This Family of Ours (Raine #6)

by Amanda Bennett

  “Diem is good. I’m good. Just been busy gearin’ up for the season. Speakin’ of, I have season tickets for y’all. They’re in one of the boxes, so they’re damn good. I’ll send them to y’all tomorrow. How’s my dumbass brother and my sister doin’?”

  I paused, not wanting to give anything away. Joey knew me all too well, and if I was going to lie to him, I had to make it sound convincing. “As far as I know, great. I haven’t spoken to her since the guys got back, but they’re great.” I lied, and badly.

  “How many greats are you gonna say before you tell me the truth?”

  Shit. “She will kill me, Jo.”

  “And I’ll kill my brother if he’s done somethin’ stupid to mess up his awesome life. So spill.”

  I took in a deep strangled breath, and let it all out. Cami was gonna kill me. “He even went as far as to send a fake letter from the adoption agency.”

  “What the fuck is wrong with that asshole?”

  “I honestly don’t know, Jo. I don’t know much anymore to be honest. This whole, them being on tour thing, has really fucked everything up. Something's gotta give.”

  “That’s it! I get a weeks break next week, and I’m comin’ home.”

  My heart literally jumped for joy. “Jo, are you serious?” I waited with baited breath.

  “You’re damn right I’m serious. I’ll be there on Wednesday, pick me up?”

  “Of course, just let me know what time.”

  “Alright, love. Well, I’m gonna let ya go and get some shuteye. Love ya, KJ.”

  “Love you too, Jo. Talk soon.”

  “Goodnight, love.”

  “Goodnight.” I clicked off my phone and started making my way back to the house when Madison completely caught me by surprise. As I walked up the steps to our porch, Madison was just sitting there, staring at me. “Jesus, Madison. You scared the ever livin’ hell outta me.” I clutched at my erratic beating heart as I took a seat in the rocking chair next to him.

  “So, how’s Joey doin’?”

  I looked over at him in shock. “How-“

  “Really, you think I don’t know you well enough to know when I’m in a mood, he’s the first one you call?”

  “It’s not like that, Madison.” I sighed as my face fell.

  “I know that, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

  Now I was getting downright irritated. “Now just wait a minute, and you think it doesn’t hurt when you all but shut down on me? I don’t know what’s goin’ on with you lately, but I’m sick of it. You cut our phone calls short. You barely call me, it’s usually me callin’ you, and you…”

  “And I what?” He roared as he stood and started making his way into the house.

  “Oh, no you don’t. Don’t you dare walk away from me.” I reached for his arm, but he tried to pull out of my grasp and ended up elbowing me in the jaw. My mouth fell open in shock, and I immediately turned and ran towards our room as I held my jaw. I knew it was an accident, but it still hurt nonetheless. I quickly locked the door behind me and hid under our covers. I knew I was being a big baby about everything, but I couldn’t help it. I felt completely and utterly unloved.

  Chapter 8

  Madison

  I wasn’t tryin’ to make her feel bad about Joey, but man if it didn’t hurt that my girl ran to that little prick every damn time. In this moment I couldn’t really blame her. I had all but shutdown on her, but it still sucked. When my elbow connected with her jaw I immediately felt like the biggest asshole in the world. I hadn’t meant to do it, and I turned to profusely apologize to her, but when I saw the look on her face, I knew it wouldn’t make a difference. As much as I didn’t want to do it, I did it anyway. I made my way over to the front door and grabbed my bag before headin’ out the door and over to Glenn and Cami’s. God, could this night get any worse?

  And then my question was answered the minute Cami flung the door open and walked away yellin’ over her shoulder. “YOU’RE BOYFRIEND IS HERE, GLENN!”

  Apparently yes, this night could get worse.

  “Looks like your night is goin’ about as good as mine.” I joked as Glenn made his way over to the door.

  “Not funny, bro. What the fuck happened back here while we were gone?”

  “Must be somethin’ in the water.” I laughed as we made our way out back. “So what’s goin’ on with Cami?”

  “Who knows. The minute I got home, she just started layin’ into me. I don’t even know what the fuck I did.” He threw his hands up in exasperation. “So what’s up with you and Kayla?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I’d like to say it’s her, but man, it’s all me.”

