by Celeste, B.
He nods sympathetically. “It would be for any parent, Ollie.”
It’s different for Charlie though, and he doesn’t fully grasp that. Her choices were taken away from her growing up, long before River and Everett took her out of foster care and adopted her into their family. She wants to keep control in her life and never put her children through what she did. It’s admirable.
Trying to clear the lump building in my throat, I flip a few of the patties. “We have to make this life changing decision for Milo, and we’re both worried it’s not the best one. The shit people say to us makes us think that we could mess him up by trying to give him the ability to hear. Then we fail as parents.”
“Stop.” His voice is hard as he takes the spatula from me and moves me away from the grill so he can take over. “I may struggle with understanding your relationship with Charlie given the circumstances, but you want to know why I accept it? Why I don’t want to throw another punch like the day I found out about you two?”
My jaw moves but I say nothing.
“You love each other.” He flips the meat and glances at me. One of his hands gestures towards the house, his finger shaking at the window. “More importantly, you love that little boy in there. Whatever choice you two make for Milo doesn’t make you bad parents. If anything, you’re a better one for weighing those options. And you know what? Fuck everyone else. All you need to listen to is Charlie and the doctors who specialize in this. You and I both know that everybody else’s opinions don’t matter.”
He’s got me there. His rocky start to the relationship with River earned him a lot of backlash back home. That’s no different than me and Charlie knowing how old she was when we started getting involved—not to mention who she is to me. One thing all of us learned over the years is that love that’s meant to last survives the trials. We still get looks from time to time when we visit my parents and show up at our go-to café hand in hand. It used to make me uncomfortable, like any minute I was about to be arrested and shoved into the back of a police car for the choices we made too soon regarding our relationship.
But here we are.
Married. One kid. In love.
I find myself saying, “You’re right.”
Before our conversation continues, the door opens, and Luke walks out with two bottles of beer in his hand. He walks over to Everett first, handing his father one before holding out the second to me. “Mom told me to bring you guys drinks. I think they just wanted me to make sure you weren’t fighting or something.”
My brows arch and Rhett just snickers, messing up Lucas’s brown hair. In the sunlight there are dirty blond highlights he gets from Everett, but the hair and light skin tone are all River. Maddie is the same. It makes me wonder if Milo will somehow grow to look more like one of us instead of a perfect mixture like he is now.
“We’re fine, kid,” I note, opening the beer and shaking my head with an amused smile on my face. “Want to help us out? There should be a serving platter in the kitchen. Charlie will show you where. Mind bringing it out so I can get the chicken on it?”
He just nods and walks back in.
I turn to Everett with a quirked brow. “I know River has mentioned he’s smart, but the kid is perceptive as hell.”
Rhett nods, his grin disappearing as he glances quickly at the house before turning back to me. “Sometimes I worry about him. I think kids have brought some shit up to him about…” He tips his chin at me. “You know, just stuff they’ve probably heard their parents say. But he’s observant. He knows that our family dynamics are … unusual.”
I curse. “He’s getting bullied over it?”
His tongue clicks with a loose shrug, trying to keep things casual. “That and being above his classmates in just about every subject. Kids think he’s weird. I overheard him talk to River about it the other day. He’s having trouble fitting in because of everything.”
I rub the back of my neck. “Is he okay?”
The door opens again, and Luke comes out holding a plate in his hands. I take it with a smile and notice the dullness to his eyes. Nudging him with my arm, I set the plate down on the shelf attached to the grill. “Do you want to watch the game with us after we eat? I hear you’re into sports.”
Luke kicks at the grass, lifting his shoulders and dropping them. “I was thinking maybe Maddie and I can hang out with Charlie. She said she’d teach us more notes on the piano.”
That lifts my lips. “That sounds like a great plan, bud. She’s been telling me how quickly you’ve picked it up.”
Luke chances a glance at me, thick lashes framing his green eyes. “Maddie’s upset because she’s not learning as fast. I’m trying to help her, but she won’t listen.”
Everett takes over. “Your sister is stubborn. She just needs to focus, but maybe music isn’t her thing. I think she just likes hanging out with you.”
Those two are close. Charlie told me once that they reminded her of me and River. Luke looks out for Maddie and Maddie looks up to him. They rarely bicker and seem to get along most of the time, more friends than siblings.
I can tell he likes the idea of Maddie learning piano for him. He doesn’t let his lips waver for very long, letting the drop into a neutral position. “When’s lunch? I’m hungry.”
Everett and I laugh. Rhett says, “About ten minutes. Why don’t you go help the girls set the table? We’ll be in shortly.”
“There are a few different salads in the fridge,” I chime in when he’s at the door. “If you can get those out, I’d appreciate it.”
When he disappears, I just listen to the distant noise inside and shake my head. “It’s crazy.”
He turns to me.
“We have families.”
He grunts. “We’re getting old.”
Snickering, I hold the plate up for him to start depositing the cooked meat on. “Some of us are aging better than others.”
His glare is mixed with amusement. “I bet you’d be graying too if you decided to run a multi-million-dollar company, Pretty Boy.” His grin reappears. “But at least I have the brains.”
