Chapter 34
Kason
When Marcus called and told me Hanna was at his place, I hopped in my car and got on the road. I was shocked he had returned my calls, much less informed me of the whereabouts of his sister, but after yelling at me to step up and be a man and do right by his sister, he wanted the whole breakdown of what had happened between us. He said he’d got a bit out of Hanna but he knew she was still hiding shit. I told him that if she was keeping something from him, that said more about his character than hers.
That made him angry, but I told him I was on my way to have this conversation with him in person.
When I got there, I half expected Marcus to not let me in. It would be like him to leave his sister in his apartment and talk to me outside just to show us he could separate us. When I knocked on his door and he let me in, I was surprised. I saw Hanna on the couch with her hair mussed and her voice deep with sleep. I figured she’d probably fallen asleep on his couch. I couldn’t blame her. She was in her first trimester, growing a child, and her family was falling apart around her.
I’d be tired, too, if I was volleying all she was.
“Sit,” Marcus said.
I sat between Hanna and Marcus in order to keep her shielded from what was about to happen, and Marcus took notice of it. He sat on the couch and rested against the armrest. Then he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Now, Kason, what happened when you first got into town?”
“We went out to that speakeasy,” I said.
“I mean what went down between you and Hanna after you promised to keep your hands off her.”
“Marcus,” Hanna warned.
“Do you really want to know all this?” I asked.
“Obviously not the parts I shouldn’t hear about Hanna. Dude, she’s my sister. But the story? Yes.”
“Well,” I said, “it started with Hanna—”
She elbowed me and I shot her a glance. If she was trying to be subtle, she had completely and utterly failed. Marcus shot her a glance before he whipped his gaze back to me.
“See!? I knew there was something she was hiding! The fuck happened, Kas?”
“Marcus, come on. Is this really—”
“Don’t you think I have a right to know?” Marcus exclaimed.
“No,” I said coolly. “But, out of respect for our friendship and you being Hanna’s brother as well as the uncle of our child, I’m willing to tell you. But you’ll also direct your anger at me. Yell at your sister again and we’re done. We’ll be gone in the morning.”
“At least you’re stepping up,” Marcus murmured.
“Hanna approached me and told me she wanted me to father a child with her.”
“Excuse me?” he said. “Are you serious, Hanna?”
“At me, Marcus,” I snapped.
He turned to me. “Are you serious, Kason?”
“Yes, but after a couple of lunches and one protected tryst, I talked her out of it. We flirted and intentionally wore things that would rile up the other at parties, but after I talked her down from her crazy tree—”
Hanna pouted. “Hey,” she said.
“It was crazy, sweetheart,” I said.
“I’m sorry…”
“I know.” I pulled her in and kissed her on her forehead, and for a split second, I thought Marcus’s face softened. I could tell he was coming around to his sister and her situation, but I knew he still really had his guard up with me.
And the only thing I could offer him in order to get him to bring down his guard was the truth.
Either that or threaten his job, but I wasn’t going to be that petty.
Yet.
“After that, we just kept meeting up. Her room and my room when the parents were gone. The greenhouse once.”
“Good grief,” Marcus said. “Kason, you’re an idiot.”
“Marcus!” Hanna exclaimed.
“I mean, look at you! I have one conversation with you about possibly settling down and you knock up a college senior? Never mind the fact that she’s my sister, but what if this had been any other college girl? You would’ve ruined her senior year and destroyed any chance she had at any higher education!”
“So you think I’ve ruined your sister’s life?” I asked.
“Yes! Med school’s going to be postponed, and she probably won’t finish her last semester even though she says she will with online classes and shit like that. That means she won’t walk in June and then she’ll be raising a kid and it’ll be a mess!”
“Marcus, we had a wonderfully productive conversation. Where the hell is this coming from?” Hanna asked.
“I have to mend things with you because you’re my sister,” he spat. “But I don’t have to mend things with him.”
“You do if you want to see you niece or nephew,” Hanna said.
