Kane

by L. A. Casey

“Yes.”

  I burst into laughter, “I told you, the Sons have hold of you—there’s no escapin’ now.”

  Kane stood up and looked down at me. “I can think of worse ways to be tied up.”

  I didn’t know if that was a sexual jab or an admission from past experiences.

  I pretended to think about it so Kane lifted his hands to my sides and began to tickle me. I gasped and jumped backwards. “Okay, okay. I’ll watch the Sons with you, just don’t tickle me.”

  Kane smirked. “Let’s go then.”

  “Nuh-uh, your insulin first... and then I’ve to share somethin’ with you before we go and watch some Netflix.”

  Kane raised an eyebrow. “Share what?”

  “Come and get your insulin first then you’ll find out.”

  “Witch.”

  I followed Kane when he turned and walked back down the hallway and into the kitchen. No one looked at us when we entered the room and I suspected it was because one of the girls pressed their ear to the door and listened to my conversation with Kane.

  Kane got his insulin kit from the top shelf in the press and handed it to me. He looked at the others and so did I. None of them looked at us though; they were all conversing with one another, but I could tell it was forced.

  “Did you check your glucose levels today?” I asked Kane, returning my attention fully to him.

  He deadpanned, “That would require me sticking a needle in myself so no.”

  Smartarse.

  I pocketed the insulin pen, and took out Kane’s glucose meter from the side pouch on the insulin kit to check his blood glucose levels. I also took out a device I dubbed ‘the finger pricker.’ I had put a new testing strip into the glucose meter and a fresh needle into the finger pricker before I looked at Kane.

  He reluctantly gave me his hand and looked away while I used the gadget to prick his finger. I squeezed his finger and when a little bubble of blood rose, I pressed the testing strip in the glucose meter against his finger and let it soak up the blood.

  I waited for a few seconds as the meter determined Kane’s glucose levels. I widened my eyes when I saw the results. “Kane, look how high your blood sugar is. It’s almost two hundred!”

  Kane looked at the results of his test and shrugged. “Big deal.”

  “It is a big deal. You’re lucky you aren’t doubling over and we don’t have to bring you to the hospital!”

  “Just give me my normal insulin dose; that will be fine. It’ll set my blood sugar right.”

  He was pissing me off.

  “It won’t. I’ve to up your units now to make up for it!”

  Kane sighed, “So turn the dial and up the units—problem solved.”

  Oh, my God.

  “You know what? If it’s not such a big fuckin’ deal, then you do—”

  “I’m sorry,” he cut me off.

  I opened my mouth then closed it.

  I glared at him. “Why did you cave so quickly?”

  He frowned down at me. “‘Cause I need you. I can’t inject it myself... You’re the one who does it. Only you.”

  God damn his big sad eyes.

  “Be considerate then,” I snippily replied. “It’s your body so look after it or I’m goin’ to kick the shite out of it. Your decision.”

  Kane looked away from me as he tried not to smile.

  I rolled my eyes and took out the insulin pen, and rolled it between my fingers like Doctor Chance showed me, to make sure the insulin was properly combined. Kane’s insulin was mixed so I had to make sure the colour was all as one and there were no swirls or air pockets inside the cartridge before I injected it into his body.

  I held the pen tightly and then picked up an alcohol wipe; I opened the little packet and used the wipe to sanitize the little stopper that the needle slid into. Next, I grabbed a fresh needle from the kit and screwed it onto the area I just cleaned.

  The whole device was pretty safe; my setup usually only took a minute, but because I felt Kane’s eyes on me I did things a little slower just to make sure I did it correctly. I focused on my job at hand and began to prime the pen. I selected two units to prime the pen and pushed on the end of the pen twice until I spotted a little insulin squirt from the needle. Once any trapped air was gone, and the pen was primed, I upped his insulin units and removed the cap.

  Kane recognised the noise of the cap being removed and grunted as he undid his jeans and pushed them down his thighs. “Close your eyes,” I said and went in.