“Burn.” I laugh and nudge his shoulder.
As we walk toward the house, he slows his steps. “Everything is going to be okay, Ollie. Milo, Charlie, Luke, all of us will be fine.”
And I believe him.
Chapter Four
Charlie
Humming along to the song as each key is pressed by my fingers, I close my eyes and absorb what would be the sound of high-pitched notes filling the otherwise quiet room. My fingers drift along the ivory, focusing on three different notes as I rock my head to the beat.
The vibrations travel up my arm, leaving me focused on the sensation rather than the other senses I’m used to narrowing in on. Fumbling over the keys for a few seconds, my chest clogs with emotion knowing this is what Milo hears.
Nothing.
Yelping when the noise canceling headphones are taken off me, I whip around and see Ollie standing there with Milo in his arms. His eyes are sad, knowing, as he carefully sets the headphones down on the bench beside me.
“I was just practicing,” I murmur.
He bends down and kisses me. “I know.”
Closing the key lid, I stand up and tickle Milo’s tummy. A huge smile spreads across his face as he wiggles in Ollie’s hold. Instead of reaching for me, he grabs onto Ollie’s sweatshirt and makes drool bubbles at me.
Giggling, I kiss his cheek. “You’re so silly, baby boy.” My eyes meet my husband’s as our hands find each other’s. “Get all your errands run?”
He tugs my hand, weaving our fingers together and guiding me out of the room. “We did. How about we go to the park for a little while? The weather is perfect out.”
“Can we go out for dinner after?”
His smirk is devious. “Does that mean actual dinner or donuts again?”
I shove his shoulder playfully and grab the stroller from the closet by the door. “I’m always down for both. But I
was thinking Chinese. Or the new Indian place.”
The face he makes says Indian is out. “I thought you hated Indian food. You said it gave you heartburn.”
“Sometimes it’s worth it.”
He snickers and gets Milo stationed in the stroller before standing and stopping me from closing the door completely. Brows pinched in confusion, I watch as he walks into the closet and shuffles around for something.
I groan when he steps out, producing a familiar pink skateboard in his hands. “No. Ollie, I haven’t done that in forever.”
He passes it to me. “Exactly. Live a little, Charlie. We’ll go out and enjoy the sunshine, and you can remind me what a badass you are.”
My eyes roll as I slide the board under my arm. “I don’t think skateboarding makes me very badass, but whatever.”
“Do it for Milo.”
That’s not playing fair. He knows I’d do anything for the chubby little baby that’s currently chewing on his fingers and blinking up at me from where he’s sitting. “Fine, but you’re getting on this too.”
“I don’t think—”
I open the door and glance at him over my shoulder. “What, old man? Afraid you’ll throw out your back? Live a little.”
He levels with me with an amused expression painting his features. “Always a smartass, huh?”
I stick my tongue out. “Yet you love me.”
“Always.”
I never thought I’d see Ollie look so pale over something as mundane as skateboarding, but the shade of his skin as he tries balancing on the bright pink board under his feet shows his nerves. With one hand on Milo’s stroller and the other helping him get stable, I direct him on what to do just like Liam did with me when I was learning how to board in Chicago.
“Breathe.” I try hiding my wavering lips, but I can’t help it. “Ollie, just breathe. You look like you want to hurl. That’d be embarrassing.”
He eyes me. “More embarrassing than wiping out flat on my face in front of our son?”
I weigh the options in contemplation before shrugging. “Everyone wipes out. Remember when I got hurt and you almost ripped Liam’s hands off when you saw him carrying me on his back afterwards? You know, before you ditched me and our movie night.”
He seemingly forgets his current predicament and stares at me unblinking. “How do you even remember that?”
How could I forget watching him walk away from me? I know what he did to try forgetting me. I smelled the perfume lingering in his apartment whenever we’d get into a fight. To think he was probably ditching me to screw some random whore still grates on me.
I tap my temple. “Women remember everything, silly man. Quit stalling and push off the ground. It’s all flat, so you just have to get used to how it feels.”
Grumbling, he takes a deep breath and straightens from the bent position he was in. “If our son’s first real memory is the moment I eat dirt, I’m blaming you.”
I gesture toward the ground. “Technically you’d be eating pavement.”
“Real reassuring, babe.”
Not giving it another thought, I give him a shove and watch him teeter and roll down the narrow blacktop path. Considering he’s going like two miles an hour his flailing arms make it seem like I pushed him down a hill.
“Stop flapping your arms!” I scold him.
“I’m trying!”
I shake my head and watch him jump off the board and onto the grass. The board keeps rolling until it veers and hits a trashcan off to the side. Walking Milo and I over, I give him a blank look before bending down and retrieving my board.
“What was that?”
His lips part. “Shouldn’t you be telling me that it was a good first try?”
“But was it?” I deadpan.
He rolls his eyes. “Such a critic. I bet Liam wasn’t this hard on you when he showed you what to do.”
Passing him the board, I go back to the stroller and play with Milo. “Now you want to talk about Liam? Has hell frozen over?”
