He has a long bandage, and the tape wraps around him to keep it in place. In reality, he’s lucky. The shot was shit. It isn’t deep, missed his bones and organs, and is relatively clean. The most disturbing thing is what my brain keeps likening it to—a kid running his finger through the frosting of a cake and leaving an empty trail behind. That’s what it looks like.
Then he promptly fell down a fucking hill, and all the dirt, stabs of debris, and slamming into rocks didn’t help. That’s likely what caused the infection. Considering that he was caught outside forhoursafter, didn’t do him any favors either.
I’m thankful that Mark got here when he did and was able to clean him properly and give him antibiotics.
One of the two/thirds triplets leans over the back of the seat and looks at Brek. My fingers move absently through his hair. I’m never going to stop touching him. I’m never going to let him out of my sight.
My brother leans over and tugs Brek’s shirt down the rest of the way. “He’s going to be okay. You know the drugs and stress from what he’s been through are why he’s sleeping so much, right?”
“I know. I hate to think what this is going to do to him in the long-term, though.”
“He’s stronger than he looks.”
“You think so, huh?”
“It sounds like he hasn’t had the best home life, and given the little bit I’ve learned, he’s already a lot stronger than most people to have come out as well-rounded and kind as he has.”
I think about the struggles he’s gone through with Oakley and Loren. Briar and Uncle Noaz followed on the tails of that, and then Myro and Jessica announced theirsecretrelationship. I still roll my eyes every time I think about their surprise when we already knew.
Anyway, Brek didn’t do well with any of it. If he were a kid, I’d be calling him a petulant child throwing a tantrum.
But then, he figured his shit out. He grew a lot in the past year. He took Imry and Haze getting together in stride. Brek has more confidence and understanding of his emotions now. When he struggled with the changes between us, he didn’t immediately get defensive and turn into an asshole.
Sure, he shut down as he tried to figure out this new direction in his life, but he showed incredible growth in how he handled it.
“You’re right,” I say eventually. “It feels like we’re all leaping forward and growing up a lot over this last year, but Brek is probably the one person who has truly blossomed and come into his own.”
“I didn’t think of that,” the triplet leaning over says.
Imry looks at us in the rearview mirror. “Hey, do you think that’s why Dad was so insistent on marrying Jeannette?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“In a matter of two years, three sons married. Three more are in committed relationships. One has a child. One of his brothers is now married with a child. Two more of his brothers are in committed relationships. In a very short period, all the kids Dad raised are now truly adults.”
“Adults don’t need their dad,” Ellory says and sits forward. Only because of Imry growing his hair and beard out can I tell them apart these days.
“Yes,” I answer, nodding. “I think maybe that’s a contributing factor, even if he doesn’t realize it. All six of his children have essentially moved on to the next stages in their lives. Three of his four brothers that he raised have too. He doesn’t have a partner, and maybe he’s lonely.”
“Maybe it makes me a bad person, but I’m glad Jeannette is gone. I think we unfairly didn’t like her, but I also know we all agree that Dad wasn’t marrying her for the right reason,” Imry says.
I look down at Brek and think about him being aromantic. Like Dad. “The right reason for him is going to look different than it will for us. We need to take that into consideration when Dad brings a partner home.”
“You think Dad will be upset if we set him up?” Ellory asks. Even without the long hair, I would know that’s Ellory because neither Avory nor Imry would suggest such a thing.
“How do you propose we do that?” Imry asks and then shakes his head. “I can’t believe I even asked that. No, Dad is not going to be a fan of that.”
“Come on. I bet we can find a great partner for him. Someone real and smart and cool.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. I continue to look at Brek, my fingers still running through his hair as I listen to Ellory list all the qualities Dad’s perfect partner would have. I meet Imry’s eyes in the rearview mirror several times. Mark remains silent, but I see his amused smile in the window’s reflection.
It’s dark when we finally pull onto the estate. Brek has been awake for twenty minutes. Mostly because he has to pee, but when we told him how close we were, he said he’d wait. He’s watching out the window as we drive through the trees. I wonder if he’ll ever visit Briar, Haze, or Oakley’s houses in the trees. The forests of Arizona are very different from those of Colorado, but nevertheless, being surrounded by trees might now be a trigger for his trauma.
I’m not in the least bit surprised to find Brek’s friends and Dad outside waiting for us. Jessica comes running toward the car as soon as it’s parked. I try to calm her down while Brek climbs out, reminding her that he has injuries, but the tears tracking down her face as she throws herself in Brek’s arms make me cut off my warning.
It isn’t long before the other four join her, and they have Brek wrapped in a tight cocoon.
Under any other circumstances, I know at least two of the triplets would have made a comment about being chopped liver coming home from this mess. Now isn’t one of those times.
