Page 13 of His Bittersweet Regret

“Excuse me, young sir, but she has me,” Bethany argued with no small amount of sass.

“You’re her friend. She needs a man by her side sometimes,” Ry expressed. The funny thing was, he might have still only been a boy, but like his brothers before him, he had grown into something resembling a man early on. There was nothing scrawny or boyish about him until you realized he still had so much to learn about life.

“I’m not sure that would be a good idea, Ry.”

“Why not? I’m the baby’s uncle,” he reminded me. “Family should be there for you both.” I was trying to think of an excuse for why he couldn’t come to my appointments when Bethany poked me in the side to get my attention.

“What would it hurt? I can’t go to your next appointment, anyway. Besides, they’re doing the ultrasound since you had to miss it. Maybe it would be a good lesson in birth control for the kid,” she teased.

“Fine,” I relented and gave Ryker the information for my next appointment. “But please, I don’t want anyone to know just yet…”

His eyebrow quirked up at me. “You know you can’t hide that much longer, right?”

I nodded. “I know. For as long as possible, I want my baby to be something I can be happy about and not some nasty gossip for everyone’s entertainment.”

“I promise, I won’t say a word. Can’t wait to find out more about the little…” he paused a moment. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“I was supposed to find out at my last appointment, but the ultrasound machine was down and I couldn’t go to the appointment at the other place because of who works there, so… I guess, maybe I get to find out at that appointment on Thursday.”

“No way! I get to be there to see it too?” His voice rose an octave in his excitement and I had to quickly put my hand over his mouth to stop him from accidentally spilling the beans.

“Shh.”

“Sorry,” he whispered, making me roll my eyes.

Ryker was the sibling who looked the most like Marsh. His hair was the same color, though he wore it long, almost down to his shoulders. There was no facial hair, though I saw signs of stubble where he had been shaving already. I ached at the familiarity, but was so glad for the differences between he and his brother.

“Opal?”

“Yeah, Ry?”

“I don’t understand why he did it, but it was the dumbest thing he’s ever done.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m guessing he was with someone when you and Beth tried to hide me from him or the other way around. So, it seems like he’s happy with his decision.”

“He’s not, though. That’s the thing. My brother isn’t happy anymore. Marsh never smiles and he’s just going through the motions.”

“No offense, Ryker, but what do you want me to say here? He left me. Not the other way around. Whatever misery you think he’s suffering, it’s of his own making.”

“I know that. I just thought maybe you should too.”

“It doesn’t really matter since he’s not in my life anymore. He chose that.”

“I know,” he offered sadly before he turned to look for his friends who were waiting for him further down the road. “I better get going.” He shifted his attention to Bethany and something passed between the two silently and once he got the answer he was looking for, he nodded and took off to catch up to his peers.

“He’s a good kid,” Beth commented.

“Let’s hope he stays that way, because it’s the same thing everyone used to say about his brother.”

“They still do,” Bethany snidely added. “That man can roll in shit and this town acts like he doesn’t stink from it.”

“I think we should just go back to the apartment,” I muttered before turning around to head back the way we’d come.

“That’s probably for the best.”

8

Marsh

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