  “What do ya mean, bro?”

  “Nothin’, just forget it.”

  “Don’t you even, Madison. What the hell is goin’ on with you lately? You’ve been weird for quite some time.”

  “Me?” I stood up, gettin’ closer to Glenn than necessary. “I’m not the one that almost cheated, asshole.”

  “Whoa, you’re a little outta line, bro. I know what I did was stupid, but you’re the one runnin’ away from your perfect life.”

  I turned in complete anger, and unleashed on my best friend. “YOU THINK MY LIFE IS SO DAMN PERFECT, THEN YOU GO LIVE IT!” I instantly regretted the words that came spewin’ out of my mouth, but it was too late. I caught sight of Glenn lookin’ directly behind me, and I knew before even turnin’ around that Cami heard everything I had just said.

  “Real nice, Madison Raine. You’re a complete asshole, and as far as I’m concerned, you can stay here tonight with my husband. Don’t you dare come knockin’ at your door.”

  Before I could even get a word out, Cami was runnin’ out their front door, overnight bag in hand. I turned to Glenn with a sullen expression. “Well, I guess I’m bunkin’ with you tonight.”

  “It’s cool. I’ll get us some beers.” He patted my shoulder as he made his way past me and into the kitchen.

  “I’m really sorry I brought my shit to your house, man.”

  “It’s fine. I’m pretty sure she was plannin’ on leavin’ tonight anyway. You were just icin’ on the cake, I suppose.”

  “What’s goin’ on with you guys?” I was genuinely concerned about my friend.

  “There’s somethin’ I haven’t told ya.” Glenn hung his head in shame as I took a long pull from my fifth bottle of beer. “The second mom didn’t back out of the adoption. I did.”

  My head snapped up in shock. “What?”

  “I was gettin’ scared, man. I don’t think I’m ready to be a dad and all that shit. I mean, fuck,” he raked his hand back through his hair and then down his face, “I just got my wife back. I was a wreck durin’ all of her radiation and shit. I know I didn’t show that to anybody, but I was so worried that she was gonna die, bro. I couldn’t imagine havin’ a kid mixed up in all of that. What if the tumor comes back? What if…ah hell, I called and cancelled the adoption. I even went as far as to send a fake letter to our house form the adoption agency.”

  “GLENN GREEN! Are you fuckin’ shittin’ me right now?”

  “I KNOW!” He kicked his chair back in self-loathin’. “I’m an asshole. The worst of the worst. Who does that to their wife who just beat cancer? Then I go and almost cheat on her in Ireland, what the hell?”

  I quickly stood up and threw my arm around my best friend. “Number one, stop sayin’ that so loud, or she will hear you. Number two, you’re not an asshole, you’re just scared. Why didn’t you talk to Cami about it?”

  “Because it all happened so fast. She beat cancer, we were celebratin’ that. Joey showed up all married to the devil and shit, and then we were gone. When was I supposed to do that?”

  I slumped down in the chair I was just sittin’ in as I readied myself to make an admission to my friend. “I don’t know if I can ever marry Kayla.”

  Glenn was immediately pullin’ up a chair next to me. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

  We were
in for a long night to say the least.

  Chapter 9

  Kayla

  I quickly ran to the door thinking Madison left his keys inside or something. When I showed up to the door, I didn’t expect Cami to be standing there, bag in hand. I pulled her inside and into a deep hug. I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on lately, but her showin’ up like this couldn’t be a good sign of anything.

  “Cam, what are you doing here?”

  “Oh just wait, it’s a fantastic story.” Hurt and sarcasm dripped off every word she spoke.

  “I’ll get the wine.” I rushed to the kitchen, and then we made our way out onto the porch.

  “Where’s Mia?”

  “Oh she’s down for the night. After Madison ran out of here without saying a word, we ate dinner, I gave her a bath, read her a bedtime story, and then she was back out. I think she had quite the day with her daddy. She was worn out, even after a nap.” I took a long drink of my wine and sat back in anticipation.

