kick-ass character, and she is also going to be kick-ass. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“Why not Arya?” Josh asked, the sound of glass touching teeth reaching Armie’s ears. “I like Arya better. She’s more badass.”

Ophi scoffed. “She’s a—”

“No spoilers!” Nettie pleaded. “I haven’t seen it yet.”

“You’re never going to because you can’t keep your focus on one thing for more than an hour,” Josh teased. He had a point.

“It’s more fun than doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over—”

Armie cut them off. “Don’t you two get tired of the bickering?”

“Nope,” they said in unison. Armie could imagine them grinning at one another. Unfortunately, he had no idea what Josh looked like aside from what Nettie had described to him.

“Armie, what is this little family meeting about?”

He was just going to say it, rip the Band-Aid off and get it over with.

“This is about Leighanne, isn’t it?” David asked. “And that other guy.”

“What?” Armie asked, startled by David’s guess. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh please, man.” Josh snorted into his glass. “Have you forgotten where you live? This town has eyes and ears in every wall…and bar dressing room. That’s hot.” A smacking sound near Josh and Nettie. “Ow!”

“Stop teasing him. Armie, we love that you’re in a relationship with two people who seem really nice. We don’t know why you didn’t tell us before now. I mean, it’s not like we weren’t going to find out.”

“Who—no, that’s not what this is about. Please don’t say anything to anyone.”

“What, why?” Ophi asked. “Is one of them married?”

“I can vouch for Leighanne. She’s not married.” David sounded confident.

“Is the guy married?”

“Mitchell, and no he isn’t.” Armie grunted as Dani slid off his lap, her little hands and knees going everywhere uncomfortable.

“Mitchell…the guy from Thanksgiving who helped me find the lawyer? Oh, I like him! Armie, why haven’t you brought them by yet? This secrecy is ridiculous.”

“I know. It’s not like we won’t interrogate them too much.” Nettie sounded suspiciously insincere.

“I’m impressed, Armie,” David leaned over to clap his shoulder. “Leighanne doesn’t open up to many people. She must really like you and Mitch.”

“We’re happy for you, man.”

“Stop, all of you please,” Armie shouted, unable to listen to another word. “Yes, I’m seeing Leighanne and Mitch. No, this is not why I asked you all to be here tonight. In fact, I would appreciate if you kept your mouths shut about my love life, at least until after the first night of Hanukkah Feast at the JCA.”

“Why?”

“For a bunch of different reasons that have nothing to do with any of you.”

“Aww, Armie is grumpy,” Nettie teased.

“Enough, damn it,” he yelled. After a second of heavy silence, he stood, unable to take one more word. Yes, his sisters teased him. He was the only guy in the family; of course they teased him. It had taken on a different flavor when his disease presented itself, something silly and childish, and although he didn’t mind most of the time, tonight it stung like a million bees.

“Armie?” Nettie placed her hand on his arm, but he pulled away. He couldn’t deal with their pity. He wanted to leave, but the haze of the fire and the chaos of the conversation had made him forget where he put his cane. He wouldn’t ask for help.

“C’mon, kids. Let’s go watch some TV.”

Armie listened as Josh and David gathered the kids and left the room, leaving the Croft sibling to themselves.

“Armie, sit down.” Ophi was using her mom voice. Not the one she saved for the kids, but one he recognized from when she’d taken over the responsibility of raising them after their parents died.

He sat.

“Why are we here?” Ophi asked patiently.

“It’s gone.”

“What is, bro?” Nettie placed her head on his shoulder and grasped his hand.

“My vision. All of it. The last of it disappeared this week.”

“Shit.” Ophi joined them on the couch, sitting on Armie’s opposite side. She pulled him to her, and he went like a child, wrapping his arms around her waist, Nettie hugging him from behind. He felt their love and concern for him in the way they held him, confident and sure that his sisters would always be there for him.

Ophi stroked Armie’s head. “You’re gonna be fine, kid. We’re all gonna be fine.”

Armie hated himself a little as heat began to build behind his eyes. “I won’t get to see the new baby.”

“No, but you’ll be able to hold it and coddle it and love it, just as you would if you could see.” Armie felt something wet hit the back of his neck. Nettie must be crying. He shifted, holding an arm up so she could cuddle into him. She came without a word.

“Don’t cry, little guy.”

Nettie sniffed as he used the old, silly nickname for her. She’d always been such a tomboy as a teenager.

“I hate seeing you so sad. What can I do?”

“Nothing.” He could tell they weren’t happy with that answer, so he expanded. “Nothing that you aren’t already doing. I didn’t come here with the need for you to make it better. I just needed you to know. Now you know, and we can move on.”

Nettie sniffled again, rubbing her face against his chest. Probably rubbing her snot all over him if he knew his sister. “I can’t believe you’re screwing a man and a woman at the same time.”

“Oh, we are not talking about this.”

“Hell yes, we are,” Ophi said, hugging him closer so he couldn’t leave. He grunted, giving in to being their captive. “So, why can’t we talk about it till Hanukkah?”

“Mitch doesn’t want people to know. He bought the JCA, and he thinks the town will judge him poorly if word gets out about the unusual nature of our relationship.”

“The whole town already knows, and they don’t give a crap.”

“I knew they wouldn’t care, but I couldn’t convince him. I think he’s dealt with some bad bigots in the past. He’ll barely walk next to us in public. Hell, we haven’t even gone on a proper date yet.”

“I don’t like that he won’t show you off,” Nettie said, her voice taking on a pissed-off tinge. “You’re a prize.”

Armie snorted. “I’m not a fucking breeding bull.”

“Maybe Leighanne thinks you are.”

The girls dissolved into giggles.

“I hate you both.”

“And we love you. How do you feel about your trio?”

That was a no-brainer. “I like it a lot…I like them a lot. It’s weird. Do we have to talk about this?”

“Hey, I raised you to be more emotionally competent than this.” Ophi tapped his head playfully. “Spit it out.”

What came out of Armie felt like word vomit. It rushed from him on a tidal wave.

“When I’m with them, I feel like my heart is going to burst out of my damn chest, and when they’re gone, they’re all I think about. Happy?”

“Yup.” Ophi kissed his forehead, smoothing his hair back. He sighed.

“Shit, how did this happen so fast?”

“There seems to be something in the air this holiday season, huh?” Nettie chuckled after asking the question.

It was true. All the Croft siblings had found someone to care for. Nettie at Halloween, Ophi at Thanksgiving—though he argued that relationship had formed well before then—and now Armie. He couldn’t tell if his story had a happy ending, but he was damned determined to try. But first, he couldn’t let this Croft sibling moment go without asking one last thing.

“Seriously, though. Why didn’t you name her Arya? Arya is so much more badass.”

“Shut up, brat, before I disown you. Daenerys is the mother of—”

“No spoilers!”

“It’s not a spoiler. It’s her flippin’ name, for fuck’s sake.”

Armie grinned, hugging his bickering sisters close. He loved his family.