  I pinched a fatty part of his thigh, inserted the needle into his leg at a ninety-degree angle and pushed the insulin into his body. Ten seconds later I released my pinching grip and removed the needle.

  “All done,” I said with a sigh.

  Kane grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me up to my feet, which I was grateful for because my knees were starting to hurt.

  “Can we go watch Netflix now?” he asked, looking down at me with hopeful eyes.

  I looked over my shoulder and found everyone looking at me; it reminded me of what they all knew. I turned back to Kane.

  “Can I talk to you?” I asked him.

  He shrugged. “Shoot.”

  “Pull your trousers up first, perv.”

  Kane smirked when his brothers snorted from behind me.

  “Spoilsport,” he mused as he pulled up his trousers and buttoned them. “Okay, done, now shoot.”

  Just say it.

  “It’s me.”

  Kane looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. “It’s you what?”

  Here goes nothing.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “No, Branna is pregnant, we heard Ryder—”

  “I got it wrong, bro,” Ryder cut Kane off.

  Kane looked at his brother then to Branna, who nodded her head in confirmation. He looked back to me with wide eyes.

  “You?”

  “Me.”

  “Does that mean—?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Holy. Fuck.”

  I nervously laughed, “My thoughts exactly.”

  Kane shook his head. “Aideen.”

  “I know.”

  I reached into my side bag and pulled out the ultrasound pictures of the baby. “I got these from the hospital about an hour ago.”

  Kane took the pictures and stared at them, hard. I wasn’t sure if he was shocked, or if he just couldn’t see the baby.

  “That’s not fair,” Nico whined. “You said you were going to show the pictures to the baby daddy first!”

  I looked at Nico. “And I’ve done that. You can all see now, too.”

  No one moved except Nico, who jumped up and shot over to Kane’s side and looked at the ultrasound pictures.

  Alec glared at me. “Shut the fuck up.”

  I laughed, “Okay.”

  “Aideen!” Bronagh and Branna said in unison.

  I laughed again. “Yes?”

  “Don’t fuck with me, Ado,” Branna warned.

  “Or me,” Bronagh added.

  I raised my hands and nodded in Kane’s direction. “I’m not, I swear. Ask him.”

  “Ask him what?” Nico asked. “What are you all talking about?”

  “Kane?” Ryder questioned with wide eyes. “Seriously?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Seriously.”

  “Fuck me!” Alec whispered.

  I looked at Nico who was looking around the room, and after a few seconds it clicked in his mind what we were all talking about.

  “Kane is the father?” he asked, his eyes wide with shock.

  I nodded. “Kane is the father.”

  “Is Kane really the father?” Bronagh asked.

  “Yes, Kane is really the father,” I said, shaking my head.

  “I feel like we’re in an episode of Maury,” Alec murmured to himself.

  I snickered as I looked around the room, then finally to Kane who was still staring down at
the ultrasound pictures in his hands.

  “Are you okay?” I asked him.

  “I’m going to be a father.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

  I stepped closer to him. “Is that okay?”

  He looked up at me, his eyes shining. “Are you kidding? Of course it’s okay! I’m going to be a father!”

  The relief that filled me was instant and warm. I burst into laughter when Kane surged forward, wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up then spun me around. I held onto him when he stopped spinning me and groaned a little.

  “I’m nauseous all the time; don’t do that again,” I said and held my hand over my mouth just in case I suddenly vomited.

  “Shit, sorry,” Kane rushed out and pressed his hand on my back.

  When nothing happened I removed my hand from my mouth and waved him off. “I’m good.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Bronagh said when she came over to look at the ultrasound photos.

  I couldn’t believe it, either. I wasn’t expecting Kane to take the news so... well.

  “We’re going to be uncles!” Alec shouted and dived on Keela, kissing her face and hugging her with so much force I think he cut off her air supply.

