When he was standing in front of her, she held her breath and let out a big cry. He knew she was terrified to touch him, to touch anyone still because she held onto the fear that to touch someone meant pain for her. She’d worked past that fear with them and Dee but now she had to do it all again.
Instead of forcing his touch on her Nate ran his hand down her hair telling her, “Fucking missed you, kid. Ty’s been driving me nuts without you to keep him in line.”
“I missed you too, Nate, so much. Life just isn’t the same without you two bickering like an old married couple.” She smiled when he laughed.
“Sooo, does this mean I get the short end of the stick again?” Ty complained from the front steps.
“Tyler,” she whispered in wonder looking at her other brother. Her tears finally lost the battle and started streaming down her face.
Linc started wiping them away as they heard a crash from inside followed by, “God dammit, Rowdy!” just as a white dog came bursting out of the house making a bee-line straight for Kennedy.
“Rowdy!” she cried out, kneeling down to catch him just as he hit her chest full force, knocking her on her ass.
“Fucking dog’s a menace,” Nate bitched.
“As if, Nathaniel. You love him more than I do,” a soft voice said from Ty’s side.
“Keeley?” Kenny looked up from under the dog currently trying to lick every piece of bare skin he could find.
“Kennedy? Oh my God! Kennedy!” Keeley squealed trying to run towards them when Ty scooped her up and brought her over, complaining about pregnant women thinking they can run.
“Oohhh, put me down right now, Tyler!” she scolded him.
Scrambling out from under the dog, Kenny got to her feet just as Ty put Keeley down and they stood there just staring at each other.
“I’m so sorry I missed the wedding! And oh my God, you’re pregnant! I can’t believe you’re pregnant!” Kenny started, staring at her small baby bump.
“I missed you so much! The wedding wasn’t very big. We didn’t want to do much without you here and now you are and we have so much to do and plan!” Keeley half talked over her.
The men just whipped their heads back and forth between the girls as they kept talking over each other but never seemed to miss a beat.
“Jesus Christ, anyone else getting dizzy from this shit?” Linc complained with a stupid smile on his face, clearly amused. When out of nowhere a hand nailed him in the gut. “Shit, woman. Warn a guy next time,” he complained as Kenny ignored him.
“Sunshine?” Creed called over the girls talking. When she looked at him he saw happiness in her eyes, more than he’d ever seen, solidifying the decision they’d made to book the tickets home before she’d told them. “Let’s get you to bed.”
When she went to argue, Keeley piped up saying, “Yes, this baby is killing me with all these weird sleeping hours; I’ll have a nap too.” Creed smiled his appreciation to her, knowing Kenny would have put up a fight so she could visit.
·?•? ?•?·
Home.
So many people took advantage of what home really was but she was finally here and it was like nothing had changed. She knew in large part that had everything to do with Creed and Linc; that they’d spoken to her brothers about how she was and what she was afraid of. But never in a million years did she dream of just how good it would feel to be home again.
When Keeley had come out the door chasing after Rowdy, her heart stalled. They’d become such good friends before everything changed, before she’d left. She’d been afraid they wouldn’t get that ease back, but it never left. Realizing how far she’d come in the last six months was amazing. She was so strong, and she admired her new sister-in-law like crazy.
“I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunty!” Kennedy practically shouted once they entered the spare room in her brother’s house. She’d been exhausted when they landed but now she was filled with anticipation and excitement.
Grabbing hold of her hand as she was spinning in their room, Linc pulled her to his che
st running his fingers through her hair. She looked into his eyes and saw something she didn’t like… Doubt. “Lincoln?”
“You’re so gorgeous, Sunshine,” he whispered reverently, slowly lowering his head closer to hers to kiss her. As their lips touched, she was filled anew with so many emotions, but now his doubt was stuck in the front of her mind. Pulling back from him she bumped into Creed’s wall of muscle behind her. “Lincoln? Talk to me,” she begged.
Taking a deep breath, he sat heavily on the king-sized bed that was placed in the middle of the room. Running a hand down his face he looked up, making eye contact with Creed over her shoulder. Glancing between them she waited, not liking the feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach.
“We didn’t rush you, did we?” he asked her. Confused, she cocked her head waiting for him to explain further. “With us,” was all he said, realization dawning quickly in her mind.
“You didn’t rush anything,” she told him sincerely. She was afraid of a lot of things, but the three of them weren’t one of them.