“I don’t know.” It was the only answer he had still. He didn’t know. He was pretty sure Charlie would do anything and everything to ensure he used the child to hurt Fallon. And there was no telling what else he was capable of. He knew damn well that punching Lucas and stalking Fallon at work were just a drop in the barrel. “Do you think this is a mistake?”
“I think this is one of the consequences of having sex when your body is capable of procreating,” Frankie said, slow and deliberate. “I think that sleeping with Charlie after everything was a bad choice, but everyone makes bad choices.” He added that last bit before Fallon could start feeling guilty again. “I think you’ll have to have a very uncomfortable conversation with your child when they’re old enough to understand things about their other parent.”
Fallon bowed his head. “Do you think they’ll hate me for it?”
“Do you hate Dad or Mom?” Frankie asked. “Even though they had no business having kids?”
Fallon’s eyes went wide. “I…no. Not really. I don’t actually think about them.”
“Do you hate me or resent me for my part in, you know, everything that happened when we were young?”
Fallon swallowed heavily. He hated that his brother could think that. Even as a hypothetical. “No.”
“Then I think if your child has enough love—and they will. Fucking trust me, they will—they won’t resent you. As long as you’re honest.”
“Well. I’m good at being honest,” he said simply.
Frankie stared, then burst into laughter. “Jesus fucking Christ. You know, I really did come up with like seventeen scenarios about what you needed to tell me. Aliens were on the list, bud. And monsters. But not this.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. God, please don’t—can I hug you really quick? I think if I don’t get to hug you, I’m gonna lose my mind.”
Fallon fell into his brother’s arms, feeling small again. Young again. Afraid but comforted and definitely safe, because Frankie would never let anything hurt him so long as he could help it. He tried to protect Fallon from everything—including himself.
And he loved him.
“Are you okay with being an uncle?” he asked when he pulled away just far enough to rest his cheek on the back of the couch cushion.
“And let someone else be the dad?” He snorted and knocked his temple against the top of Fallon’s head. “You have no idea, bud.”
“You’ll be a good one,” Fallon told him.
Frankie hummed softly. “Thanks. I’m gonna try. And if you need anything from me?—”
“I actually think I’ve got this,” Fallon told him. He pulled back because he needed to see his brother’s face. He needed to see if he believed him.
Frankie smiled down at him, his eyes soft. “I know you do. But I’m still here.”
“Thanks,” Fallon said. And for that moment, it all felt okay.
He was napping when Gage got back. He was in his apartment, and he heard the lock turn. He didn’t bother moving because only one person had a key. The most he did was roll over and make space for Gage, who pulled back the heavy blankets and slid in, letting Fallon spoon him.
“Hi,” Fallon said, voice thick with sleep. He wrapped an arm around Gage, who nestled backward.
“How’d it go with your brother?”
“Lucas told you?”
Gage laughed sleepily. “Yeah.”
“It went fine. Better than fine. I wish I’d said something earlier.”
There was a long pause, and then Gage turned in Fallon’s arms, hooking a leg up over his hip. It put them very, very close together in a spot that Fallon had been wanting touched for weeks now. As things progressed, his body was on edge, and this wasn’t doing him any favors.
But he also wasn’t about to ask for anything.
“You said things when you needed to,” Gage told him. His breath was warm and very minty, and he smelled fresh from the station shower. “Was Frankie upset at being left out?”