  I smiled and watched the brothers embrace their girlfriends, then moved on to Kane who was back to staring at the ultrasound pictures in his hand. He looked up when they approached him and smiled as he began to walk backwards. He yelped then jumped a little when they grabbed hold of him and then burst into laughter when they started to hit him. He grunted here and there, but his laughter was vibrant and loud.

  “You told me you haven’t had sex in six months. You said the girl who came from your room three months ago fell asleep before any fucking could happen. You lying jackass!” Nico said as he jumped on Kane’s back.

  I jumped back and laughed when Ryder socked Kane in the stomach. “You told me you didn’t like Aideen in that way. You fucking bullshitter.”

  Alec then tripped him up and laughed as Kane fell and took Nico down with him. “And you told me that you didn’t like her at all. You fucking liar!”

  I snorted as each of the brothers called Kane out on his pile of lies by piling on top of him.

  They only got off him when he tapped his hand on the floor in submission to their attack. He stayed on the floor, groaned in pain, and yelped like a little girl when Alec kicked his leg.

  “That’s not necessary!” he snapped but made no move to get up off the floor.

  Alec stuck his middle finger up. “You lied to us so you deserve all the hits you get and you’ll take them like a man or we’ll beat the shit out of you.”

  I shook my head.

  Brothers.

  “You won’t hurt him,” I intervened, “because he is still ill, remember?”

  Kane got up to his feet and moved over to me where he stood behind me. “Yeah, I have diabetes, you bastards.”

  “He is smiling, Ado,” Nico growled. “He is just using his diabetes as an excuse to get out of an ass whooping for lying to us.”

  I gasped and turned, “You wouldn’t!”

  Kane held up his hands as he looked down at me. “Of course, I wouldn’t. You think I’d make a joke out of my diabetes? Aideen, it’s not something you play around with. It’s very serious.”

  Exactly.

  “You’re right, sorry.” I turned around and glared at the brothers. “Diabetes isn’t a joke.”

  “Yeah,” Kane said from behind me.

  Alec growled, “He is sticking his finger up at us right now.”

  Kane placed his hands on my shoulders. “They’re lying; you can’t trust them, Aideen.”

  I groaned, “I haven’t even had me child yet and already I’m separatin’ the good child from the bad ones.”

  Nico gasped, “If one of us is the good one, it’s me or Damien—Kane is a bastard.”

  “Hey!” I snapped. “No name callin’.”

  Branna burst into laughter. “And so it begins.”

  I groaned and placed my face in my hands and ignored everyone when they started laughing at me. Kane wrapped his arms around my chest from behind and pressed his head into mine. The bastard was laughing too.

  I was fighting off a smile when he turned me in his arms and leaned down pressing his forehead against mine. “This means we have to start liking each other... at least enough not to kill the other person anyway.”

  I snorted, “You better get very good at not pissin’ me off then.”

  Kane snorted and pulled me into his chest. He slid his arms down to my arms and rested his head on mine. I put my arms around his and hugged him back, which was weird as hell. I never hugged Kane.

  Ever.

  That was kind of sad considering I had sex with him, yet I’d never hugged him.

  “Have you ever seen them so civil?” I heard Keela murmur to everyone.

  “Nope,” Ryder replied back. “Twenty euros it only lasts till morning.”

  “Hey,” I said and pulled back from Kane and turned to face my family, “don’t jinx this. This is a rare event.”

  Everyone chuckled.

  “Okay, so you and Kane are havin’ a baby. Do your brothers know?” Bronagh asked me.

  My good mood was instantly squashed. I surprisingly didn’t think of telling my family about the baby... and I wished Bronagh had never brought them up.

  I shook my head and groaned out loud, “I don’t want to think about tellin’ them.”

  Branna widened her eyes. “Your brothers don’t know... Does your da know?”

  I winced. “No... I was hopin’ I wouldn’t have to tell any of them either.”

  Kane came to my side and frowned. “Why not? You’re twenty-eight.”

