"My niece and nephew," I grunt back.
"Oh, okay." Brooke closes her eyes again with a tiny sigh. Her eyes spring back open a split-second later. "Wait,what?They're here? Now?"
"Knock knock, hope you're decent!" My sister waltzes into the room, and her jaw drops. "Holy shit."
"Momma said a cuss!" Orion sings out, peeking around his mother's legs. "Who's that?"
"That's Brooke, honey. Can you and your sister go put the groceries away in the fridge, please?" Alicia asks in the ever-patient Mom voice she's perfected.
"Hi, Brooke! Bye, Brooke!" Orion giggles and runs out of the room.
"Hi," Brooke squeaks in a tiny voice.
My sister smirks and perches on the edge of the bed. "So."
"So," I grunt. "Brooke's here."
"I see that. Welcome to Chicago, B. Enjoying your time?"
"Hi," Brooke repeats in the same squeak. "I mean, yes. Hi. Hello."
"So, this is a thing, then? Like, for real?" Alicia cocks an eyebrow.
"Yeah—" I start, but Brooke cuts me off.
"Yes. This is for real. I'm in it for the long haul." She turns to me. "I mean, if you'll have me?"
My heart leaps in my chest, and a smile beams out of me at what feels like a million watts. "Oh, I willabsolutelyhave you. As soon as my sister leaves the room."
"Gross." Alicia grimaces. "Well, good. He's happier than he has been in a while, B. But if you hurt him again, I will kill you. Don't fucking test me, okay?"
"Heard," Brooke nods. The women stare at each other, and I get the sense a silent conversation happening. It must turn out pleasantly, though, because they genuinely smile at the same time.
"Welcome back to the family, B. Now get dressed—there's some little monsters out there, and I can't promise they won't destroy everything unsupervised." Alicia rises from the bed and scurries back to her small brood, gently closing the door behind her.
"I forgot they were coming." I chew on the inside of my lip. "Sorry about that. I was… distracted."
"Understandable—I'm very distracting." Brooke smiles. "Guess we better get up and going, huh? I've got some kids to meet properly."
"Sure do." I pause. "Hey, Brooke?"
"Yeah?"
"Did I impress you on our first date yesterday?"
She giggles and slides her hand over mine under the covers. "You really, really did."
Together, we slide out of bed and quickly dress before greeting the kids and listening to Orion babbling a mile a minute about soup-in-ears and the puppies next door. Brooke slowly relaxes and gives me a tentative smile.
I didn't know I was worried about Brooke and Alicia getting along after all these years, but I guess I was. The sigh that left my chest when the two fell back into their habits of gossiping and poking loving fun at me felt like a thousand-pound weight was lifted. But that's Brooke. She just fits. She always fits.
Especially now as she sits on the floor with my hellion nephew and silently watching niece, stacking plastic bricks under Orion's directions. Orion is already over the moon for her, but Nova seems more reserved.
"Hey, Nova?" I call over. She silently looks up at me with questioning eyes. I guess she's still got a bit of shyness around new people. "Did you know Brooke has a cat?"
"Kitty?" The little girl's eyes widen, and she looks at Brooke with a new regard.
"Sure do! His name is Huey. Do you want to see pictures?" Brooke pulls out her phone and swipes through her camera roll. "See, there he is sleeping on my couch, and there he is climbing the bookshelf, and there he is making a silly face—"
