He pulled the drapes closed so that he couldn’t see his husband partying the night away. “Fuck me with a chainsaw.” He sat down heavily on the couch. Ronan knew in his heart of hearts that they’d made the right decision to get the kids out of the house so they wouldn’t catch what he had, but sitting on his sofa, sick as a dog, with his two best friends, he couldn’t help but feel a little lost.
“Now what do we do?” Fitz asked, sounding pretty lost himself.
“How about we make microwave popcorn and watch a movie?”
“You know,” Jude said, “What just happened with our kids was worse than when Jack died inTitanic.”
“Worse than when Thomas J. died inMy Girl,” Fitz sniffled.
“Or when Kevin was left home alone,” Ronan felt his eyes sting with unshed tears. He knew all three of them were grown-ass men, but right now, he felt like an abandoned child who no one loved or cared about.
“That’s it!” Fitz said, heading for the kitchen. “I’m gonna grab all the junk food in the house. Jude, find something uplifting to watch.”
“What, likeMarley and Me?” Jude asked with a snort.
Fitz chuckled and laughed along with Jude. Seconds later, Ronan joined in. “We can follow it up withA Walk to Remember.”
Fitz laughed harder. He walked into the kitchen. Seconds later, Ronan could hear the microwave buttons beeping. He got off the sofa and went into the kitchen to grab his emergency peanut butter cups out of the freezer. This time he wouldn’t be upset when his friends helped themselves.
Ronan, Jude, and Fitz might be down, but they certainly were not out. Their little party didn’t have loud music or booty-shaking dance moves, but they were taking care of each other together. In Ronan’s mind, that was worth its weight in gold.
6
Jude
Snoring and Drooling
After the movie party wrapped up, Jude headed to bed. They’d watchedDie Hard, which everyone agreedwasa Christmas movie and followed it up withTerminator 2 Judgement Day. He’d gotten a text from Cope showing the kids camped out in front of their living room television sound asleep. He supposed all that dancing had tuckered them out.
It was strange brushing his teeth in Ronan’s spare bathroom, which was filled with tub toys, unicorn bath towels and all of Everly’s hair accessories. Thankfully he’d brought his own toothpaste or he would have been stuck using his niece’s pink bubble gum paste. One sniff of it had Jude’s stomach roiling in protest. He knew this bathroom was a taste of his own future. He had no doubt that within the next few years, Lizbet would be following the hair care regimen favored by Everly and Aurora. Which of course would also herald the arrival of make-up. Lip gloss, blue eye shadow, and dark eyeliner were all ahead for his Lizzy B. Jude grinned at himself remembering he’d been the one to calm Ronan down the first time he saw his little princess wearing shiny lip gloss. Ronan would probably have to do the same thing when it was his daughter’s turn.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Jude stared at himself in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were rosy, courtesy of his fever. He’d taken more medicine before he came upstairs, hoping that he’d be able to sleep through the night.
Walking into Ezra’s room, Jude felt a bit blue. He’d taken a nap in the twin bed earlier, but now, the realization that he’d besleeping without Cope hit him like a sledgehammer to the chest. He thought to send Cope a goodnight text, but didn’t want to wake any of the kids. He knew how hard it was to have five kids spend the night. The slightest thing would wake Lizbet and it was hard to get her back to sleep.
Jude knew one night without his family wasn’t the end of the world. They’d be back together tomorrow and there would be hugs and kisses to welcome him home. That thought put a smile on Jude’s face as he drifted off toward sleep.
He was in that weird space between awake and sleep when a strange noise brought him fully awake. It sounded like a large truck was rumbling down the street. Checking his phone, Jude saw that it was half past three in the morning. There was no way a large truck would be out at this time of day. Shaking his head, Jude figured the sound was a figment of his nearly asleep mind and he snuggled back into the covers. Seconds later, Jude heard the noise again, which was accompanied by the feeling of the house shaking. What the hell was going on?
Jude got out of bed and looked out the window. The street was dark. He didn’t see any cars or trucks driving through the neighborhood and there weren’t any people on the street. Straining his ears, he listened again and all he heard was dead silence.
Convinced the Nyquil was making him hallucinate, Jude got back into bed. He was about to lay his head on the pillow when the sound came again. He got out of bed and grabbed his phone, turning on the flashlight feature. Walking as quietly as possible, he opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. Moving the beam of light, Jude saw it was empty. Both Ronan and Fitzgibbon’s doors were partially closed.
The sound came again and he thought it was coming from Fitzgibbon’s room. Jude pushed the door open a bit, to see Fitzgibbon lying flat on his back with all of the covers and a dozen multi-colored unicorns scattered on the floor. Everly would have a fit if she saw her precious herd being treated like this. He was contemplating snapping a picture when Fitzgibbon let out another rumble, which made Jude jump and yelp in surprise.
“Turn down the television, Jace,” Fitzgibbon muttered, in his sleep. “I hate that horror movie shit.”
Jude agreed completely. He held up his phone to take a quick picture of Fitz. You never knew when blackmail material would be needed. Taking another step toward the bed, Jude snapped a second pic of Fitzgibbon’s wide open mouth and the shimmering puddle of drool on the pillow.
Completely skeeved out, Jude turned and ran into something solid, which shouted and grabbed his arm. “What the fuck?”
“I was about to ask you the same question.” Ronan raised his phone’s flashlight to shine in Jude’s eyes. “What the hell are you doing in here?”
Jude batted at Ronan’s phone, knocking the light away from his face. All he could see were bright green spots dancing in front of his eyes. “I heard a noise and got up to investigate.” As he spoke, Fitzgibbon sucked in a breath and pushed it out in blasts which sounded like machine guns in a war movie. “Christ, he’s shaking the house. What are you doing up?”
“I thought we were having an earthquake, so I got up to check on you dumbasses. That’s when I saw the light in here.” Ronan started to cough. It rumbled deep in his chest.
“Shuthefuckup,” Fitzgibbon mumbled. “Tryna sleep.”