  I said nothing so Branna filled him in for me. “Being pregnant isn’t the problem; it’s who her baby daddy is that will be the problem.”

  “Why would they have a problem with me? They don’t even know me,” Kane asked, his tone confused.

  Keela snorted and said, “That’s not exactly true.”

  All the brothers looked at Keela and in unison they said, “Explain.”

  Keela looked at me for permission and I shrugged my shoulders. “Go ahead, they’ll find out sooner or later.”

  “A year or so after Nico and Bronagh started datin’, at one of Nico’s fights in some club in town, Aideen’s eldest brother beat the shite out of Ryder for accidentally knocking a drink out of his hand. You three proceeded to beat the shite out of him and his brothers which had to be broken up by her da, who tagged along to watch the fight. Her family is really into UFC.”

  Kane snapped his head my way. “Your older brothers are James, Harley, and Dante Collins?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Yep.”

  All the brothers glared at their girlfriends.

  “Why did you never mention that?” Nico snapped at Bronagh.

  Bronagh shrugged. “After they almost bested you four that night, you told us never to talk about them or even mention the fight again, so we didn’t. What good would it have done to know we were friends with the sister of the brothers you hate?”

  Kane put his face in his hands and groaned.

  I placed a hand on his shoulder. “It won’t be that bad.”

  “Yeah, it will,” Nico sighed and shook his head. “If your brothers don’t kill him for getting you pregnant, your dad will.”

  “Are you okay?” Kane asked me the next morning as I sat in the passenger seat of his car.

  Was I okay?

  I was on my way to tell my father and brothers that I was pregnant and that the baby’s father belonged to a group of brothers they hated with a passion.

  Why would I be okay with any of that?

  I gently shook my head. “I was up all night thinkin’ about this and I’m pretty sure I’m currently havin’ a silent panic attack. Outside I’m calm, but inside I’m freakin’ the fuck out.”

  Kane snorted, “It’s goin’ to be okay.”

&nbs
p; I glanced over my shoulder and groaned, “If it’s goin’ to be okay, why are your brothers in the car behind us?”

  Kane shrugged and glanced in his rear view mirror. “They don’t trust your brothers.”

  I growled, “I do. They will be pissed at first, but they’ll get over it... eventually.”

  “Well, let’s call them worried shadows just until this meeting is over.”

  The word ‘meeting’ translated to ‘death sentence.’

  I shook my head. “Their presence will only make things worse.”

  “It will be fine.”

  That phrase was starting to piss me off.

  “Stop sayin’ that to me. Everyone keeps sayin’ that to me.”

  Kane opened his mouth but closed it before any words escaped.

  I thought of my brothers during the silence and I figured it would be best to ring and call them around to my father’s house for a family meeting. I dug my phone out of my bag, unlocked it, found Harley’s number and pressed it.

  “Who are you calling?” Kane inquisitively asked.

  I looked straight ahead as I answered, “Me brother.”

  Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Kane nod his head in understanding. I refocused on my phone when I heard a voice say, “Hello.”

  “Hey, are you with James and Dante by any chance?” I asked my brother, Harley, when he answered his phone.

  Harley chortled, “Good morning to you too, little sister.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you with them or not, Harley?”

  He clicked his tongue at me. “Temper, sister. They’re both round in mine. Why?”

  I exhaled a nervous breath, “Meet me at Da’s house in ten minutes, I need to tell you all somethin’.”

  Silence.

  “Are you okay?” Harley asked apprehensively.

  I glanced at Kane, who was driving and swallowed. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  Kind of.

  “Okay, see you in ten,” Harley quipped.

  I put my phone back into my bag when my brother hung up. I busied myself with closing my bag just so I wouldn’t have to look up. I didn’t want my eyes to drift to Kane because I still couldn’t believe the situation we were both in.

  “Before we tell your family about the baby... can we talk about it first? After you had told me last night, we talked a little but not much.”

  That caught me off guard.