Marin

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When the crew left, I called my mom. My hair looked like a herd of critters had taken up residence in it and I decided it needed help. I wanted to see if she could watch Aaron while I went out to get it worked on.

“Mom. Are you busy?”

“Not at all. Why?”

“Can you watch Aaron? I need to get my hair done.”

She laughed at me. My mother.

“What’s so funny?”

“I see you’ve finally gotten tired of that mess you created.”

“Mom, that’s not true. I just need a haircut.” I’d never admit she was right.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“That haircut wouldn’t have anything to do with that man you’re living with, would it?”

“Mom!” She could be so exasperating.

“Who’s doing it?”

I told her where the salon was.

“Why don’t I just meet you there?”

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course not. I’ve been dying to see you get rid of that debacle you made. I’ll never understand why you ruined your beautiful hair.”

“Who said anything about getting rid of it?”

“Marin, I hope you’re joking.”

“Meet me in fifteen.” I ended the call before she could say anything else. The truth was, I wasn’t getting rid of it altogether. But, I was changing it up some. I wanted to get a purple balayage with hints of pale blue and pink in it. I was super excited about it. I was pretty sure it would look good in my dirty blond hair.

When I got to the salon, Mom was there waiting. I handed off Aaron to her with instructions and his diaper bag. The girl escorted me back and I knew I would be there a while. When I told her what I wanted, she got very enthusiastic.

“That will look awesome on you.”

The whole process took about two hours. When I walked out, Mom clapped her hands. “I love it!”

“You do? I wasn’t sure you would since it has all the tints in it.”

“No, it’s beautiful on you, Marin. It really suits you.”

“Thank you.”

“And it does something magical to your eyes. Wait until Grey sees you.”

I waved my hand. “Mom, stop.”

“I’m not joking.” She handed Aaron’s diaper bag to me.

“Thanks so much for taking care of him.”

“It was nothing. This child is so sweet. But he has an abundance of energy.”

Picking him up, I said, “He sure does. Those legs are constantly moving.”

“You know, you’re a natural at this.”

“Who would’ve thought I’d like it so much?”

Mom kissed my cheek and said, “Me. I always thought it.”

We walked out together and said our goodbyes.

When I went to get Aaron out of the car, he was fast asleep in his car seat. I gently extracted him and carried him upstairs to his crib. After tucking him in, I went back down to the kitchen to see what I had for lunch. That’s when everyone else came home.

Kinsley ran in and yelled, “Marnie, where’s your rainbow?”

“It’s still here. See? Only it’s lighter.” I picked up a chunk of my hair to show her.

“Oh, I like the other rainbow better.” Then she ran off with Wiley in tow. I straightened up to find Grey gawking at me. Hudson was also staring.

“You two okay?”

“Uh, yeah. I uh, I’m okay,” Grey said, still checking me out. Two steps later he was in front of me, holding a piece of my hair between his fingers, and rubbing them back and forth. “Fuck me,” he said. Before I knew what he was up to, he grabbed me by the neck and kissed me. Not some gentle, quick peck on the lips kind of kiss. This was a full-on, push the tongue into my mouth, take possession of it, devour me right here, kind of kiss. He may have even growled. I’m not quite sure because the blood roared in my ears as my heart kicked up a beat that rivaled any music I’d ever heard. Warmth curled in my belly, spiraling out into my limbs. His other hand cupped my ass and squeezed as he pulled me into his chest when suddenly we both heard his brother clear his throat.

“Excuse me, but you two do have company, you realize?”

Grey released me and I pressed my lips together as the heat from what transpired between us blazed to a thousand degrees.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“No, she isn’t,” Grey said with a smirk. “And neither am I. I’m only sorry we can’t go upstairs and—”

“Okay, I get it. Spare me the details,” Hudson said.

Grey leaned into me and said, “You look stunning.”

“Thank you.”

Hudson said over Grey’s shoulder, “I agree.”

Grey turned around and said, “Would you stop eavesdropping?”

“I’m not. Besides, it’s rude to talk behind your company’s back.”

“You’re not company. You’re my brother.”

In order to break this up, I asked, “How’s Rick?”

“Good. Really good. He has a little bit of plaque on one of his coronary arteries, but other than that, he’s good.”

Hudson walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a cold beer. After he popped off the top, he said, “I’m glad dogs don’t get that stuff. Or rather when they do, it’s usually too late to do anything about. If people didn’t feed their pets table food, animals would be so much better off.”

Hudson was a veterinarian. “How many dogs do you have?” I asked.

“We have three. Which reminds me. When are you going to get one?”

Grey looked at me in question and I said, “Oh, no. I have the kids to take care of.”

“I want a dog, Marnie.” Kinsley came tearing into the room right then and overheard Hudson. “Uncle Hudson has dogs.”

“Yes, I do. And they’re fun. Ask Wiley.”

“I have doggies,” Wiley yelled. “Scooter, Roscoe, and Flimsy.”

“Flimsy?” I asked.

Hudson shrugged. “She has one ear that won’t stand up, so we called her Flimsy. But kids need a dog.”

“I don’t have time,” I protested.

“They’re so easy. Crate train them. It doesn’t take long to house break them.”

“Easy for you to say. You have so much experience. Tell you what. How about we get a dog, but you train it and when it’s ready it can move in with us?”

“Fine,” Hudson answered without hesitation.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“Yes. That’s how easy it is.”

“You’re delusional.”

“What kind of dog do you want.”

I said, “I’d love a mini Golden Doodle,” while Grey said he wanted an Irish Wolfhound.

