Page 80 of Iron
“I was about to start dinner, but I have a few. What do you need?”
“Have a seat.”
She did as I said and looked a little nervous and confused.
“I know Dade asked you a few times if you wanted to move out and you said no,” I said as I moved Sparrow down to my knee and started bouncing her. “I wanted to offer to get you a place if you wanted it.”
Her eyes widened and they were instantly flooded with tears. It broke my heart and I thought that maybe I was going about this all wrong.
“I’m not sayin’ I want you to leave,” I said in a rushed out breath. “You are family and you have a place here for as long as you want it. But I wasn’t sure if being here was too hard for you. I don’t want you to feel like you’re stuck here.”
“Oh,” she said and I saw her relax a little. “No. I like it here. I feel safe here. I know my brother is… gone, but being here, well, I don’t know how to explain it. It makes me feel closer to him, I guess. I feel protected here. And I fear that if I left, I would forget all the good things he had in his life.”
I nodded. Maybe it wasn’t all that healthy but I wasn’t going to say anything. I was going to give her whatever she needed to get through this time in her life.
“Alright,” I said. “I was just checkin’. I love having you here and I know I’m not the only one.”
To that, her face lit up, her smile closer to the one I was used to seeing.
It was clear that Abigail was the type of person that liked to do things for others. Knowing that they were happy made her happy. There wasn’t anything wrong with it as long as she didn’t let people push her around. I knew not a single one of us here did that. So I was going to make sure that every brother knew to let her know just how much they appreciated every little thing she did around here.
“You need anything, you let me know. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said as she rose to her feet. “Thank you, Iron. For everything.”
She reached for Sparrow but I told her I had the kid for a little while. Then she left out the door.
Turning Sparrow around to face me, I plopped her chubby butt onto the top of my desk. My cheeks puffed out as I touched the tip of my nose to hers. As she giggled, her little hands smacked against my cheeks.
“I got somethin’ for ya. Come on, let’s go see what it is.” I stood and held her out like she was flying. After opening the door, I ran to my apartment making wind noises.
“Look at this,” I said as I plopped her in the playpen set up in the living room between the coffee table and the TV.
She instantly reached for the new toy that was hooked on to the side. The thing was all bright colors and noise. It also had a big mirror right in the middle which was what caught her attention first.
Plopping down on the couch, I watched her check it out through the mesh siding.
I reached for my phone deciding it was time to make the call. It was something I’d been thinking about for a while. Ever since that night when Petra came to me freaked out about marriage and kids, trying to convince herself that this wasn’t going to work.
It only took a few minutes to take care of what I needed.
As I set the phone down on my thigh, I felt a sense of calm settle over me.
