Page 39 of CurVy Baby

I stand before him. “No.”

“No.” Dexter moves to my side. Both brothers are at least a foot taller than me, basically pillars of muscles. “I was wrong, Tyler. I was so wrong to do this. I will figure out how to fit into your lives, as they are. I will.”

“And me?” Pain fills his eyes. “You’re disgusted by me.”

“No, buddy.God.I fucking love you.” His voice chokes out the words. “I was just blind with the need to make amends, but you’re different, and it’s not a bad thing. It’s just you. This is ameissue. Not you.”

Tyler lifts his chin, strong and powerful on the outside, with a wild and sensitive centre. “I used to cut the things on the outside to try to kill the things on the inside, Dexter. But Molly's talent is so beautiful. I'm not sure...” He pauses. “It’s still new. A new feeling, but I don't feel the same inside anymore. I want to keep the talent and share it with her.”

I exhale heavily. “I like that, baby.”

Feeling too much, basically trembling with adrenaline, I peer across to check on Donnie, only to see he is scowling at Dexter as though he is moments away from lunging for him.

“Donnie,” I warn.

“If I didn’t fucking love you, Dexter,”—Donnie points, his hand vibrating with rage— “I would knock your fucking teeth in for messing with his head.”

Dexter clenches his jaw, nodding. Accepting. “If it makes you feel better, you can. I won’t stop you.”

“Hm,” Donnie grunts before grabbing Tyler by the back of the head and tugging him down the corridor. “You were in Mum and Dad’s room.” It was a statement, but a question skates the surface.

Clutching my heavy heart, I shuffle to gaze around the room. I haven’t really been in this room. The maid refreshes the rooms we don’t occupy.

Their bedroom has a timeless elegance, the wooden bed displaying carvings that hint at the long-gone era of carpentry.

They left it this way.

“Come on,”—I reach for Dexter’s hand—"Let’s go downstairs and do nothing.”

“Frozen,” he mutters, clearly drained. The single word seems heavy. Final. As if he’s made his mind up about something, and it starts withFrozen. “I’m going to watchFrozenwith Molly.”

And that is that.

We don’t need to say anything else. I know that this moment with the brothers has changed something.

Sometimes, it’s necessary toseethe truth, the tragedy, not merely be told it exists. Dexter was the outsider, but he’s seen Tyler now, felt the fear of losing him, experienced it.

And no more words need to be shared. The commitment we have to this family has become our gravity.

CHAPTER TWENTY

DONNIE

Two weeks later

Stage Four: Integration.

Stars scatter Molly’s bedroom ceiling, and her pink curtains sway beside the fan.

“Why isn’t your tummy getting bigger?” Molly asks as Vallie tucks her into bed and arranges her fluffy toys on either side of her body like a matchstick family.

“Well, there isn’t a baby in there yet,” Vallie admits, forcing a smile around those words. “But we will keep trying. It can take some time. I don’t understand exactly how it works.”

Lying beside her, sharing her blanket, Tyler picks up Molly’s Bluey doll and uses it to kiss her cheeks. “Tonight.” Left kiss. “We’ll try again tonight.” Right kiss. Tyler taps the toy to Molly’s nose, making her giggle.

Molly grabs the stuffed blue dog, squeezing it to her chest. “Well,” she begins cheerfully, “You said it’s magic. A woman’s body is magic. You can’t know the secrets. That’s the rule. So, you’ll just have to be patient.”

Well, fuck.

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