Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“No reason,” she mumbled around the biscuit.
“Don’t tell Ma,” Virgil began as he piled three thighs on his plate, along with a mountain of mashed potatoes and green beans, not to mention two biscuits, “but this is the best Sunday dinner we’ve had in a long damn time.”
I knew what he meant. The food was always delicious, but Sadie preferred dishes with a distinctly Irish flair. We ate many of the same foods on the Midnight Mass menu, but it didn’t feel right to eat our typical menu while Sadie couldn’t sit at the head of the table as we ate.
“Can’t go wrong with fried chicken,” was my only response.
“Damn straight.” Terry flashed a smile as he shoved a drumstick in his mouth.
It was nice, this unorthodox family dinner. It was strange, all of us sitting around a plastic table inside a private hospital room, talking and laughing. It was almost like old times. Almost.
Cal stood abruptly, Ava Rose dangling from his hands, aimed right in my direction. “Here. Take her.”
I frowned. “Take her where?”
Cal rolled his eyes with a groan and shoved the kicking little girl onto my lap. “Take her and hold her so I can go to the bathroom.”
I blinked and stared at the cute redhead with big green eyes and a dimple on her chin. “Hold her?”
“She’s fine how she is,” he insisted and pushed his chair back. “Just don’t let her take too big a bite and help her drink.”
My brows dipped into a frown. “How long is it gonna take you to piss?” I looked around the table, at all the eyes staring at me, and then to Cal’s abandoned spot. “Where is her food?”
“She can eat off your plate, Jas. She doesn’t have cooties.”
Shit. I didn’t know shit about babies. Ava was my niece. I loved her, would do anything to protect her, even let Cal live after what he did, but hold her? Feed her? Those were not skills I possessed. “Just hurry the fuck up.”
“Oh no,” Kat added with a laugh. “Please, take your sweet ass time. In fact, I’ll give you a thousand bucks if you take your time.”
“I’ll add another thousand,” Virgil offered around a big bite of corn on the cob. “If you just go for a walk through the hospital. Clear your head.”
“I’ll get in on that action,” Terry offered, barely able to contain his laughter. “Sorry, bro.”
“Fuck you, Terry.” He let out a loud, booming laugh. “Go on,” I growled at my youngest brother. “Before I change my mind.”
Cal made a quick exit out of the room instead of using the small bathroom inside the goddamn room. I shrugged, realizing I’d been had.
“Want some chicken, Ava? I hear it’s good for the skin.”
She flapped her arms and giggled, reaching for the small piece I held out to her. She took it in both hands and sucked on it. “Mmm,” she cooed, and I shit you not, my heart melted a little.
“Yeah, it’s not so bad,” I said proudly to my siblings, sitting up a little taller as Ava sat on my lap, content with her chicken.
“Good preparation,” Virgil offered with a laugh, drawing stares from both Kat and Maisie.
I pretended not to get what he meant and shifted my gaze to Sadie, who somehow managed to stay wherever the fuck she was in her head, even through all the noise and the chaos.
I thought—stupidly—that dinner with our boisterous family might be enough to wake her or at the very least, pull back from where she clearly preferred to be.
“Guys,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper as shock and hope warred inside me. “Shut the fuck up and look!” I pointed to the bed where Sadie lay, completely still except for the fluttering lashes.
The room fell silent as one set of eyes after another turned to the bed. To Sadie.
“Shit, she’s waking up!” Kat’s whispered words echoed what we were all thinking, at least what I was thinking.
Maisie frowned and turned to me. “Where’s Thomas?”
I shrugged. “Someone has to be at Lucky Lopez. Don’t worry. Provo and Evan are with him.” I knew they all thought I was a prick for not inviting him, but Thomas understood. He spent every free moment here with Sadie and wanted us to spend some time with her, too. Just in case. He didn’t say that, but he didn’t have to.
“Seriously, Jas? I thought we were past this shit.”
I sighed, my eyes never leaving Sadie’s face. “Unlike the rest of you, Thomas understands. He’s always here with her if he’s not sleeping or at the club. He volunteered to stay behind, so we could have this dinner with her.”
“In case it’s our last,” Kat added with a grunt.
Sadie’s eyes opened, and I was on my feet, at her side with Ava Rose babbling softly in my arms. She looked around the room slowly before her eyes landed on mine. A moment of fear flashed in her eyes, and I reached out to touch her. “It’s all right, Ma. You’re all right.”