Change of Heart (Fostering Love 2)

“Ani,” Katie warned in a low voice.

I ignored her. My oldest niece and three nephews had already lost their mother. Gunner would never remember Rachel, and I wasn’t sure how much Gavin remembered, either—but Keller and Sage had already felt the loss of the most important person in their lives. They had Shane and Kate and a secure and loving extended family, but that didn’t change the fact that they’d had the rug pulled out from under them again.

There was little I could do for them beyond loving them. Soon they’d go back to California, and I wouldn’t see them for months.

But I could do this one thing. I could give them back that one person who had their back and spoiled them right under the nose of their parents.

My nephews wanted cake, and it was my turn to spoil them rotten.

“We’ve got white cake, pumpkin pie, some sort of Jell-O with whipped cream, and what looks like brownies,” I said to Keller as he pushed his chair up against the table.

“All of them,” he answered decisively, looking at me with a wide grin.

I glanced at a teary-eyed Kate.

“Good idea,” I said.

Chapter 15

Abraham

I really hope no one pukes on the flight,” Kate said as we said our good-byes the day after Henry’s funeral.

Kate and Shane were headed back to San Diego so Shane could fly back out the next day. My little sister was putting on a brave face, but I knew she was one second from falling apart.

Usually when one of the boys deployed, we didn’t let our minds drift to the possibility that something bad could happen. It seemed like bad luck to prepare for the worst, and beyond that, it was just plain stupid. There was no way to survive when you’re always waiting for something bad to happen—you had to trust that everything would work out.

But none of us felt that way anymore.

How could we think of anything else? Henry had died on US soil. He shouldn’t have even been in any danger.

Now Shane was going back into a war zone. The entire family was on edge.

“Oh, please,” Ani scoffed, hugging Kate.

“Gunner was bouncing off the damn walls until midnight,” Kate bitched, pulling away to hug our mom and dad.

“She’ll forget,” Ani mumbled, glancing at me. “Right?”

“Probably not,” Alex said jokingly, throwing his arm around Ani’s shoulders as Kate and Shane herded the kids off the porch and into my dad and uncle’s trucks. There were too many of them to ride together.

I shook my head at having so many kids that the only thing you could drive was a minivan. Kate and Shane seemed to have a system but I couldn’t imagine having more than a couple.

I froze, glancing down at the sleeping baby girl in the crook of my arm.

I was so fucked.

“Bram? Hello?” Alex called, clapping his hands.

“What’s up?” I asked distractedly, looking away from Arielle.

“You’re gonna need to hand over the baby,” he said slowly. “We said we’d go over to Trev’s today.”

Ani’s arms started waving frantically as the trucks began turning around in the driveway, and I looked away from my brother as I raised my arm in good-bye.

Kate was riding in the middle of the front seat of my uncle’s truck, leaning against her husband as tears ran down her face. Shit.

I understood that life had to move forward, but I wanted everyone close. I fucking hated that Kate was leaving already, and Alex was headed out the next day. How could I make sure they were okay when they were spread out all over the country?

Kate’s only support system while Shane was deployed had been Henry, and now she’d be down in California all alone with five children. The thought turned my stomach.

“Come on, bro,” Alex murmured as Ani took Arielle from my arms. “Trev didn’t even show up to say good-bye.”

“Yeah, what the fuck is that about?” I asked, kissing Ani on the head absentmindedly as she passed me on her way back into the house.

“You’re so fucked,” Alex said with a small chuckle, echoing my thought from just minutes earlier.

“Yeah, I’m aware,” I said ruefully, wiping a hand down my beard.

“We’ll be back in a while, Mom,” I called as my mom and Aunt Ellie followed Ani into the house. “We’re gonna head up to Trev’s.”

“Good,” Aunt Ellie said, squeezing my arm as she moved past me.

We climbed into my truck and backed out of the driveway. Trev’s property actually backed up to our parents’ property, and during the summer, we could take four-wheelers through the woods to his place. In the winter though, we usually took the truck. It sucked balls to get stuck in the mud on a four-wheeler when it was pouring down rain.

“What’s going on with Trev?” I asked Alex as we pulled out onto the road. I’d been so wrapped up in watching Aunt Ellie to make sure she was okay, and watching Ani and Arielle when I was sure Aunt Ellie wasn’t going to lose it, that I’d barely spoken to Trevor.