“Thanks.”
God.What he wouldn’t have given for her to notice him back all those years ago.It was a trip.She hadn’t been snobby, not exactly.There had been an untouchable air about her, and he’d known better than to go there.
His brother, not so much.
And it had resulted in disaster.
Now … they needed to band together to raise their niece.
Caring for little Marjorie was the most important thing.Attraction to Ellie had no place in that.
What a dumbass thought to entertain even for a moment.In fact, it was so stupid that he wasn’t going to put words to it.He was just going to push it to the side.
They’d been given a brief overview of the adoption process, and truly, in their case, it seemed straightforward.Oregon made it pretty easy for nontraditional families to adopt, and Ty and Melanie had voluntarily surrendered their parental rights, naming their siblings as the preferred adoptive parents.
But that was just the legal stuff.There was also the practical, personal stuff.
“Do you really want me to move in?”
“I have plenty of room.I have five bedrooms here.We can put the nursery in between our rooms, and we can take care of her together.I think that would be the best thing.”
She looked hesitant.“We don’t know each other very well.”
“I guess not.But how well do you know our old biology teacher?”
“She is my coworker.”
“Sure.And I’m your old classmate.”
“Probably also my common-law brother-in-law at this point?”
He laughed.“Is that a thing?”
“I think it’s a thing when you end up raising your niece.”
She let out a low sound.“I am going to have to tell my mother.And I’m really not looking forward to it.”
“What worries you?”he asked, leaning against the counter and looking at her.
“That she won’t want to be involved.Or worse, that she will.That worries me.It worries me pretty substantially.Because she’s difficult, and she’s going to be handsy, and …”
“You don’t think that she’s going to want to adopt Marjorie?”
Ellie laughed.“No.I think she might want to performativelygrandparent, but I don’t think she would ever want to adopt her.It would hinder her too much.And she doesn’t ever like to be inconvenienced.I don’t know.”
“My parents will probably be happy,” he said.
There was a heaviness that came along with that realization.They would be.They loved their kids, in their way.It was just that nothing in their lives was conducive to taking care of children.It didn’t mean that they didn’t care; it just meant that their priorities were all mixed up.
They were kind of like Ty and Melanie, honestly.
He wasn’t sure about his own priorities.He’d achieved financial success.But he wasn’t married.Had never had a serious relationship.
He liked sex, sure.A little entanglement could be fun, especially when he was out on the road.But anything beyond that …
The weight of responsibility always felt like it was a little bit too much.
And now he had a whole kid.