  “Speaking of her daddy.” She smirked. Oh great, what now. “Drink some more before I continue.” She pushed my glass up against my lips, forcing me to drink…A LOT. I reached for the bottle to refill my glass before she continued. “So Glenn and I were already fighting. He finally told me what he did, and needless to say, I was livid. Well, that’s when Madison showed up. I was already packing to see if I could come stay the night with you guys. Sorry for that by the way.”

  “No apologies.” I waved her on to continue her story.

  Cami nodded. “So Glenn started egging Madison on, saying he had a perfect life and stuff like that. That’s when Madison stood up and yelled that if his life is so perfect then why doesn’t Glenn go live it.” Cami sat back waiting for me to fly off the handle, I’m sure, but when I didn’t, she kept at it. “That’s when I walked in on it, and told him to fuck off, well, kind of. I told him to stay at our house and to not try come knockin’ over here.” Cami was completely caught off guard when I started to hysterically laugh. “Kay, honey, are you ok? Are you having a nervous breakdown?”

  I vigorously shook my head as I looked up at her. “He…he..hi…hit….mm…me.” I laughed.

  “WHAT THE HELL? I’m going to kick his ass right now.” My hand shot out and grabbed onto Cami’s arm, trying to stop her.

  “He didn’t do it on purpose, whore.” My laughing died down as Cami took a seat next to me again. “It was a complete accident. He elbowed me in the chin. See?” I pointed at the bruise that began forming on my face.

  “Oh that?” She pointed. “I just thought that was a hickey.” We both started bursting at the seams with laughter, and it felt amazing. Sure both of our lives were in the toilet right now, but we had each other. “I love you, Kay.”

  “Oh Cam, I love you too. And I’m so sorry about Glenn. I still can’t believe he did that shit.” I hated to ask, but I just had to know. “Did you tell him about the baby?” I whispered it as to not have her run off.

  Cami hung her head in shame, “No.” She whispered back.

  I wanted to chastise her, tell her that I thought what she was doing was wrong, but I didn’t have the heart. So I decided to change the subject altogether. “So…I spoke to Joey.” Her head instantly shot up. “I didn’t tell him about that, but I did tell him what Glenn did. He’ll be here on Wednesday.”

  “Seriously, Kay? Nothing like droppin’ this on me right when I don’t need it.” She sat back in aggravation. “What have our lives become?”

  I knew exactly what she meant, and though I know she didn’t want to talk about it, like ever, I went ahead and brought up a sore subject. “I also spoke with your brother.” I reached out for her arm and kept her sitting right where she was so she couldn’t get all huffy and run off. “Now before you go getting your panties in a bunch, listen to me. You were right.” I hung my head, “He does like me more than a friend, and we decided to stop speaking for awhile. I guess I have issues seein’ what’s in front of my face. Lord knows I didn’t see it with Joey either. I’m so sorry I kept it from you, Cam.”

  Cami leaned forward in her chair and pulled me into a deep hug. “All is forgiven.” She sat back and lifted my face up to hers. “And…I told you so.” She laughed.

  “I know. Man, I’m some kind of stupid sometimes.” I chuckled.

  “I wouldn’t say stupid, maybe naïve and clueless.” Cami’s laugh grew increasingly louder and I couldn’t help but laugh right along with her.

  “Thanks, whore.” I smiled. “You wanna watch a movie or something? There’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep anytime soon.”

  “Yeah, me either. A movie it is…and more wine, for you of course.” She held up the empty bottle and ran inside.

  We both must’ve fallen asleep on the couch, because the next thing I knew the cutest little girl on the planet was waking me up. “Mommy, why you on the couch?”

  I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and scooped up my sweet little princess into my arms, tucking her in next to me. “Mommy was tired, and auntie Cam Cam came over to have a sleepover.” I pointed over at the other couch where Cami was still sound asleep. I pressed my finger to my lip, “let’s not wake her up. You want to watch some cartoons, baby girl.” She nodded her head against my chest as I clicked on the TV. We lay there in utter bliss until I heard a weird noise coming from the front porch.

