Page 95 of Lies and Lullabies
There was a brief silence on the line. “He looks like a rock star? No wonder you had a kid at twenty-one. I’ll try not to drool.”
Good luck with that. “Thank you, by the way,” I said. “I really appreciate your help today.”
“Any time, Kira. Vivi is a doll. I’m going to go stand in the living room now, looking for a hot guy with a stuffed horse.”
“You can’t miss him.”
* * *
A half hour later,I received a text from Kathy:WTF?
A moment later, I received another.WT everloving F?
I replied:I guess you met Jonas.Vivi was happy to leave with him?
My phone vibrated, and when I answered, Kathy’s squeal was high-pitched. “I cannotbelievehow badly you’ve been holding out on me.Thanksfor the warning. I just became a babbling idiot when he walked in here. I don’t think I even pronounced my own name right after I opened my door to arock star.”
“Sorry,” I whispered. “I haven’t figured out how to talk about him yet.”
“Figure it out, girl. Because… Jesus Christ.”
“Was…” I cleared my throat. “Did Vivi have any issues with seeing him?”
“Vivi is over the moon. ‘My daddy is here!’ You should have seen her. Or maybe not, actually. Up till now you were spared the daddy obsession that both my little girls have. And this for a man who can barely take care of himself, let alone his own children. So I guess you’re in for the same.”
“I guess,” I agreed.
“We areduefor a girls’ night out, lady. You have a few stories to tell me.”
“But the story isn’t all that interesting, Kath. Girl meets boy. Girl throws herself at boy with inadequate birth control. There’s a reason I don’t talk about him.”
On the other end of the line, Kathy gave a deep chuckle. “That’s a shame, because I think the two of you would look really cute together. He’s never been married, right?”
“And probably never will be,” I said quickly.
A groan came from the bed beside me.
“I’ve got to go. Thanks for your help today. I owe you.”
“You don’t owe me a thing for the babysitting. You owe mebigfor the lack of detail.”
I snorted. “Okay, as soon as things quiet down, we’ll find a night to go out.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
After we disconnected, I looked my brother over. His eyes were still closed, but he had a grimace on his face. I put a hand on his forehead. “Are you okay?”
“Kira,” he croaked.
“I’m here. Are you in pain?”
“Some,” he said, opening his eyes.
“They set you up with this pump.” I showed him the cord. “You just press this button whenever you need a hit of the painkiller.”
“Fancy,” Adam said, pinching the button. His eyes fluttered closed again. “I hate hospitals.”
“I know.” I took his hand again.
