Holding You Close (Ex-Con Duet 4)

I snort.

Katie: You’re gonna be a hungover mess when Archer comes. Go to bed and sleep it off before he arrives.

Everleigh: Then he’ll think I’m old and boring. This way, he’ll know from the start that I’m fun and down to get…down and dirty.

Katie: Tyler’s gonna murder you. Take some meds, drink water, and go to sleep.

Everleigh: But it’s my birthday!! Double-3’s!! Plus, I gotta keep my rep of the cool aunt.

Katie: Okay, well please be safe and do not bring a guy home. The last thing you need is Tyler bringing Archer over, and your one-night stand is still there.

I wait for a response, but she doesn’t reply. Hopefully, that means she actually listened for a change. Though it’s very unlikely.

The next day, we’re finally getting released, and I can’t wait to go home. My mom and dad are here to help since we have more car seats, gift bags, and supplies than the two of us can carry alone. Owen’s eagerly waiting for us at the house with Loretta, Elliot, and Anthony. Once we get our discharge papers, we can leave.

“Hey,” Gemma says, surprising us at the hospital.

“What are you doin’ here?” I smile wide.

“Scarlett and Mommy needed to get out of the house for a bit.” She brings the stroller closer, and I peek inside. I can hardly believe she’s two months old already.

“It’s gonna be so much fun watching these three grow up together.” I smile down at a sleeping Scarlett. “They’ll probably get into all kinds of trouble.”

“Speaking of trouble…” Gemma takes a seat. “Did you get a ton of text messages from Everleigh last night?”

“I did.” I smirk. “We chatted for a bit, but then she just stopped responding.”

“Well, Tyler picked Archer up from the airport this morning, and when he took him to her house, there was a guy blackout drunk on her couch.”

My eyes widen at the exact words of what I told her not to do.

“No…” I groan, already shaking my head.

“Oh yes, butt ass naked and all,” Gemma confirms. “Clothes and empty beer bottles on the floor. Tyler nearly burst a blood vessel.”

“What’d Archer say?”

“I don’t think anything. Probably wondering why the hell his friend is having him live there, but considering he doesn’t have any other options, I doubt he’s complaining much.”

“I’m just envisioning the first encounter Everleigh has with him and how she’s going to look like a hot ass mess. I hope she’s hungover as hell too.” I chuckle. “I told her to go home,” I whisper.

“Yeah well, that’s her problem to figure out now. She talked all this talk about Archer, and now she’s made a fool of herself—a first impression fool at that.”

“This is going to make for one interesting Thanksgiving dinner.”

* * *

OWEN

I sneak into Mom and Dad’s room after midnight once they’re asleep. The twins are in their bassinets swaddled up like little burritos. Luke wrinkles his nose as Finn makes funny mouth movements. Ever since they came home, Mom alternates between breastfeeding and bottle feeding. I didn’t even know the difference until Everleigh explained it to me, but then Mom got annoyed, and Everleigh promised to tell me more later.

Since it’s Christmas break, I don’t have to worry about getting up early for school and can stay up with the babies. Mom isn’t getting much sleep these days, and Dad’s working on starting his own contractor business. I hope to be like him someday because I like building things and getting dirty too.

It’s weird to think I went from having only a mom to having a dad and three brothers, but I like having a big family. Though I wasn’t sure what to think about it all in the beginning, I love it now. Noah’s such a good man for Mom, and I can’t wait till the summer when they get married. Mom says I get to be in the wedding with them. I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I get to wear a cool black tux.

Finn starts to get restless, and before he wakes up Luke or our parents, I take him out of the bassinet and carry him to the kitchen. He’s the oldest of the twins by three minutes and usually the first to wake up hungry. I bet he’ll be big like an athlete, and hopefully, I can teach him how to play basketball and baseball.

Dad taught me how to feed them, and I’ve watched Mom do it a hundred times now. Once the milk is lukewarm, I bring Finn into the nursery and sit in the rocking chair. He immediately takes it and starts sucking it down.

“Slow down, buddy. You’ll just spit it all up if you eat too fast,” I remind him. “The last time I burped you, half the bottle ended up on my shirt.”