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“Sounds…intense.”
I nod. “Yeah, it was but she did try to give us some normal. We used to have family game night and we went to the zoo in every city we stopped in when we were running.”
“There is so much shit I want to ask her and now I’ll never get the chance to,” he muses and I grab the shoebox.
“That’s why I brought this. Theo and I found it while we were cleaning out her stuff. There’s a photo of a little boy in here that I’m almost certain is you along with every report card you ever got.”
He glances over at me. “Can I see it?”
“Sure.” I hand it to him and he takes the lid off, setting it next to him on the dock. “Oh, there’s also love letters from your dad, I think.”
“You think?”
“Well.” I shrug. “They are only signed “M” and I don’t know his name but it seems fairly likely that they are from him.”
“His name is Malcolm,” he says, pulling out the photo and shaking his head. “This was my kindergarten picture.”
He starts going through the letters and report cards in the box and I sit next to him silently, only speaking to answer any of his questions. Finally, he sighs and sets the box down next to him.
“This is all fucking insane. I spent my whole life thinking my mom was a club whore that wasn’t capable of taking care of a kid and I was cool with that. I understood why she wasn’t around and now I find out it was all a lie.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m still learning new things about her all the time. Until we were in that room at the clubhouse, I had no idea who my dad was because she wouldn’t tell me. I didn’t know I had another brother. You and I are in the same boat so I’m always here if you want to talk.”
He glances over at me and smirks. “There is one question I want to ask you.”
“Go ahead,” I say with a nod.
“Is it true you shot Lincoln in the leg?”
I bark out a laugh and nod. “Um, yep. That’s true. Although to be fair, at the time, I thought he was some kind of psycho or something.”
“Naw, I heard the whole story from Fuzz. Seemed like he got what was comin’ to him.”
I smile and point over my shoulder. “I think Smith still has some extra “Team Tate” t-shirts if you want to show your support.”
“I just might do that,” he says, laughing as he turns back to the water. We sit in silence for a few seconds before he turns to the house. “We should probably get back in there. I’m sure Em will have food ready soon.”
He starts putting things back in the box and after setting the lid on top, he hands it to me. I shake my head.
“No, you should keep it.”
His brows furrow. “You sure?”
“Yeah. I’ve already read them all and she was your mom, too.”
He nods, placing his hand on top of the box as he sighs. “Thank you. I know I probably haven’t been handling any of this well but it’s pretty cool to finally have a brother and a sister.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I tell him, smiling. “Our parents are super fucked up but Theo and I got you out of this whole thing and I’m grateful for that.”
He smiles and helps me up before we walk back up to the house together before he joins the guys and I step into the house in search of the girls. Ali, Carly, and Emma all glance up when I walk in.
“How’d your talk go?” Emma asks and I smile.
“Good. I think.”
“Nix is a straightforward guy. If you think it went well, then I’m sure it did.”
I nod, glancing out into the yard where the guys are gathered and Lincoln catches my eye. He laughs at something Smith says and my chest aches something fierce. I miss the way things were before I knew everything and there’s been so many times in the last week that I’ve wished I could go back.