“What? An Irish Wolfhound? Those things are gigantic. Besides, they shed all over the place. A mini Golden Doodle won’t shed and they’re small.”

Grey shook his head. “Those things are goofy looking.”

“They’re cute.”

Hudson held up his hands. “You two duke it out. I’m going to watch the baseball game.”

Kinsley ran in and said, “Daddy, I want a golden noodle. Like Marnie wants.”

“It’s a Golden Doodle, polka dot.”

“We can name her Marshmallow,” Kinsley said.

“You’re outvoted, I’m afraid. We’ll get a mini Golden Doodle named Marshmallow. And she’ll be sweet and huggable.”

He threw his hands up in the air and left the room.

“Marnie, are we getting a Marshmallow?”

“I don’t know, honey. You’ll have to ask your daddy.”

That’s what he got for letting Hudson get away with the dog thing. I had two kids here and the last thing I needed was a puppy to raise. Good Lord. I didn’t know the first thing about dogs.

I joined the guys in the den where they were watching TV. Kinsley was trying to get Wiley to dance and after a while, she gave up and danced by herself. The men decided we would all go out to dinner after they went back to the hospital to check on Rick.

“Are you sure you don’t need to spend more time there?”

“No, Mom shooed us out earlier. I think it wears Dad out having so many people in there. Mom said he didn’t sleep much last night. Hospital rooms are noisy,” Grey said.

“When will he be released?”

“Tomorrow. We’ll go over in the morning and I’ll stay until he’s out.”

“That’s great.” I saw how relieved Grey was as he spoke. The tension that was present earlier in our conversation about his dad was no longer there.

We ended up at the pizza place for dinner that night. It was something that appeased everyone’s varied tastes—especially the kids. Kinsley was excited and she made me sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider song with her as she tried to teach it to Wiley. This time she wasn’t nearly as loud as the last time we were in here. Grey ended up telling that story.

“Everyone was staring at our table and I thought Marin was going to die. Her face was as red as the sauce on the pizza.”

“Marnie is a good singer though, isn’t she Daddy?”

“She sure is.”

“But she can’t dance as good as me. She doesn’t know how to kick right.”

“Kinsley, tell me about your dancing,” Hudson said.

“Oh, God.” I buried my face in my hands.

“Man, don’t even go there,” Grey said.

“Uncle Hudson, I’m getting some clicky shoes and you’ll have to come watch me. Aaron’s gonna learn how too. Maybe Wiley can too.”

“Wiley? Dance?” Hudson asked.

“Don’t say we didn’t warn you,” Grey murmured.

“I’m learning Irish kick dancing. I was teaching Wiley today. Didn’t you see?”

“Honey, it’s step dancing,” I corrected.

“Yep.” She nodded. “I can teach you if you want.”

Hudson’s brows shot up. “Uh, no thanks, but I’ll come watch your recitals.”

“Okay.”

And that was it. Grey and I were shocked she didn’t go on and on about it. Maybe it was dying a slow death and we were getting to the end of it.

Rick was released the next day and went home with strict instructions from his son. Grey came home with Hudson and it was funny to listen to him talk about bossing his dad around.

“You boss everyone around. I don’t know why you think it’s so funny,” I said.

He gave me an odd look. “I am not bossy in the least.”

“Sure you’re not.” I grinned and walked to the laundry room to toss some things into the dryer. When I came out, the kitchen was empty. Everyone had scattered to places unknown. I searched for Grey and found him in his office.

“Hey,” I said. “What’s going on?”

“Hudson is packing up. He needs to get home. I wanted to ask you. Do you have any idea when those DNA results will be in?”

My heart skidded to a stop. I never told him I’d forgotten to send them in. I had meant to tell him, but then things between us heated up and it completely slipped my mind.

“Um, about that. I forgot …”

“You did what?” Anger punctuated his words.

The gray in his eyes grew dark and stormy, instantly chilling me. I rubbed my arms in response, then quickly said, “No, wait. I planned to, but then things happened between us and I got sidetracked and then—”

Ice coated his words. “Marin, how could you? What gave you the right to make that decision? You had no business doing that.”

I shook my head saying, “But, but—”

Hudson poked his head into the room. “Am I interrupting something?”

Grey responded, “Yes!” At the same time, I responded, “No.”

Hudson was caught between two walls.

Immediately, I responded, “I forgot to do something and now Grey is furious with me.”

Hudson chuckled. “No surprise there.”

“Hudson, this is a bit more serious than that.”

“Yeah, it sort of is.”

Grey shot back, “Sort of?”

“Sorry. Can I help?” Hudson asked.

“Maybe.” I looked at Grey then Hudson. It might not have been my place, but maybe his brother could talk some sense into him.

Grey huffed out a breath. “It has to do with Aaron and the DNA testing.”

“We’re not back to that, are we?” Hudson asked, shaking his head. It was obvious he didn’t agree with Grey on this.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could even get one word out, Grey started in.

“We never left it. All I want to know is the damn truth. I asked Marin to send in the kit, but without consulting me, she unilaterally decided not to. And I’m pretty fucking pissed off about it.”

“You don’t understand—” again I tried to interject something only Hudson jumped in first.

“I see your point, but I see hers too. She was only protecting you.” Hudson’s gaze bounced between the two of us.

Jesus, that’s not what happened, but no one would give me a chance to utter a damn word.

“Oh? How?”

“Because what if you find out Aaron isn’t yours? Then what are you going to do? Send him away? Or put him up for adoption?” Hudson asked.

Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, Kinsley darted into the room and asked, “Daddy, why are you gonna send Aaron away? Don’t you love him no more?”