Before she could continue, I moved away, running over to McKenzie and lifting her under her arms above my head while she squealed. I didn’t want to lead the woman on. I was committed to someone for the first time in my life, and I wasn’t about to do something stupid.
“Uncle Joe, what are you doing?” McKenzie laughed as I set her back on the ground. She turned to punch me playfully in the stomach.
“I’m making sure you’re paying attention, is all. Don’t want any weirdos coming up and snatching you or anything.”
She giggled, punching me again. “You’re the only weirdo.”
And just like that, she went back to playing with her friends until the bus arrived.
“Joe!”
I ran up the stairs when Teresa called my name. She’d worked the early shift at the hospital, which was why I’d taken McKenzie to the bus stop.
“What’s up?” I asked as I entered the kitchen.
Teresa smiled as she set the stack of mail on the table. “Is it too much to ask to spend some time with my brother? You spend all your free time shut in that basement. And lately it’s been more and more with Aiden involved. Want to tell me what’s really going on there? You’ve never actually said anything, but I have my suspicions.”
I let out a breath as I scratched at the back of my neck. Teresa was pretty chill, but she knew I didn’t tie myself down. With the way things had gone down on the phone the other day, it was more risky than ever to start something with anyone.
“It’s complicated.”
Teresa rolled her eyes. “What’s complicated about it? I’ve never seen you light up like that around anyone. He’s good for you.”
I nodded in response. “He is, but he’s supposed to be off limits.”
That had my sister’s attention. “What do you mean by off limits?”
“He’s Nathan’s little brother. He made me promise not to mess with him.”
Teresa looked around the room. “The last I checked, Aiden was an adult. Since when did his brother get to make choices like that for him?”
This was why I loved my sister so much. She was a voice of reason when I doubted everything.
“You’re not mad that he’s been here?”
She huffed a laugh. “Joe, I said you couldn’t bring your hookups here. You’ve never brought him here for that. He first came around as a friend. Then he started spoiling me with gorgeous photos of my daughter. When you came back from your trip? I knew things had changed. I’m not going to get in the way of my brother falling in love.”
Love? Fuck. Yeah, I’d been falling all right. I’d never entertained spending this much time with anyone and Aiden filled all my thoughts and plans for the future. I was filled with so much fear of how to handle telling him about the ultimatum my parents had given me. Leaving him behind wasn’t an option.
Teresa raised an eyebrow as she looked me over. “You okay there, baby bro?”
I laughed off her question. “Yeah, go figure that you make me question so much shit.”
“That’s what sisters are for, aren’t they?”
Maybe it was odd that we’ve had the entire fucking conversation standing in the middle of her damn kitchen, but it was typical for us.
In many ways, I was lucky that I was close to Teresa. There were so many families where siblings did nothing but argue. We’d done plenty of that growing up, but at the end of the day, we had each other’s backs. I’d fucking kill for my sister. I’d do anything to protect her daughter.
We didn’t dwell too much on the realization that I actually had feelings for someone; instead, we started pulling food out to make something for dinner. It wasn’t often that we all sat down together, but it was nice to do it from time to time. Most of our family meals were simple and comprised things McKenzie would eat. She was a great kid, but could be a picky eater. There was nothing wrong with boxed mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. What was more important was that we were all together.
When the kiddo got home from school, she came running into the house, kicking off her shoes and tossing her backpack and jacket on the floor.
“Mommy! Uncle Joe!” she squealed as she jumped at me, making me catch her and lift her above my head.
Teresa laughed, going to pick up the mess her daughter had left on her way to the kitchen. When we all sat down to eat, it was loud and chaotic. McKenzie filled the room with wild tales of her adventures at school.
“And then Rachel found a worm under the slide and tried to chase Edward with it. She got put in time out for the rest of recess.” Her fork flung macaroni noodles as she told her story. It was moments like these when I was glad I was with them. I would do everything in my power to not have to leave them.