Bringing up Liam used to be a sore subject between us. The friendship I’d shared with the Illinois native bothered Ollie, especially after my PDA moment with Liam at the skate park so many years ago.
“I’m over it,” he says with a shrug.
“Because he’s got a boyfriend?”
His lack of response confirms it. “Liam went easier on me, but I know you can do this without looking like I’m holding a gun to your head. Even I did better than that.”
“So mean.”
My bottom lip sticks out for a moment as I glance up past my lashes at him. “Sorry, I am a little off today. Maybe I need sugar.”
He sets the board down. “Want to grab some food now?”
I shake my head. “We’ve been here for less than twenty minutes, Ollie. At least try one more time. You just need to find your balance and trust that you won’t fall. If you focus on falling off, you will.”
He bows at me sarcastically. “Whatever you say, Master.” Stepping one foot back on the board, I move the stroller over to give him more room to push off and roll. “Speaking of which, we should do another movie marathon.”
I groan. “No more Star Wars. Plus, we have way too many shows to catch up on. And don’t think I haven’t noticed you watched The Crown without me.”
Instead of answering, he pushes off the board. If he thinks I’m not going to raise hell for betraying our pact to never watch that show without one another, he’s sorely mistaken. Though my impressed nature of his limited flailing as he rolls down the pavement is worth forgetting about his indiscretions for a little while.
“You’re doing it!” I praise, walking Milo along the grass as we watch Ollie. I can tell the moment the six-four man on the feminine board feels confident, because he straightens his spine and pushes again to pick up speed.
I also see a loose black lab running right toward him. Before I can even shout my warning of the barreling mutt beelining for him, they collide in a heap on the ground. The dog lands on Ollie and licks his face, wagging his tail a mile a minute before jumping off him and biting down on the skateboard.
I jog over just as the dog steals the board and trots off to wherever he came from, looking proud of the oversized stick with wheels he just collected.
I kneel beside him. “Are you okay?”
He sits up, rubbing his back. “I’m good.”
We both look around for the dog, which appears next to a middle-aged woman who’s also scouring the park. When her eyes land on us, she walks over, the dog on a leash beside her. I help Ollie up and brush off some pebbles from the back of his thighs.
“Stop groping me,” he murmurs when my hand lingers on his butt. It’s a nice one, what can I say?
The woman’s eyes are dark like Ollie’s and full of worry. “I’m so sorry about Oscar. He can be such a klepto sometimes.” She passes me the board, covered in slobber, and then stares down at Milo. He’s not paying one ounce of attention to her, even when she gushes over him. His focus is on the lab sitting with its tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.
“What a precious baby. Those eyes!” She looks between Milo and us. He still doesn’t pay her any attention, instead, his blue eyes look up at mine.
“Thank you. His name is Milo.”
“Milo,” she repeats, wiggling her fingers.
Ollie clears his throat when he sees the stranger frown at him. “He can’t hear you.”
The woman straightens, her brows pinching. When realization hits her, she nods. “I see. He looks young, but I’m sure it’s never too early to start teaching him sign language.”
My lips part. “Uh…” I look over at Ollie, who takes my hand. “We don’t know sign language, actually.”
Two dark brows draw up. “How do you communicate with him?”
It’s Ollie who says, “We talk.”
“But he can’t hear you.”
The eerily familiar tightening in my stomach reappears. Guilt. Doubt. A million other nagg
ing feelings that weigh me down. Should we have started learning sign language? Are we inconsiderate to not think about it as soon as the doctors confirmed his condition through further diagnostic testing at the hospital?
Ollie squeezes my hand knowingly. “All due respect ma’am, but our business with our son is none of yours. In fact, we should get going.”
The woman scoffs and tugs on the leash in her hand, turning the dog around and walking in the opposite direction of us.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he begins, taking Milo’s stroller and pushing it as we walk toward the side exit, “but don’t go there. That woman had no right to cast judgment.”
I know he’s right, but that doesn’t ease my yearning to claw her eyes out and then take her dog. He seems too nice to be saddled with her the rest of his life. “Maybe…” Clearing my throat, I say, “Maybe we can stop at a library and check out some books. It wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Charlie—”
“She’s not right,” I agree quickly. “But I do think it would be beneficial for all of us to learn and teach Milo. I’m not backing out of the surgery. The appointment yesterday went well, and it gave me hope. All I’m saying is that he’ll always be deaf. This is his life. Shouldn’t we honor that?”
It doesn’t take him long to think on it. “If that’s what you want, then sure. We can order some books online to keep instead. Maybe see if there are videos we can watch.”
I lean into his side. “Thank you.”
“Does this mean I’m forgiven for watching The Crown without you?”
Gasping, I swat his arm. “I knew it!”
He groans loudly. “It had the Kennedy’s on it, I was curious.”
My arms cross over my chest. “You just wanted to drool over Jackie, didn’t you? I can’t believe you broke our pact.”
“We can watch it tonight.”
“Too late.”
“Charlie.” He laughs and kisses the side of my head, putting an arm around my shoulder and hugging me to him. “I love you, psycho.”