  I stood and tucked Mia in onto the couch. “You stay here. I’ll be right back.” She was too enthralled with her cartoons to even hear me.

  I slowly cracked open the door when I noticed a million tiny pink paper hearts strewn about the porch and yard. I soon noticed that they made a path, and I was quick to follow. I bent down, picking up each one as I passed it, and before I knew it, I was standing at Madison’s tree, and mine looking at a stark white envelope stapled to the trunk. It had my name scrawled across it, and I instantly plucked it from the staple that held it there. I sat back against the large trunk and opened the envelope. What I found inside was something I wasn’t at all prepared to find.

  My Dearest Kayla,

  I wish I could express to you in words the way you make me feel, and although it may be hard for me to do just that, this is my best try at it. From the moment I saw you walking towards me at the bus depot, I knew I was done for it. The way the cool night’s breeze swept your gorgeous long tendrils of chestnut brown hair across your face, exposing your glowing blue eyes, had me weak in the knees. I was instantly enticed by you. You hold a certain amount of mystery, and I never thought in a million years that you would ever give a guy like me a chance.

  I guess you could say I got lucky, because I’m pretty sure that if it wasn’t for all the pain pills you were on that night, you never would’ve spoken to me. I like to think that my words were just too charming to resist, but we both know that wasn’t the case. I still to this day have no idea why you picked me when you could’ve picked anyone in this world to be with. Every minute of every day I have thought about you, and even when we weren’t in the best place, I still found a sliver of hope in the fact that we had a bond that was unbreakable. You’re special Kayla, and what we have is special.

  On top of getting to love my best friend day in and day out, I was even lucky enough to have a gorgeous little girl with you. A little girl who looks exactly like her mother, and one that I would give the world to, even if I had to die trying. See, this life wasn’t just made for the two of us, but it was given to us to provide it for her. There’s nothing in this world that could tear me away from you. You are my heart, my soul, my reason for living, and whether we are together for ten years or fifty, I will never stop loving you and showing that love to you.

  They say that time slows down for no one, and they’re right. Every day I silently pray for more time with you, more time to tell you how much you mean to me, more time to show you just how perfect we are together. But honestly, even if I were to die tomorrow, I believe you would know my love for you. I don’t ever, for a single second, want you to question my love for y
ou, because I love you more than I love myself. I would give my life for yours, and when the day comes that one of us goes, I’ll wait for you, here or there, knowing that no matter what comes between us, we will always find one another again. I love you Kayla, forever and for always.

  Your loving husband,

  Madison

  I hadn’t realized I was crying until my falling tears were soaking into the paper that my loving note was written on. I quickly wiped them away, not wanting to ruin the amazingly sweet and heartfelt love letter that my husband wrote for me. I wasn’t exactly sure where his words had come from, but I was extremely grateful in this very moment for them. Without a single doubt I knew that I would marry this man, whether it be now, five years from now, or even fifteen years from now. He was mine, and I sure as hell was his, until the day I left this precious earth.

  I quickly stood to make my way back to the house to get dressed and go find my knight in shining armor, but fortunately, I didn’t have to go very far to find him. His sexy as sin voice came from behind me, and I instantly turned, melting into his loving embrace.

  “I love you, pretty girl, and I’m so very sorry.”

  “I know, and I love you too, cowboy.”

  Without another word, I covered his generous lips with mine. I didn’t want to pull away, and as much as I wanted him to take me right then and there, I knew that we had a little girl waiting for us back at the house. Little did I know, Madison was oblivious to that fact and knew that she would be fine for a few minutes, I mean, Cami was there after all. His hands slipped under my short nightgown, touching my most needy spot before layin’ me down in our spot and making sweet love to me. This was all I needed in this life I thought as I moaned his name in the most amount of pleasure I’ve ever felt.

  Chapter 10

  Madison

  I wasn’t exactly sure she would follow the stupid little paper hearts that I had spent practically all night cuttin’ out, but I could only hope she would. I was a man of few words when it came to speakin’ to her in person, so when I remembered the love letter I wrote her on the plane, I instantly put my plan into motion. Of course Glenn helped, but he wasn’t exactly happy to do so, given the current state of his marriage.