“It does,” he confirms. “And I think we’ll get to feed them, too.”
I let out a wistful sigh as I return to playing with Penny’s tiny fingers. “This isn’t even fair, you know. What’s the recommended treatment for baby fever, Doc?”
He chuckles. “Sorry, that’s more of your brother’s specialty.”
I roll my eyes, slightly disappointed he didn’t take the opportunity to tease me. “Really, because I feel like you’d be more helpful in this situation,” I mutter.
Landry snorts and continues staring down at Charley. “I’m not biting on that one. I’ve already pissed you off enough times today.”
That makes my smile grow wider again.
We sit that way for a while longer before a nurse brings over a set of bottles, and Landry swaps babies with me. We’re almost done with their feeding when he pulls out his phone to read a text.
“Son of a bitch, they’re really going through with it,” he mumbles to himself.
“What?” I ask.
“Loren and Blake—they’re actually getting married … in a month,” he adds in disbelief.
“That’s awesome though, right?”
He huffs. “I just … I don’t know. I guess I figured they’d stay engaged forever. I never imagined them throwing together an actual wedding, especially not this fast.”
Penny coughs and chokes on her bottle then, and he shifts his attention back to her. I glance over every so often to find him looking uneasy. A nurse comes over to tell us it’s almost bath time, so we finish the girls’ feedings and get our goodbye snuggles. Landry still seems lost in thought as we walk out to the car.
“Hey, are you okay?” I ask when he cranks the Jeep and shifts into drive.
“Fine,” he replies shortly.
“Are you sure? You don’t?—”
“I just need some time to wrap my head around this,” he cuts me off.
I shake my head. “I don’t understand why you’re letting it bother you so much.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I frown at his curt tone. “But I hate seeing you so upset.”
He pounds his fist lightly on the steering wheel. “I just can’t see this going well, okay? My mind doesn’t work the way yours does. You might be able to find the good in everyone and everything, but I only know how to panic and prepare for the worst-case scenario.”
I reach over and place a hand over his where it rests on the gearshift. “Hey, nothing bad is going to happen, okay? They love one another, and they’re going to get married and raise the twins together, and everything’s going to be great.”
He lets out a loud exhale. “How do you know that, though?”
My stomach clenches when his voice cracks. “I don’t. But all this constant worrying is making you miserable. It has to be worse than allowing yourself to hope now and getting let down later, right?”
“You’d say that, since you haven’t gotten let down enough times before,” he replies.
“And you might think that, but you’re probably wrong,” I retort. “Look, I’m not saying you don’t have the right to feel the way you do. But you have to change the way you react to these things if you want to fix your relationship with your family, especially with Loren.”
He opens his mouth to say more but shakes his head and clenches his jaw instead. I figure that’s at least a step in the right direction for him, since he’s more apt to lash out than to talk through his feelings right about now.
The rest of the ride home is quiet, but I can’t help feeling like he needs me to push him just a little further, like this is one of those times I’m meant to help him learn something about himself.
“Landry, wait,” I begin once we’re back inside the house. He stops and turns to face me. “I’m sorry. The last thing you need is me telling you what to do.”
He stares at me before he answers. “Why are you apologizing to me after I was the one who was short with you?”
