Page 23 of His Bittersweet Regret

“Go to her, honey. Make sure she’s okay.”

“Wait a fucking minute!” I yelled. “Where the hell do you get off going to comfort my girlfriend?”

“She’s not your fucking girlfriend, asshole. And after her seeing you not only on a date with another woman, but leaving her home, I’m guessing she never will be again. She is, however, the mother of my nephew, and I’ve been the one going to her doctor appointments with her, so fuck you, Marsh!”

“You’ve been going to her appointments? When were you going to tell me that I was having a baby?”

“She already told you! As I recall, you didn’t fucking care.”

Ryker didn’t wait around, but I also didn’t miss the accusatory glare he threw at our brothers, who were now sitting there on the couch looking equal parts guilty and chastised.

“Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”

“I thought she was lying to get you to come back and talk to her,” Brixton murmured so low I almost missed it.

“Opal sent me a text, informing me she was pregnant, and you sent what back?”

“It wasn’t good, son.” It was my father who admitted that.

“How would you know?” I asked incredulously because there was no fucking way my father was in on this Opal sabotage with my brothers.

“Opal was here just a bit ago. She told us the whole story from finding out about the pregnancy to you leaving, and she showed me the text exchange on her phone.”

“Text exchange,” the words slurred in the hazy red anger that clouded my eyes and judgment. “What did you say to her?”

“Just told her it didn’t matter that goodbye meant goodbye. I figured if she was telling the truth, she would have argued the point.”

“She thought I told her that her pregnancy didn’t matter, after I left her. Why the hell would she try to argue with me?” I screamed at my brother. “You stupid, soul-sucking, son of a bitch!” I launched myself across the room at Brixton and started pummeling him, while wishing I could do the same to myself. I let my brother’s bullshit ruin my fucking life. Worse, I let him talk me into ruining Opal’s.

“I’ve missed out on her entire pregnancy because of you! She could be my wife right now!”

“That was your decision!” He yelled as he started fighting back.

Before long, strong arms locked around my waist and yanked me off my brother, but I turned to find the other one, who was just as responsible. My anger shifted gears and my fists found his face too. Somewhere in the background, I think I heard my mother scream for us to stop, but the buzzing of pain, adrenaline, and something ugly wouldn’t allow reason past my only thought. That was to destroy the twins the same way I’d allowed them to wreak havoc on my life.

“You knew too. There’s nothing the two of you don’t discuss.”

“I told him she wouldn’t lie about something like that,” Bastion attempted to excuse his part in the matter.

“And at what point did you come tell me any of it? If you thought she was telling the truth, why didn’t you come to me? That’s my fucking kid! That’s your damn niece or nephew!”

“Nephew,” he whimpered.

“What?” It wasn’t the first time that word had been said since I made my way home. It was just the first time I really understood its meaning.

“Nephew, according to Ry. He was there for the sonogram when she found out.”

“He was there?” I whispered the question. My little brother was there to find out that I was having a son when I didn’t even know he was a possibility. How had my life become such a huge puddle of shit? And when did my family start lying and keeping so many fucking secrets from one another? We used to be happy. We used to love one another. What the fuck happened to us?

“That’s what I’d like to know,” my mother agreed with the thoughts I hadn’t realized I’d been speaking out loud. I think that took the wind out of all of our sails.

Dad had left the room and came back with a few ice packs, which he tossed to my brothers and me. “Opal said something to me earlier,” my dad mentioned. The sorrow in his voice was damn near devastating. “She laid this whole mess on my shoulders, and at first, I thought she’d lost her mind, or was blaming me for making the lot of you. Then, she explained that you all had overheard some things that were never meant for your ears.”

My stomach did somersaults in my body, making bile rise up my throat just enough to be uncomfortable, but not enough to make me physically sick – yet.

“Boys, sit down,” Dad demanded. “You need to hear some truths about life that apparently, I should have taught you all long ago.” He glared at the twins, “Especially you two.”

We all sat and used the ice packs where necessary as my father started to explain himself. “Human beings make mistakes. Sometimes, and it doesn’t matter how much you love a person, you will wonder – especially during tough times – if there is something better. Once in a while, someone will come along to catch your interest in a way you haven’t felt in a long damn time.” He sighed and raised apologetic eyes to my mother.

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