“Oh, so now you’re going to keep me from my niece or nephew because I’m pissed that my best friend knocked up my sister and ruined her life? Sounds like the mindset of a well-matured mother-to-be.”
“Marcus, that’s fucking enough,” I commanded.
“No. Now you listen. You’ve been blowing up my phone trying to get me to talk, so sit there and let me talk. You should’ve never touched my sister. You got a fucking blowjob from some bunny with ruby red lips and big fake tits your first night back in town, and then you promised me you’d never touch my sister. Not in a million years. And here you are, sitting on my fucking couch, mad at me because I’m pissed you knocked up my sister?”
“This conversation is over,” Hanna stated.
“Sit back down,” Marcus commanded lowly.
“The only person who gets to tell me what to do is Kason. And that’s only because he’s the only one I respect at this point.”
“What the fuck?!” Marcus balked.
“I’m pregnant, and this entire weekend I’ve been quietly vomiting in bathrooms from stress so no one can hear me, tip-toeing around people who are angry at the fact that I’m sick because I’m pregnant, and no one other than Kason has stopped to even think about what this stress is doing to the child I’m growing!”
“You’ve been sick?” I asked. “Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I’ve had this issue with my brother at front of my mind all weekend!” She motioned to her brother, whose face was beginning to turn red again. The moment he opened his mouth, I knew he was about to say something that would rift whatever it was they had patched up earlier.
“If you didn’t want the bullshit, then you shouldn’t have gotten pregnant,” Marcus said.
Hanna stood there shaking, and I got up and wrapped my arms around her. Marcus turned his head like he was about to be sick, and I pressed kiss after kiss to the top of Hanna’s head to try to get her to calm down. The way she was so wound up because of her family and friends was going to do damage to our growing child, and I wouldn’t have it.
“How about we go home and pack some of your things, hmm?” I hummed.
“For your fun little internship that starts early?” Marcus mocked.
“If you don’t fucking shut that mouth of yours, Marc, you’ll be out of a job.”
He stayed silent, but he didn’t hide his glare, and that was when Hanna peaked out from around my arm. She took a deep breath and patted my chest with her hand. I stood behind her while she said what she needed to say.
“Take all the time you want to digest, Marcus, but know this: if you aren’t at the birth of your niece or nephew with a smile on your face and joy in your heart and this anger gone? You won’t step near that child. As for tomorrow, I’m heading back to San Francisco with Kason in the morning. I’ll be staying with him while working and doing online classes, and just because I’m there doesn’t mean you can’t come visit.”
“Whatever,” Marcus mumbled.
“I love you and I’m sorry you’re hurting, but now all you’re doing is hurting yourself while burning bridges you might not be able to repair,” Hanna said.
“Have you told Mom and Dad about the internship? About you leaving?” Marcus asked.
“Mom knows, yes, and she’s actually pretty happy about it, especially since I’m staying with Kason. Dad, not so much. He’s still not talking to me and probably won’t for a while.”
“Wish I would’ve made the same choice…”
“You ready to go?” I murmured in Hanna’s ear.
“Hold on,” she whispered. She walked away from my grasp, and the entirety of my body wanted to pull her back into it. If she was in my arms, I could protect her. Her and the baby. I could keep her heart beating and her stomach growing and her soul full of happiness, but when she slipped from my grasp and walked slowly toward Marcus, it was like watching her approach a dog poised to attack.
When she wrapped her arms around her brother and kissed his forehead, I knew then and there that she wasn’t just going to be a great mother. She was going to be a great life partner. If she could have this kind of unconditional love for someone who despised her existence right now, then god only knew the kind of love she would have for her own child.
“You ready to go pack now?” I asked.
“I love you, Marcus.” she said. “Come visit anytime.”
I grabbed her hand and we walked toward the door. Marcus didn’t budge. He was staring out the window with his head in his hand, and when we shut the door, we stood there to see if that would jog his body.
To see if he would at least come after his sister.
But when the door didn’t budge and there wasn’t a sound coming from behind the door, I scooped a crying Hanna into my arms and carried her to my car.
It was time to pack her stuff and get her to a place that made her happy.